October

Effective 15 September 2009, GPs may bill for an annual bonus amount of $125 for clinical guidelines–based management of patients with chronic pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition to the COPD CDM incentive (G14053), physicians may also bill for up to four telephone/e-mail follow-up management fees (G14073) for these patients over the following 12 months.

British Columbians can direct the disclosure of their provincial electronic health record (EHR) through a system using a keyword. When the patient gives the keyword to a health professional, the patient is giving permission to that person to access their records on a temporary basis. Health providers in emergency, diagnostic, and transfer of care settings may be able to override the keyword.

BCMA Silver Medal of Service
BCMA members are encouraged to nominate physicians or laypersons for the BCMA Silver Medal of Service award. The medal will be presented at the BCMA’s Annual General Meeting in June 2010. Physician nominees must have 25 years of membership in good standing in the BCMA, the CMA, and the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. Nonmedical candidates may be laypersons of Canadian or foreign citizenship. To be eligible for the award, nominees must meet at least one of the following criteria:

The Wrong Side of an Illness. By Owen Stanley Surman, MD. Online: iUniverse, 2007. ISBN: 978-0595477524. Paperback, 216 pages. $20.90.

Still Alice. By Lisa Genova. Toronto: Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster Inc.), 2007. ISBN: 978-1439102817. Paperback, 320 pages. $17.50.