Labor Minister Jean Boulet plans to amend his bill on medical paperwork to impose a standardized insurance form as requested by medical associations.
“The number, complexity and length of the forms that doctors had to complete can vary from one insurance company to another. It constitutes a burden that is particularly difficult for doctors,” the minister said in an interview with Duty Wednesday.
The subject is at the heart of Bill 68, which aims to reduce “the administrative burden on doctors” and thus free up time for patients.
In fact, the famous “paperwork” takes up between 20% and 25% of family doctors’ time, according to the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ).
The bill limits the circumstances in which a doctor’s note is required. After a consultation by the insured in physiotherapy or psychology, for example, an insurer would be prohibited from requiring an additional document from the doctor.
During the consultations in parliamentary committee, several medical associations asked the minister to broaden the scope of his bill. The Fédération des médecins spécialisé (FMSQ), in particular, said that its members had to fill out a multitude of forms from insurance companies that, “although fulfilling the same function, vary from one to another.” The FMSQ had recommended adopting a single form to replace them all.
Standardized and simplified
It is in this context that the minister intends to take advantage of the resumption of the study of the bill on Thursday to present an amendment on the single form. Concretely, this would give the Minister of Health the power to impose such a form.
Jean Boulet also wants the content to be simplified by limiting in the law the information it could contain.
“Ultimately, the goal is to enable […] better access to health care because it will free up time,” he says.
According to estimates made by the government, the bill could free up 600,000 medical appointments per year in Quebec.
A target about which doctors were sceptical in parliamentary committee.
The FMOQ, which has long deplored the paperwork imposed on its members, argued that doctors often filled out these documents outside of working hours. Consequently, it argued, the approach would not change much in the appointment offer.
Less doctor’s paperwork
Bill 68 already limits the cases in which an employer can demand a medical document to justify an absence.
It will no longer be possible to request one “for the first three absences of a period of three consecutive days or less taken annually.” During the consultations, the FMOQ had requested that this period be extended to five consecutive days, but this proposal was not retained.
The measure is aimed at preventing people from needing to be seen by a doctor for common health problems, such as flu or gastroenteritis.