Following concerns from physicians, we have taken a strong stand to help define how Manitoba should strive to comply with a new federal health directive about user fees from pharmacists and nurse practitioners. 

Bottom line: The publicly funded health system should build collaborative and connected teams with physician involvement, rather than fund more siloes and fragmented care options that lead to bigger gaps and more duplication. 

• As Doctors Manitoba President Dr. Nichelle Desilets laid out in a Free Press op-ed, the directive should be used as a catalyst to accelerate the shift toward team-based care.

What’s happening: The directive asks provinces to find ways to close gaps that in recent years have allowed other regulated professionals such as nurse practitioners and pharmacists to charge for medically necessary services that would be insured if provided by a physician. Some examples have surfaced recently in the news:

• Menopause care provided by nurse practitioners, with user fees to patients close to $400, when this care can be accessed from doctors and is fully covered by Manitoba Health. 
• Earlier this month, news focused on a nurse practitioner charging patients for publicly insured primary care services, which again would have no charge if provided by a physician.

Read our op ed, published in the Winnipeg Free Press, plus check out our explainer on what the directive means, what it doesn’t, and how we’re charting a path forward on behalf of physicians and your patients.