New fee structure aims to encourage N.B. doctors to treat more patients

The New Brunswick government is introducing a new fee structure for physicians aimed at getting them to treat more patients, with a provincial election call days away.

“These changes are a win-win for patients and for doctors,” said Premier Blaine Higgs at a Fredericton news conference on Thursday. “It will create financial incentives for doctors who are willing to take on more patients, and taking on more patients means we get more New Brunswickers the care they need.”

Higgs said the government was also creating a provider and patient registry, so health authorities and the Department of Health could keep better tabs on a family physician’s patient volume.

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“Doctors will be compensated to maintain the information in the registry, using a pay scale that encourages them to take on more patients,” said Higgs. “An initial payment to the patient registry will be provided to physicians this physical year, and effective Sept. 16 the fee for service physicians will be able to bill for more services rendered by an office nurse.”

Higgs made the announcement alongside Dr. Paula Keating, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society.

“These measures should help with physicians’ retention in the short term and serve as a bridge while we continue to work with government and our health-care partners on longer term solutions to the primary health-care crisis,” said Dr. Keating, who also serves as a Miramichi-based family physician. “Measures such as these announced today make it more viable and more appealing for later career physicians to remain in practice, while encouraging those physicians with additional capacity to take on more patients.”

“Hopefully the changes announced today will be the first in a series of steps toward stabilizing New Brunswick’s primary health-care system.”

The new funding model will initially cost $18.6 million.

“Next year it will be about $20 million, and probably increase on basis depending on the uptake,” said Health Minister Bruce Fitch, in what will likely be his last government announcement as he’s not reoffering in the upcoming election.

The New Brunswick Medical Society has been asking for a new fee structure to support the creation of more collaborative care centres in the province.

“It’s a good start,” said Keating, regarding Thursday’s announcement. “But no, it does not go far enough. We had asked for 50 collaborative care practices across the province within the next year. This is a step in the right direction.”

When asked by a reporter about the timing of the announcement before next week’s election call, Keating said “we would hope for... that all of these issues could’ve been addressed prior to now, because that would improve health care for all New Brunswickers.”

New Brunswick Liberal leader Susan Holt called the announcement’s timing “curious.”

“So this is a step,” said Holt. “It doesn’t go nearly far enough in addressing the problem. But hey, finally it’s something.”

Higgs defended the timing of the announcement and his record on health care.

“There have been a lot of positive changes to the health-care system over the last several years,” said Higgs. “This is one more, it’s not the first, it’s one more. And it’s the first of this particular model in addressing issues to bring more patients into a collaborative care clinic which has been the model for some time.”

The Progressive Conservative and Liberal have disagreed on the definition of collaborative care in the lead up to an election writ being issued.

In June, the New Brunswick Health Council reported that 79 per cent of New Brunswickers had access to a permanent primary care provider in 2023, compared to 93 per cent in 2017.

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