Doctors to receive $10K incentive to accept more high-needs patients

The Nova Scotia government is going to offer doctors a $10,000 incentive to accept at least 50 new "higher needs" patients from the provincial registry of people seeking a primary care provider.

They will also receive an extra $200 for every additional patient they are willing to take on after those 50, the government announced Thursday. 

Health Minister Michelle Thomson said the incentive, as well as revamping the information available on the registry, will allow the list to become more of a "tool" to match those seeking primary care to those who are able to provide it.

"These changes will have a big impact," said Thompson. "They will help us understand the care needs of people on the registry and how we can help them get care and how we can match them with a provider, sooner."

Officials with Nova Scotia Health said there is no set budget for this new incentive, nor is there an estimate of the number of people who might drop from the list as a result.

"We expect it to have an impact," said Thompson. "I have no number for you."

Will it work?

Patients who choose to can answer a list of questions on the registry about their health status, allowing the province to assess their health needs with an eye to determining whether they should be added to the "higher needs" category for matching through the new incentive plan.

Nova Scotia Health will determine which patients go to which doctors.

The offer only lasts four months, but the Houston government is hoping the new incentive will start to chip away at the ever-growing list of people without a doctor or access to regular primary care. The incentive is only available to physicians or practices that can bring on the new patients by the end of the year.

As of June 1, 148,431 Nova Scotians were on the Need a Family Practice Registry. That's roughly 15 per cent of the province's population.

The new president of Doctors Nova Scotia, Dr. Colin Audain, liked the fact the new initiative targets people who have higher health care needs, but he wasn't sure just how many people might be connected to a doctor as a result of the money.

"I don't know how many family doctors are going to be able to immediately attach that many patients," Audain told reporters after the announcement. "Some certainly will. The ones that are new to practice, it's a great opportunity for them to start their practice and it recognizes the amount of time it takes to onboard these complicated patients.

"For some there may be room to grow, for others who are already full or beyond capacity then I don't know that they'll be able to absorb more."

Liberal leader and former health minister Zach Churchill suggested the incentive was half-baked and would do little to bring down the number of people looking for more permanent care.

"They haven't really thought this out," said Churchill. "This is a temporary, stop-gap measure that I don't think is going to cut it.

"They are throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks."

The NDP's Susan Leblanc offered a similar critique of the plan.

"I think it is a Band-Aid solution," said Leblanc. "I think that there may be a few people that do get attached to family practices, but it's certainly not the systemic approach to attachment to primary care that we need in this province."