Province reaches tentative four-year deal with Ontario Medical Association
Posted July 11, 2016 12:07 pm.
Last Updated July 11, 2016 12:59 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario and its doctors have reached a tentative four-year agreement, including a clause to jointly “update” doctors’ fees, which have been a major source of tension.
It has been two years since the province had an agreement with the Ontario Medical Association, and the Liberal government’s relationship with doctors has been acrimonious since it unilaterally imposed some fee cuts last year.
Ontario Medical Association president Dr. Virginia Walley said this deal provides a starting point for that relationship to be repaired.
“I think it’s fair to say that many physicians have been discouraged by their treatment the last year or so and this is the opportunity to…work together to rebuild that trust, to rebuild that trust in the interests of patients and patient care,” she said.
The deal with the OMA, which represents 34,000 physicians and medical students, includes annual increases to the physician services budget “that are limited to the costs of population growth, an aging society and funding for continued growth in doctors supply,” said a joint statement, which does not specify amounts.
Details are set to be released once the agreement is ratified. The vote is scheduled in August.
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The province budgets more than $11 billion annually for physician compensation and the new deal would see both sides “co-manage” the physician services budget.
“(It) would allow both parties to work together to jointly identify savings, update fee codes and account for technological change, among other measures,” the joint statement said.
Health Minister Eric Hoskins has previously said the fee schedule has not kept pace with technological changes that allow some specialists to bill way above the $368,000 that the average Ontario doctor bills.
The deal would also provide annual funding for hiring new doctors and improvements to access to primary care, including same day or next day visits for urgent conditions and primary care coverage on evenings, weekends and holidays.
The government says the agreement is within its fiscal plan, which aims to eliminate the deficit by 2017-18.
The OMA had publicly said it was seeking binding arbitration, and one of the terms of the negotiated settlement is that both sides will agree on a “permanent facilitator with health expertise” who will provide binding resolutions for certain disputes, when the need arises.
The OMA brought a court challenge against the government for binding arbitration and a joint statement says despite the deal, that will continue.
