In an effort to meet the target of registering 500,000 patients without a family doctor by this summer, vulnerable patients who are registered collectively, but do not have a specific doctor assigned, are being pushed down the waiting list by what the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) calls “pure orphans,” or patients who are not registered anywhere.
As a result, a patient without a family doctor who is part of a family medicine group (GMF) may have a lower chance of being assigned a family doctor than someone who is not affiliated with any clinic.
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It should be noted that the goal of registering 500,000 patients by July 1 is part of the agreement between the FMOQ and the Legault government. If this target is met, general practitioners could receive a bonus equal to 2.5 per cent of their compensation.
“According to the agreement between the government and the FMOQ, the bonus associated with individually registering orphan patients is higher than that for registering a patient collectively. The College is concerned that a financial bias may limit access to care for vulnerable patients,” reads an opinion letter signed by CMQ President Dr. Mauril Gaudreault, a copy of which was obtained by La Presse Canadienne.
He notes that the directive given by the FMOQ to its members is to prioritize only “pure orphans” for individual registration with a family doctor. “This appears to disadvantage patients already registered collectively with a family medicine group,” Dr. Gaudreault writes in the letter.
He cites Article 63.1 of the Code of Ethics for Physicians, which “provides that the priority of access to care for any patient must be dictated solely by medical necessity.” Vulnerable patients, even if registered collectively, should be assigned first to a specific family doctor, he says. The current management of registrations does not comply with this article, which exposes doctors “to a real ethical risk.”
The CMQ says it will continue to monitor the situation closely.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
