IN TODAY'S UPDATE

Government finalizes temporary COVID payments 

Government finalizes temporary COVID payments

The Ministry of Health has finalized the guidelines for the temporary COVID-19 physician payment arrangements announced on April 10.  The changes will be retroactive with varying start dates.

In addition, the negotiated hourly rates will not be billed through the OHIP system but rather will be transferred to hospitals, which will flow the money through to physicians in a manner similar to HOCC payments.  Given the inability of the government to program the OHIP computer system in a timely manner, the OMA’s expectation is that this payment system will allow physicians to be paid sooner and with less hassle than through OHIP. 

The government is still responsible to ensure every physician is paid their entitled amount and the OMA will assist members with any disputes under existing BAF dispute-resolution mechanisms. 

Physicians who will be billing fee for service and have new AGMP complexity modifiers will be paid through the usual OHIP claims process.  The OMA continues to press the Ministry of Health to make any necessary changes to the OHIP computer to ensure physicians will be paid promptly for services already provided and for any future work.

The guidelines can be found here.
 

Public Health Response

New action plan for long-term care

The Ontario government has launched a new action plan for addressing COVID-19 in LTC homes, which outlines actions the government will take to protect residents and staff.

Learn more.

The Ministry of Health has also released revised guidance on managing COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

View details.

Lastly, a new emergency order limits staff movement between LTC homes and other areas of the health-care system effective April 22. We are in contact with the Ministry of Long-Term Care regarding the impact this may have on physicians. However, we recognize that most physicians within the long-term care sector are independent contractors. If you are an employee of a LTC home and this emergency order negatively impacts your ability to provide care, please contact: info@OMA.org  

Read the new order.

Movement of health-care workers between LTC facilities does pose a risk of transmitting the virus.  However, there are situations that require physicians to move between LTC homes to deliver care to residents. In these instances, the use of proper PPE is especially critical. We encourage you to review the province’s PPE direction for LTC.

Please see the OMA’s recommendations for addressing COVID-19 in LTC. 

Updated testing guidance

The Ministry of Health has revised its guidance to reflect an updated list of symptoms, and more clearly specify which symptomatic patients should be prioritized for testing and which asymptomatic populations should be tested. The parameters for health-care worker return-to-work have also been revised. The OMA has updated its patient assessment tool for physicians to reflect this new information. 
Physicians should continue to use their clinical judgement (not the case definition) to determine who should be tested. The province directed COVID-19 assessment centres this week to accept all patients with a recommendation for testing from a health-care provider (walk-ins will still be screened). 

• OMA Patient Assessment Tool for Physicians 

• Ministry of Health COVID-19 Quick Reference Public Health Guidance on Testing and Clearance (April 16) 

Reminder Regarding Specimens for Testing

The Ministry of Health has reported that labs are receiving some specimens for COVID-19 testing that are taken incorrectly. This means the tests cannot be performed. In some cases, specimens were not properly labelled, and labs were subsequently unable to advise the ordering physician or patient to re-submit a new sample. Members collecting samples for testing are asked to ensure specimens are clearly labelled and submitted with a complete requisition.   

Please review the testing requirements and instructions from Public Health Ontario. 

Providing Care

Palliative care webinar

The OMA and Hospice Palliative Care Ontario hosted a webinar on Advance Care Planning and Goals of Care conversations in the context of COVID-19 on Thursday. Dr. Jennifer Arvanitis provided an overview on how to complete a death certificate and pronouncement for a presumed or COVID-19 positive death. Thank you to all the presenters: Dr. Leah Steinberg, Dr. Nadia Incardona, Dr. Aranitis and Dr. Jeff Meyers. Special thanks to the Section Chair of Palliative Medicine, Dr. Pamela Liao and Julie Darney, Director, Education & Strategic Partnerships, for HPCO, for hosting the webinar.
 
Watch the webinar recording
 

New COVID-19 tools for EMRs

OntarioMD has brought together some EMR tools available in TELUS PS Suite, OSCAR and Accuro® EMRs designed to assist with COVID-19 documentation with instructions to help you access them within your EMR. OntarioMD’s i4C Advisory Services can assist with redesigning office workflows to support virtual care, and to customize EMR tools to assist with managing the COVID-19 pandemic. To connect with an OntarioMD Practice Enhancement Consultant, please contact support@ontariomd.com.
 

News & Announcements

Today we launched a new layout for OMA COVID-19 information on OMA.org. Given the vast amount of content, our goal is to make it easier for members to scan and find COVID-19 information. The website is updated daily and is a centralized resource for all the latest COVID-19 updates, including News and Announcements, Providing care, PPE and other Critical Supplies, Managing your Practice during COVID-19, Your Health and Well-Being and Frequently Asked Questions. Your input is important to us. If you have any feedback on how we can improve the website, please email us at info@oma.org
 
Visit COVID-19 on OMA.org
 

Legal assistance for physicians

Pro Bono Ontario is working with a group called COVID-19 Legal to provide free legal information about powers of attorney and general estate planning to frontline health workers.  

View details.

Updates & Reminders

TELUS is helping members and their medical office staff work from home during COVID-19 by providing telecommunications solutions. Telus is hosting daily webinars.  Get a free trial for 60 or 90 days. 

Learn more.

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