Under Family Medicine Plus, family physicians will continue to claim fee-for-service remuneration for volume-based activities, such as visits and procedures, as you always have. Now, you will have additional non-volume-based funding, which will be more predictable and available more frequently to support your practice.

There are three broad components under FM+ for family physician remuneration and funding:

• Volume-based: existing fee-for-service payments for visits and procedures.
• Panel-based: quarterly funding based on the size, age and complexity of your patient panel.
• Indirect clinic time: weekly payments to recognize up to three hours of indirect clinical services.
  

Volume-Based Fee-for-Service

Unlike other jurisdictions with longitudinal family practice models, in Manitoba volume-based fee-for-service funding is not reduced in any way. It is maintained at 100%. This means you can continue to make use of existing and new fee tariffs, including virtual visits, extended visits with two or more issues, community-based practice support, and collaboration with other providers.

Panel Payments

Panel payments will replace Continuing Care Management tariffs and will now ensure every patient in your panel is counted. 

The Home Clinic Panel Payment recognizes the skill, expertise, and continuity of care provided by family physicians providing care to their patients. This new stream of funding is not volume-based, and will offer more predictability for family practice clinics. Physicians will be able to access this funding quarterly, rather than annually under CCM. 

The annual rate will vary based on age and complexity, with a range of $15 for a healthy adult to $445 for an elderly patient over 75 with multiple chronic diseases. A new premium will also be developed for socially-complex patients by 2026/27.

• Provide a payment for patients of all ages.
• Add more diseases to the list of eligible diagnoses.
• Expand the maximum number of chronic conditions included from three to four.
• Adding a separate add-on tariff for mental health diagnoses.
• Provide quarterly payments instead of just annually.

Plus, there will be a one-time $100 payment for accepting a newborn or infant (under age 2) onto your panel.

Indirect Clinical Services

Family Medicine Plus will include a time-based stipend of up to 3 hours to recognize indirect clinical time services for enrolled patients on your panel.

A new tariff will allow physicians to claim:

• Up to 30 minutes of time per working week for every 250 patients on your panel
• At an hourly rate of $171.04, prorated to $42.76 per 15-minute increment.
• The tariff will pay a maximum of $513.12 per week for a physician with a panel of 1,500+ patients.

Indirect clinical services are activities that are medically relevant and specific to an individual patient. They can include charting, reviewing labs and diagnostic imaging, preparing referrals etc. Indirect clinical services should not be claimed for administrative exercises such as clinic administration.

Indirect clinical services can be claimed for weeks you have worked providing primary care to your panel. In other words, you cannot bill for indirect clinical services on weeks you were off work.