Keeping Health Care Providers informed of payment, policy or program changes

To: Patient Enrolment Model Physicians
Published by: Negotiations Branch, Ministry of Health
Date Issued: May 7, 2020

Further to INFOBulletin #11233-Program Changes in response to Coronavirus (COVID-19) effective March 24, 2020, the Ministry of Health (ministry) would like to update physicians on policy changes to support patient enrolment processing during the COVID-19 outbreak.

For the safety of physicians and their patients, the ministry has made a policy change allowing physicians to accept scanned copies of completed and signed Patient Enrolment and Consent to Release Personal Health Information (E/C) forms from patients electronically via email or photo transmission by cell phone.

An original patient signature on the form is not required provided that the patient’s signature is legible on the scanned copy or picture of the E/C form.

Physicians should ensure patients have their correct email address when transmitting the E/C form electronically as the completed E/C form contains the patient’s personal information including their birth date and health card number.

If electronic submission is not possible, completed forms can also be returned by mail to the physicians’ offices.

As an alternative to enrolment, physicians may continue to submit fee-for-service (FFS) claims for core services, including the temporary K codes, to non-rostered patients since application of the FFS hard-cap is not being enforced for the duration of the outbreak (see INFOBulletin #11229).

Batch roster transfers /time limited transfers

Physicians who have accepted a time limited transfer will continue to receive the base rate and/or comprehensive care capitation payments for patients transferred, for the duration of the six-month time limited transfer period, regardless of whether they were able to re-enroll the patient within the transfer period.

At the end of the time limited transfer period, physicians will continue to have the option of billing FFS for services provided to patients who are no longer on their roster.

Note that batch roster transfers already processed on the ministry’s system cannot be revised. However, moving forward, the six-month time period for all new batch roster transfers will be evaluated each month to determine an adequate time frame to allow for patients to be re-rostered.

For further inquiries please contact the Service Support Contact Centre at 1-800-262-6524.