Since 2003, the General Practice Services Committee (GPSC), a joint committee of the BCMA and the BC Ministry of Health, has been working toward its mandate to support the provision of full-service family practice and improve patient care.

Through initiatives such as the Practice Support Program, Divisions of Family Practice, and the Community Healthcare and Resource Directory, the GPSC is helping to change the face of family practice in British Columbia, encouraging physicians and patients alike through its innovative approaches to meeting the challenges facing primary care.

GPSC in a flash 
For information on the GPSC and its programs, visit www.gpscbc.ca [8] to view new Flash presentations that explain the who, when, what, where, and why of this unique collaboration of the BCMA and the BC Ministry of Health. Chapters include overviews of the following:

• General Practice Services Committee (www.gpscbc.ca/about-gpsc/ [9]
about-us)
• Family Practice Incentive Program (www.gpscbc.ca/family-practice-incentive/fp-incentive-program [10])
• Practice Support Program (www.gpscbc.ca/psp/practice-support-program [11])
• Divisions of Family Practice (www.gpscbc.ca/family-practice-incentive/divisions-family-practice [12])
• Community Healthcare and Re­source Directory (www.gpscbc.ca/chard-community-healthcare-and-resource-directory [13])
• A GP for Me/Attachment initiative (www.gpscbc.ca/gp-me [14])

One fee code replaces four 
The GPSC’s Full-service Family Prac­tice Incentive Program provides more than 15 different financial incentives to compensate physicians for the additional time and effort required to de­liver quality primary care to certain patient populations, including patients with COPD, mental health issues, co­morbidities, and palliative care needs. Descriptions of these fees and instructions on how to use them are detailed in the GPSC Billing Guide at www.gpscbc.ca/billing-guide-fees [15].

However, feedback from phy­sicians indicates that the multiple telephone/e-mail fees included among these incentives are too complicated.
In response, the GPSC has simplified the billing process as follows:

As of 31 December 2011, fee items 14039 (complex care telephone/e-mail follow-up management fee), 14049 (GP mental health telephone/e-mail management fee), 14069 (palliative care telephone/e-mail follow-up management fee), and 14073 (COPD telephone/e-mail management fee) are cancelled.

In place of these cancelled fees, effective 1 January 2012, physicians can now use one fee code for non-face-to-face service to eligible patients (NB: there is no change in eligible patient groups): the new GP telephone/e-mail management fee (14079).

Physicians may submit billings using this code as of 5 January 2012.

Payable to a maximum of five times per patient per calendar year, this fee can be billed for two-way communication with eligible patients, or the patient’s medical representative, via telephone or e-mail by the GP/FP who has billed and been paid for at least one of the following GPSC incentives within the previous 18 months:

• Complex care planning fee (G14033)
• Mental health planning fee (G14043) 
• Annual chronic care bonus for COPD (G14053)
• Palliative care planning fee (G14063)

The new fee is billable for medical management of the conditions covered under these incentives. 
For more information, visit www.gpscbc.ca/about-gpsc/program-updates [16].
—Clare O’Callaghan
BCMA Communications

2010/2011 GPSC Annual Report now online
Visit www.gpscbc.ca/news/other-publications [17] for a year in review of the GPSC and its programs.