COVID-19 New Fee Codes & Updates for BC Family Physicians

There are 3 new time-limited fee codes that have been created for family physicians practising in BC. Two of these codes are similar to existing GPSC fees but aim to increase your ability to provide virtual care, while the last one aims to encourage communication between providers during the COVID pandemic.

The 3 new fee codes are effective as of March 27th, 2020 (until further notice)

• T13706 FP Delegated Patient Telehealth Management Fee (similar to G14076)

• T13707 FP Email/Text/Telephone Medical Advice Relay or ReRX Fee (similar to G14078)

• T13708 FP COVID-19 communication with specialist and/or allied care provider (new fee code)

T13706 and T13707 Highlights:

• No annual limits on the number of fee codes you can submit.

• For T13707, Prescription renewal is billable without a patient interaction.

• These new temporary fee codes are available to any family physician (this means you can use them even if you haven’t submitted 14070 and 14071).

• Ability to delegate some virtual care with use of new codes T13706 or T13707.

Full Fee Code Details:

T13706 FP Delegated Patient Telehealth Management Fee. $20.00

Guidelines:

• For verbal, real-time telephone or video technology communication discussion between your patient or your patient’s medical representative and a College-certified allied care provider (e.g.: Nurse, Nurse Practitioner) employed within a physician’s practice.
  Not payable when the delegated representative is paid or funded by alternate means by a health authority or the Ministry of Health.

• Chart entry must record the name of the person who communicated with the patient or patient’s medical representative, as well as capture the elements of care discussed.

• Not payable for prescription renewals, anti-coagulation therapy by telephone (00043) or notification of appointments or referrals.

• Only one service payable per patient per day.

• Not payable on the same calendar day when you bill for a visit or service fee for the same patient.

• Not payable if you’re working under salary, service contract or sessional arrangements (as your duties would already include this care).

T13707 FP Email/Text/Telephone Medical Advice Relay or ReRX Fee. $7.00

Guidelines:

• Email/Text/Telephone Relay Medical Advice requires two-way relay/communication of medical advice from you (the physician) to eligible patients, or the patient’s medical representative, via email/text or telephone. The task of relaying your advice may be delegated to any Allied Care Provider or MOA working within the physician practice.

• Chart entry must record the name of the person who communicated with the  patient or patient’s medical representative, as well as the advice provided, modality of communication and confirmation the advice has been received.

• Payable for prescription renewals without patient interaction.

• Not payable for anti-coagulation therapy by telephone (00043) or notification of appointments or referrals.

• Only one service payable per patient per day.

• Not payable on the same calendar day when you bill for a visit or service fee for the same patient.

• Not payable if you’re working under salary, service contract or sessional arrangements (as your duties would already include this care).

T13708 FP COVID-19 communication with specialist and/or allied care provider. $40.00

Guidelines:

• Payable if you participates in a 2 way telephone or videoconference communication with a specialist and/or allied care provider about a patient regarding COVID-19.

• T13708 cannot be delegated. It’s only payable when you speak with a specialist and/or allied care provider.

• Payable in addition to any visit fee on the same day.

• Not payable for communications which occur as a part of the performance of routine rounds on the patient if located in a facility, or communications which occur as part of regular work flow within your community practice.

• Not payable in addition to 14018 or 14077 on the same day for the same patient.

• Not payable if you’re working under salary, service contract or sessional arrangements (as your duties would already include this care).

Additional Resources

Check out the ‘Billing Question FAQ document’ by BC Family Doctors with some of the most common billing questions for family medicine fee codes and GPSC incentive fees related to billing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doctors of BC Webinar on fee changes for fam
ily physicians:  Tuesday, April 7 at 6:00 p.m. PT

To support family physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic, GPSC billing experts will walk through the April 1 changes, any COVID-19 related fee changes that affect family physicians, and Pathways tools for COVID-19 care.

Topic: GPSC changes for April 2020 and COVID-19 fee changes for family physicians

Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Time: 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time

Register here

If, at any time, you have any questions regarding the available fee codes, or under what situation you can use them, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’ve extended our support hours and are here to help. Please check back to the COVID-19 Resource centre for more updates. For more on virtual care check out our Virtual Care Guide during COVID-19.

This article offers general information only and is not intended as legal, financial or other professional advice. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. While information presented is believed to be factual and current, its accuracy is not guaranteed and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the author(s) as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by RBC Ventures Inc. or its affiliates.

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