October

Effective 1 October 2017 some of the GPSC’s incentives have changed in response to physician feedback collected during the visioning consultations, and to support the strategic objectives of the patient medical home model. Fees are being simplified and aligned, modified to enable team-based care, and transitioned, as some were initially connected to the time-limited A GP for Me initiative.

The recent transition of responsibility for First Nations health care in BC from Ottawa to BC First Nations is encouraging, empowering, and a reason to be optimistic. The next step in that transition occurred on 1 October 2017 when in partnership with the BC Ministry of Health, Pharmacare Plan W officially took over providing coverage for eligible prescription drugs, certain medical supplies, and pharmacy services for eligible First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) clients.

The Okanagan Interventional Pain Clinic in Kelowna has been renamed the Bill Nelems Pain and Research Centre to honor the popular and much-loved surgeon who died earlier this year.

Dr Bill Nelems, a thoracic surgeon in BC, worked at the Okanagan Interventional Pain Clinic in the Pandosy area since 2013. Over that time, coworkers and staff came to see him as someone who genuinely cared for others and put in the work to improve countless lives.

To view and download a PDF document of the Doctors of BC Representative Assembly delegates, 2017–2018,
click here.

As a physician, do you recommend patients self-diagnose or self-treat? Is this effective or the best use of a patient’s time and effort? Do self-diagnosis and self-treatment often have negative outcomes? The answers to these questions may seem obvious, yet too often physicians do not follow their own advice. There is a saying from a prolific business consultant, Peter Drucker, which applies to this topic, “Do what you do best and outsource the rest.”