Some Ontario physicians put time limit on patient visits to highlight government cuts - Toronto | Globalnews.ca (2024)

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Some Ontario physicians put time limit on patient visits to highlight government cuts - Toronto | Globalnews.ca? ›

Ontario doctors are sending an abrupt message to their patients about cuts to healthcare services and funding by the provincial government. At some offices, signs are posted indicating patient visits can only last 15 minutes — so patients are asked to keep their questions and concerns down to one or two issues.

In all cases, physicians must provide every patient with written notification that the relationship has been discontinued (see the accompanying Advice Document for a sample letter). Physicians must retain a copy of the notification and any confirmation of receipt in the patient's medical record.

Doctors are self-employed, which means they can determine their own hours and work location, and they are responsible for paying their employees, for office space and other overhead expenses. Doctors earn money by billing their provincial government for the services they provide to patients.

The survey, delivered by email, phone and fax, shows the mean practice size of each family physician was 1,215 patients. More than 75 doctors answered that they planned to close their practice in the next five years, meaning over 93,550 patients in Toronto could lose access to a primary care provider.

Yes, you can really go to two different physicians for all of your medical needs. This is because each doctor will likely have a different area of expertise, and so you may find it helpful to consult with more than one doctor.

Some communities in Ontario are turning into 'doctor deserts' due to a spike in retirements of family physicians and not enough young physicians to replace them. The CBC's Mike Crawley zeros in on the crisis in a province where 1.8 million people don't have a family doctor.

Conflict of interest: A conflict of interest is created any time a reasonable person could perceive that a physician's personal interest or relationship with industry is at odds with their professional responsibilities.

Canada is home to some of the world's best hospitals. These hospitals are almost always nonprofits, but this does not mean they provide their services for free! Expats who do not have international insurance will have to pay for hospital care themselves.

How Long Must You Live in Canada to Get Free Healthcare? You must have lived in Canada and had a permanent resident status for at least three months to become eligible for Canada's universal healthcare.

Why is Canada losing doctors? ›

It all comes down to supply and demand. For decades, provincial governments have tried to lower health care costs by limiting the supply of doctors. That involves limiting the number of medical school students and capping the number of postgraduate medical apprenticeships, known as residencies.

A shortage of space in med schools

Many medical students go abroad to train because there are very few medical school spots available in Canada. Tens of thousands of pre-med students are competing for just 2,800 first-year openings at the country's 17 medical schools.

WHAT SYSTEMIC ISSUES ARE CAUSING THE SHORTAGE? Martin said the doctor shortage starts in schools, where medical students are not choosing to open their own family practices. Instead, many would rather have a medical focus, like sports health or physiology.

Ontario began overhauling its primary-care system in the early 2000s. The new models paid family doctors working in groups mostly for the number of patients they enrolled in their practice, a departure from the traditional fee-for-service approach where doctors are paid for every discrete episode of care they deliver.

Doctors currently must opt-out of the public plan to work in the private sector and they are not permitted to bill more than they would receive from OHIP.

There is no limit set by OHIP on the number of medical issues that may be dealt with during a patient's visit to a physician or the time allotted for each visit. There are no limits to the number of patients a physician can see and physicians will be compensated for every service they provide.”

Does a physician have to accept new patients? No. A physician has a right to determine whom to accept as a patient, just as a patient has the right to choose their physician.

GP practices may apply to remove patients from their list if the relationship between patient and GP has broken down. Your GP will normally explain the problem to you and try to resolve it. They may ask to see you or may write to you.

Patient abandonment is a type of medical malpractice. It comes into play when a physician prematurely abandons a doctor-patient relationship with no notice and/or without a reasonable excuse. There's a fine line, and understanding what constitutes this potentially-devastating act of abandonment is important.

Most medical regulatory authorities (Colleges) generally permit physicians to terminate the doctor-patient relationship owing to a significant breakdown in trust, retirement, relocation, a leave of absence, or to reduce their practice size, among other possible reasons.