A Victoria-based family doctor says the B.C. government hasn害羞草研究所檛 paid her for the month of January, and it has her considering leaving the province during a doctor shortage.

Dr. Emanuela Tura says all of her invoices for last month have been rejected.

害羞草研究所淚 have to resubmit the rejected invoices sometimes multiple times,害羞草研究所� Tura said. 害羞草研究所淭his is the first time that all my invoices were rejected. My experience for the past two years has been that about 30 to 50 per cent of my invoices are initially rejected. Some payments are never received. As this occurs every pay period, the number of unpaid invoices keeps growing.害羞草研究所�

The process to resubmit rejected invoices can take three to nine months.

害羞草研究所淚 spend about a day a week trying to sort out payments that I am not receiving and handling various bureaucratic issues when I could be seeing patients instead,害羞草研究所� Tura added.

British Columbia害羞草研究所檚 Medical Services Plan (MSP) says the problem is a glitch. Doctors typically have an electronic medical record system to chart patients害羞草研究所� information, and they can submit claims to MSP from this computer platform.

害羞草研究所淢SP may reject our claims due to IT issues between MSP and our electronic medical record system,害羞草研究所� Tura said. 害羞草研究所淚 use an electronic medical record system that is common in Victoria and B.C. The MSP system is designed to reject some claims. This may require doctors to resubmit them multiple times. MSP may need to process them manually, which may take from several weeks to several months.害羞草研究所�

Tura害羞草研究所檚 family is keeping her in B.C., but she says she can害羞草研究所檛 continue working under these conditions.

害羞草研究所淚 feel like I keep hitting a wall any time I try to provide care in Victoria,害羞草研究所� Tura said. 害羞草研究所淧roviding care here seems like an impossible task. I have certainly seen a number of hospital doctors struggling with their payments and eventually leaving the job.害羞草研究所�

Tura previously worked in Brisbane, Australia for almost two years, where she was paid every week.

害羞草研究所淎ustralia is light years away from B.C.,害羞草研究所� Tura said. 害羞草研究所淚n the city, there are family doctors at every corner. The access to care is much easier. The Australian government partially or fully subsidizes most medications, as well as many of the allied members such as psychologists, dietitians, audiologists, chiropractors and physiotherapists. Hybrid care is available for medical services as well.害羞草研究所�

B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon, provincial Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau and Liberal health-care critic Shirley Bond have all spoken with Tura about this issue.

害羞草研究所淭hey are all very supportive,害羞草研究所� Tura said. 害羞草研究所淚 believe they have tried to bring this to the attention of the Ministry [of Health]. I haven害羞草研究所檛 seen any outcome yet.害羞草研究所�

Tura says Bond and Falcon are looking into the problem.

害羞草研究所淚n order to change, it would require the Ministry of Health to admit that the MSP payment method is flawed and to request MSP release payments immediately,害羞草研究所� Tura added.

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brendan.mayer@blackpress.ca
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