The expansion of the BC health registry aims to connect patients with general practitioners: minister
VICTORIA – British Columbia is expanding a province-wide registration program in an effort to connect more patients with available primary care physicians, Health Secretary Adrian Dix said Wednesday.
Launched on July 1, the new Democratic government’s expanded Health Connect Registry aims to make it easier for BC patients to get a GP or nurse specialist in their community by signing up for a primary care provider, he told a news conference.
Dix said he’s not making any promises about how many people doctors will find, but progress will be measured and regular public updates will be provided starting this fall.
“This gives patients a place to go if they need a GP,” he said.
“It allows us, not just in survey terms, to understand the challenge, but to help people and families with their desire to get a primary care physician.”
The number of people without a GP in BC has fallen from 980,000 in 2021 to about 895,000, but the number is still too high, Dix said.
“I don’t make predictions,” he said. “I am hopeful that we are making progress.”
Dix said the registry provides the BC government with a list of people looking for primary care physicians, people who have primary care physicians, as well as providers and clinics that are accepting new patients.
BC residents can now register themselves and their families, Dix said, while doctors and nurse specialists will join the platform and upload their patient list.
“This will of course give us the opportunity together to connect more patients with more doctors and more nurses in the future,” he said.
Recent government programs to attract and retain primary care physicians in BC through a new fee model have seen 3,300 signups, while 156 new primary care physicians have signed up for a new practice incentive program, Dix said.
The new model developed by the county and BC’s doctors, representing BC’s 14,000 physicians, residents and medical students, addressed the shortage of primary care physicians by addressing challenges in the fee-for-service system, said the minister earlier this year.
GPs were forced to become business people, which is especially unattractive to many younger doctors, he said at the time.
The new model sought to reduce the administrative burden GPs face, he said, by giving them more time with their patients and compensating them for spending extra time, especially on patients with complex needs.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 5, 2023.
