Health Minister Christian Dubé is proposing a new regulation to further reduce doctors’ paperwork in Quebec. His office says these measures should free up 310,000 medical appointments.
Specifically, the Legault government aims to abolish “the requirement for a medical prescription for reimbursement of services provided by insurers, such as physiotherapy.” Medical consultations for reimbursement of insured assistive devices will also be eliminated, except in exceptional circumstances.
The draft regulation will be published Wednesday in the Official Gazette for a 45-day public consultation period. It stems from Bill 68, adopted in the fall of 2024.
“We are doing everything we can to lighten the workload of doctors so that they can devote more time to patients. This proposed regulation will help free up many appointment slots in primary care and improve access to care by placing the real needs of patients at the heart of our health system,” said Dubé in a statement.
As a reminder, a first set of measures to reduce the administrative burden on doctors was announced last year. This included the introduction of a standardized form for private insurers, designed to streamline the documents doctors must complete. It also marked the end of the paperwork required from doctors for sick leave of up to three days.
In total, with the new draft regulation, the government calculates that 590,000 appointments will be freed up each year.
–The Canadian Press’s health content is funded through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press retains sole editorial responsibility.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
