Family doctors took nearly 900 new patients in the first month of the Nova Scotia government’s incentive program, but how that has impacted the list of roughly 44,000 people waiting for a family doctor is yet to be seen, Health Minister Randy Delorey said Wednesday.
The $6.4 million program encourages doctors to accept patients from the provincial wait list by offering them a one-time $150 bonus per patient.
The province said 177 doctors from all corners of the province have so far taken on 882 new patients.
“It shows there is interest… This was an opportunity they could fit within their practice,” said Delorey.
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The wait list stood around 44,000 in March. Updated figures for April have not yet been released.
Delorey said it’s not clear yet how many names have been taken off the wait list, as the incentive program also applies to patients referred from an emergency department or patients whose doctor is retiring or moving.
He also noted new physicians setting up a practice are not eligible for the program, and could be drawing patients from the wait list.
It’s too early to say if the uptake will be consistent month-to-month, said Delorey.
“It will take a couple of months for us to get a feel as to whether it’s actually more physicians becoming aware and figuring out if they can take advantage of it… so we could see an uptake, or we could see that these is the standard,” said Delorey, adding his department has not set any specifics targets.
The health minister said he’s not concerned about physicians taking on too many patients.
“We certainly believe that the physicians themselves know their practices and they know what their level of capacity is for providing care,” said Delorey.
“We’re looking to physicians who believe they have a capacity and opportunity to provide more coverage, more support to Nova Scotians.”
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The program was part of nearly $40 million in funding recently announced for family doctors, including $13.9 million for pay hikes.
It also included $6.6 million to encourage family doctors to develop an up-to-date patient list, a $4.2 million e-health pilot project incentive, and $8.5 million to support doctors using electronic medical records.