Physician compensation in the news

There has been a lot of attention in the media recently on physician compensation, particularly with the conflicts between government and physicians in Ontario and Quebec.

In BC, doctors who bill for providing health care services through the Medical Services Plan have their gross billings made public at the end of each fiscal year in the Medical Services Commission Financial Statement (more commonly known as the “Blue Book”). In an interview, Doctors of BC President, Dr Bill Cavers told host Gregor Craigie of CBC Victoria there is a common misconception that physicians’ compensation as shown in the blue book is the same as their income. “Physicians still need to pay their office rent, pay their staff, the medical equipment and office bills, which can take up to 40 – 50 per cent of their pay.” This is known as the doctor’s overhead and the percentages can vary depending on the types of services that doctors provide to patients.

Because doctors are paid through the publicly funded Medical Services Plan, Dr Cavers said it is appropriate that compensation information should be made available through the so-called blue book. He also agrees that doctors’ payments should be made public, however he also stresses that people must be aware what the raw numbers mean, “The numbers on the government website (Blue Book) are there without any explanation or context, and don’t give the whole story.”

Dr Cavers’ On the Island interview can be heard by visiting CBC Victoria on SoundCloud (about 7 minutes in length).