Quebec tightens obligations of family medicine groups
Posted December 18, 2024 11:09 am.
Family medicine groups (GMF) will have to reserve a minimum number of spots for patients with a minor health problem who receive a referral from the emergency room.
This is one of the new obligations being imposed on GMFs by Quebec’s Health Ministry as part of a new program announced on Wednesday.
Quebec says it believes that providing time slots to treat patients who come to the emergency room with a minor health problem will allow these patients to be treated more quickly.
In addition, up to 20 per cent of the annual GMF funding will be conditional on certain factors, like the attendance rate – which measures how easily a patient can get an appointment with their doctor, and the number of referral slots offered by primary care doctors and nurse practitioners.
However, GMFs will have more freedom to hire their own human resources staff.
The changes to the funding and professional support program will come into effect on April 1, 2025.
FMGs are groups of family doctors and other healthcare professionals.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
