An extended clinic hours premium is available to primary care Family Physicians and Pediatricians who extend their operational clinic hours. Subject to the extended clinic criteria, physicians are eligible for an additional premium of 20% or 30% for services provided during designated time period. The extended hours premium supports the system need for after-hours primary care and includes: 

• • A 30% premium for Friday, weekend evenings and designated Holidays. A 30premium for evenings of weekends (including Friday evening) and designated holidays.
• • Premium eligible for physicians participating in Extended Hours Primary Care Clinics (EHPCCs).

Eligible clinics providing extended hours services on Saturday, Sunday and designated Holidays between 0700 – 1659 should use tariff 5530 (20% premium). Services provided between 1700 – 2359 should be billed using tariff 5531 (30%).

Premium summary:

• The extended hours premium focuses on primary care and is available for Family Physicians and Pediatricians.
• Most services provided during designated extended hours qualify for the premium. Physicians should review the applicable rules to confirm which services, and time periods qualify.
• Participation is optional. There is no expectation that physicians participate, and there is no on-going commitment. 
• Extended access can be offered to your existing patients only, and/​or you can be open to accept walk-in appointments.

Doctors Manitoba staff are available to provide further advice on how to implement extended hours in your practice. 

See here for more information on SDO approved Extended Hours Primary Care clinics.

Requirements

The following requirements are in place to qualify for the extended hours premium:

1. Extended hours cover the following periods outside of Mon-Fri 8:00AM — 5:00PM:

• Weekdays: early morning (6:00AM — 8:00AM), evenings (Mon-Thurs) (5:00PM ‑11:59PM) and daytime weekends/​designated Holidays (7:00AM – 4:59PM)
• Weekend evenings (Fri-Sun) and Recognized Holidays: 5:00PM — 11:59PM
  • A list of Recognized Holidays and the days they will be observed for the current year can be found here.

2. The clinic must a) maintain at least 8 hours of regular office hours within 0800 – 1700 Monday-Friday or (b) operates as an SDO approved Extended Hours Primary Care clinic (EHPCC) which are currently

• Concordia Hospital
• Grace Hospital (Access Winnipeg West)
• St. Boniface Hospital 
• Victoria Hospital

3. Clinics cannot simply shift their existing hours into the extended hour periods to qualify. The clinic must be open a minimum of 8 hours Mon-Fri between the standard operating hours of 8:00AM and 5:00PM.

4. The hours apply to the clinic and its physicians collectively (e.g. hours of operation), and not to physicians individually. Physicians who work part-time hours can participate in extended hours.

5. The extended hours must include in-person visit availability. Virtual visits can also qualify for the premium; however, offering virtual visits only during the extended hour period does not qualify.

6. Extended hours can be offered to your existing patient roster and/​or offered for walk-in patients. There is no requirement to offer walk-in access, that is optional.

7. The extended hours must be advertised or promoted in some way. If you are opening extended hours for your existing patients only, this could include a poster, a post on your website, or a mass email message, as examples. If you are opening walk-in access, you could promote the availability through Medimap or some other methods too.

Compensation

• Extended clinic hours premiums apply to most services provided in an office, including visits, virtual visits, tests, immunizations, procedures and tray fees. 
• Clinics that are already open during the extended hours periods and meet the above criteria also qualify for the premium. In other words, this does not have to be net new extended hours to qualify. 
• Physicians will claim the usual visit or procedural tariff, and for each service, also submit the appropriate extended hours tariff for the designated extended hours period. This will be the same process currently used when claiming after hours premiums.
• Exclusions: The following do not qualify for the extended hours premiums, but can be claimed during the extended hours period as per existing practice:
  • Phone/​video communication tariffs
  • Prescription renewals
  • Family Medicine Plus (FM+) Tariffs
  • After hours premiums currently available for urgent/​emergency services during similar time periods. Physicians should continue to bill after hours premiums for urgent and emergent services.

Clinics are encouraged to retain copies of materials used to promote or advertise their extended hours. These materials can support the clinic’s documentation of its extended hours in the event of a billing audit.