Ontario proposals on OHIP billing are a proven failure that will hurt patients
2019-11-18 from thestar.com
Ontario doctors support an OHIP billing system that is accountable, fair and transparent.
But, as the old saying goes, the devil is in the details. Certainly the details of proposed legislation released by the provincial government in its Fall Economic Statement came as a surprise to us in the medical profession. The proposed legislation:
Gives people with no medical background the right to decide whether or not a procedure was followed correctly, making doctors hesitate to order tests, diagnosis and treatment options they believe their patients may need.
- Allows people who are not doctors to access private patient medical records.
- Allows a civil servant to use any method to recover money from a physician without a hearing.
- Puts the onus on doctors to prove they have followed the rules.
- Allows a civil servant to decide whether or not a doctor is being “co-operative” and suspend OHIP payments.
- Allows the government to unilaterally cancel contracts of doctors who working in teaching hospitals or academic settings.
- Lets the government publish the names and details of an audit of a physician, a public shaming that has had disastrous consequences in the past.
Simply put, the provincial government will treat every doctor in Ontario as guilty until proven innocent.
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