Arbitration: the beat goes on...
Relativity remains contentious
Taking physician branding to the next level: “It Takes a Doctor.”
Supervised Injection Sites redux — and rebranded
Dear Colleagues:
The Board met yesterday and today. There’s a fair bit to update you on, so please read on.
Arbitration: the beat goes on...
Arbitration hearings finished early this week. Topics covered were growth of the Physician Services Budget (PSB), cap and appropriateness. Watching Mr. Goldblatt argue our side was inspiring:
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“Studies show that budget caps lead to worsening government-physician relationship, contribute to physician burnout and worsening inter-physician relationship...
“The OMA is fundamentally and totally opposed to any predetermined, prescriptive cap on the PSB. It is not our fault that the PSB grows. The Ministry’s position on a cap is at odds with history, at odds with reality and finally, at odds with their own data.”
~ Mr. Goldblatt
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For those who took time out of their day to come and support our side — thank you, thank you, thank you. I apologize to anyone who came today, not realizing that the hearings had concluded early this week.
We’ll start up again November 18th — subject: the PSB.
November 26th’s hearing will cover proposed fee cuts to Radiology, Cardiology and Ophthalmology. The remaining dates will be December 15 and 16, and then 18-21, and will include Primary Care.
In the meantime, you too can read the OMA and MOH Phase 1 arbitration briefs here. A comparative summary of the positions is available here.
Relativity remains contentious
Two major decisions made at Sunday’s Special Council Meeting were discussed at length by the Board in this week’s meeting.
In 2017, the Board directed the Negotiating Committee to allocate new monies for relativity. New monies means fee increases that are separate and apart from PSB growth and the repeal of the unilateral cuts (including the stolen money).
On October 21st, Council passed an advisory motion for an allocation-then redistribution process for relativity adjustments. This means that new money awarded to doctors would be divvied up among Sections based on CANDI score (allocation). Then, if needed, money would be moved from right of CANDI to left of CANDI specialists to a max of 1% per year (redistribution). I know it’s confusing, but it’s important to realize that redistribution is a separate question from the OMA proposal to repeal the unilateral cuts (stolen monies). This proposal is not affected by redistribution.
Given the divisiveness and complexity of relativity and arbitration, the Board is taking a measured approach.
Overall, relativity is argued and arbitrated in Phase II (likely Spring 2019). The Board will wait for Phase I to conclude before reassessing its position on relativity. This will give us time to understand the short-term and long-term impact of all the Council motions as well as Phase I arbitration.
As a reminder, Council also agreed that the Board explore dispute resolution processes, particularly those that allow Sections to argue their perspective on relativity allocation and distribution issues directly before the arbitration panel. Today, the Board directed the Negotiations Committee to begin work on this.
The remaining Council motions will be reviewed at later Board meetings.
Taking physician branding to the next level: “It Takes A Doctor.”
Every day, I’m reminded of the incredible work that doctors do all over the province. I’m reminded of our unique training, expertise and sacrifice.
The health care system is far from perfect, its challenges are complex, but there is no doubt that physicians are the experts to help fix our damaged system.
This is the subject of our new physician branding campaign – “It Takes A Doctor.” It Takes a Doctor will run throughout November and December online and over social media, Spotify radio ads, search engine ads and video advertising on YouTube. Members can contribute by using this toolkit here which includes a conversation guide, office posters, and other assets to help amplify this message.
OMA’s paid campaigns help build the physician brand, and maintain positive favourability and trust with the public. Our last campaign pushed physician favourability scores up to 82%. The polls we use to track these metrics also influence a wider audience — including policy-makers and government
Supervised Injection Sites redux — and rebranded
On Monday, the government announced its commitment to move forward with a program for consumption and treatment services for patients with addiction and/or mental illness.
This is welcome news. The OMA put out a statement immediately (available here).
I want to take a minute to credit the OMA staff’s back-channel efforts here. The OMA twice reached out to the new government with insight and expertise in this area.
Chris Mackie at the London-Middlesex supervised injection site.
I look forward to ongoing discussions with government and stakeholders on how we can build upon harm reduction services and provide comprehensive treatment options for this cohort..
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