Doctors Manitoba has negotiated remuneration to facilitate communication and collaboration about patient care between physicians and with other health care providers. With the new Physician Services Agreement, existing tariffs have been enhanced and new tariffs have been introduced to promote more collaboration to support caring for your patients.

You will find billing guides for each tariff in this section, near the bottom of the page. The following table lists the new and existing tariffs in a hierarchy to help you find and optimize your use of these tariffs.

At-a-Glance Guide to Communication Tariffs

Common Requirements

All communication tariffs are about seeking advice about and/​or providing guidance or direction about patient care.

All tariffs have further notes and restrictions. Please refer to our billing guide (see below) and the Physician’s Manual. General requirements include:

• Documenting the name of the other physician or provider involved in the communication. 
• Maximums on the number of claims per patient, per physician, per day or week.
• No claim can be made until the physician responds to the communication.
• No claim can be made when conducted by a physician proxy (e.g. nurse, clerk) participates instead of the physician.
• May not be claimed for arranging for lab or diagnostic testing or informing the referring provider of the results.

Practical Guidance and Advice

When communicating, consider the best platform or communication tools to allow for efficient and effective sharing of information, and what remuneration it may qualify for. For example:

• If contacted on Cortext (secure messaging), consider whether or not the nature of the communication is simple enough to text back and resolve quickly? If so, use Cortext but note that no remuneration claim is available. However, if the situation is more complicated, consider escalating to email or phone to improve the exchange of information to support patient care. 
• If you were contacted by fax or email, consider if a phone or video call would be more effective to support a dialogue about the patient. If so, consider escalating to a phone/​video communication. 

Take the time to explain the process for non-physician providers, especially new groups such as optometrists and audiologists that may be unfamiliar with the tariff requirements. Explain why obtaining the name of the provider to support the claim enables better support for inquiries to be returned in a timely manner. 

Q&A

What happens if the mode of communication is mixed (e.g. email sent but response is by phone)?

Generally, try to use the responding mode of communication as this will offer remuneration that best supports and reflects the interaction. The email, or even a secure message via Cortext, could be considered planning a phone call. This means both the initiating and responding physician should claim a phone call.

What are the documentation requirements?

As some of these are new tariffs, it’s best to carefully document the interaction. Generally, include the patient and provider information in your documentation including name and PHIN / billing number. Please note that as the consultant physician you are not required to establish a new chart for the patient discussed. You should include the required information in your claim, and ensure that you could recall a record of the claim using your billing software.

How do I sign up for eConsultation?

Digital Shared Services manages two different platforms for eConsults: BASE and Store and Forward:

• See this one-pager to learn more about eConsultation.
• You can learn more about these platforms on this Digital Shared Services eConsult page. You can also access training here.
• To apply for access, go to this Digital Shared Services page, and click on BASE eConsult to apply for access to that platform, and/​or click on iScheduler to gain access to the Store & Forward platform.

How do I sign up for Cortext Secure Messaging?

All physicians now have free access to secure provider messaging through Manitoba Telehealth’s MyMBT Messaging (Cortext).

You can sign up by completing this intake form (link to attached file), and emailing it to servicedesk@​sharedhealthmb.​ca using the Subject Line: New MyMBT. This form can be used for individual or bulk registrations. 

Quick Reference Guides are available on the MBTelehealth website under the MyMBT section.