B.C.含羞草研究社檚 health minister said the province has been able to connect nearly 600 family physicians with thousands of new patients through its health registry system

Health Minister Adrian Dix provided an update on primary healthcare in the province during a news conference in Vancouver Friday (Feb. 9). The update comes as B.C. prepares to mark the one-year-anniversary of the new pay model for doctors. Dix said more than 80 per cent of family physicians in the province have signed up for the payment model.

Doctors, who had previously chosen not practice family medicine, are now doing so, he said.

The overall number of doctors practicing 含羞草研究社渓ongitudinal family practice,含羞草研究社� which Dix described as a 含羞草研究社渇ancy way of saying they are taking patients,含羞草研究社� has gone from 4,289 in December 2022 to 4,997 in December 2023, an increase of 16.5 per cent from December 2022. Dix also added that the number of nurse practitioners working in primary care up has gone up by 11.3 per cent to 590.

含羞草研究社淪o all of that is extremely positive,含羞草研究社� Dix said.

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Dr. Ahmer Karimuddin, president of Doctors of B.C., said the changes in the past year have allowed new doctors to start up or return to family practices. Some have even delayed retirement.

Karimuddin said the first year of the new payment model has seen real progress, but also acknowledged 含羞草研究社渟till a lot to do.含羞草研究社�

This comment can be read as a reference to B.C.含羞草研究社檚 growing population and the fact that hundreds of thousands of British Columbia currently lack to a family doctor. Popular accounts often peg the number at 1 million or 1 in 5 British Columbians, but figures from the Ministry of Health, citing the Canadian Community Health Survey, put the figure at just under 900,000 in 2022.

含羞草研究社淣ot all those people are seeking a family doctor, but a significant number are and you can tell that by their response to the Health Connect Registry,含羞草研究社� he said.

The provincial government bills the registry as the first comprehensive registry connecting family physicians as well as nurses to patients.

Government introduced the system as part of the new payment model and Dix said more than 4,000 physicians have uploaded data as of Jan. 31,

The province had asked most doctors to upload data by Dec. 31 and the rest by March 31. That data covered more than 3.8 million unique patients. Dix added the data has allowed 594 health-care providers to accept 114,000 new patients.

But he added that the province doesn含羞草研究社檛 含羞草研究社渁ttach含羞草研究社� thousands of patients at a time, but rather one at a time. It含羞草研究社檚 a 含羞草研究社渟low process in some ways,含羞草研究社� but it含羞草研究社檚 meant to be individualized.

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Available figures point to growing demand. Dix said he expects another 200,000 people to join the provincial health care system as B.C. continues to grow.

That is a 含羞草研究社渧ery significant含羞草研究社� demand on the system, Dix said, having said earlier that B.C.含羞草研究社檚 population is not growing, and also aging. 含羞草研究社淪o we have to continue to do the work,含羞草研究社� Dix said. 含羞草研究社淪o it would be my expectation that there would be more doctors next year than this year. So it含羞草研究社檚 a system where you have got to continue to add doctors.含羞草研究社�

Dix pointed to the on-going recruitment of internationally-trained doctors, the creation of a new medical school at Simon Fraser University and the expansion of the existing medical school at the University of British Columbia.

He added that 80 per cent of doctors trained at UBC stay in-province with seven per cent going to Alberta. 含羞草研究社淧eople move in our country, it含羞草研究社檚 an open jurisdiction,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淏ut what that tells you is that increasingly doctors want to practice in B.C., partly because of this payment model, partly because of the collaborative model in every area (supporting medical professionals).含羞草研究社�