In response to requests from maternity care providers to create a fee to better support early prenatal care, GPSC is announcing the new maternity risk assessment fee.
At a glance: The Maternity Care Risk Assessment Fee
| What is it? | $50 (in addition to a visit) for a maternity care risk assessment based on the BC antenatal record. |
| Why it was created? | In response to requests from maternity providers to recognize the additional work of conducting a maternity risk assessment based on the BC Antenatal Record and to support improved prenatal care. |
| Who does it apply to? |
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| What does it cover? |
Payable in addition to an in-person visit. A Maternity Care Risk Assessment includes but is not limited to the following:
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| How is it billed? | The fee is payable once per pregnancy per patient, unless care is transferred to a second provider. |
| When will it be available? |
The new fee is expected to be available in early April 2022. |
Detailed Information
Continuing the theme of increased support for family physicians that began with last month’s significant increase to the Community Longitudinal Family Physician (CLFP) payment, a new fee from GPSC seeks to recognize some of the increased time, intensity, and complexity of undertaking maternity care risk assessments for pregnant patients.
Available starting in April 2022, the Maternity Care Risk Assessment fee will pay eligible family doctors an additional $50 for undertaking maternity care risk assessments based on the BC Antenatal Record.
This fee is payable to a community longitudinal family physician (CLFP) who is the patient’s MRP (Most Responsible Provider), or a family physician who will provide the majority of the patient’s maternity care and is registered in a maternity network.
This new fee adds to GPSC’s existing programs for family doctors who provide maternity care— initiatives that have largely targeted family physicians providing delivery services during labour and birth. GPSC’s new Maternity Care Risk Assessment fee provides additional support to family doctors providing delivery services as well as the broader group of family doctors who provide a wider range of maternity care services.
GPSC’s existing programs for family doctors providing maternity care include:
- Maternity Care for BC (MC4BC) supports family doctors in strengthening their obstetrical knowledge and skills through hands-on experience, peer mentorship, and financial compensation.
- Maternity Network Initiative provides financial compensation to support groups of family physicians working together to provide care to pregnant patients in their community through all phases, including delivery.
- Family physician obstetrical delivery premiums provide additional financial compensation to support family physicians providing delivery and in-hospital post-natal care.
Who is eligible?
The new fee is designed to support family physicians providing maternity care to patients:
- Community longitudinal family physicians (CLFPs) and their locums who provide prenatal care to their patients, but may not provide delivery services.
- CLFPs (and their locums) and non-CLFP family physicians who provide the full spectrum of maternity services including prenatal care, management of labour and delivery and post-partum care.
The new fee is payable to:
- MRP family physicians who have successfully submitted and met the requirements for the CLFP Portal Code (14070) in the same calendar year; or,
- Locum family physicians who are covering for MRP family physicians when using this fee code, and have successfully submitted and met the requirements for the Locum CLFP Portal Code (14071) in the same calendar year; or,
- Family physicians registered in a Maternity Network.
What is the value of fee?
The fee is valued at $50 – similar to the existing personal health risk assessment fee (14066).
What activities does the fee support?
The new fee is intended to pay for maternity risk assessments based on the BC Antenatal Record, including the review of gestation-age appropriate screening interventions, pregnancy risks, and patient comorbidities. A maternity care risk assessment includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Reviewing history including present pregnancy, medical history, family history, lifestyle/social concerns, and medications/supplements.
- Screening for use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other substances.
- Informed consent discussion of options for prenatal genetic screening, and/or follow up discussion/testing as appropriate for the patient’s age, gestational age, and local resources available.
- Reviewing co-morbidities and other risk factors as they may arise during the pregnancy.
When is the fee payable?
- Payable once per pregnancy per patient except in the case where a patient transfers their total ongoing prenatal care to another physician. The second physician also may charge a Maternity Care Risk Assessment, as rendered. To facilitate payment, the reason for transfer should be stated with the claim. Temporary substitution of one physician for another physician (e.g. days off, vacation) is not be considered as a patient transfer.
- The fee is payable in addition to a visit (home of office) on the same day if medically required, provided the visit does not take place during a time interval that overlaps with the maternity care risk assessment.
- The fee is not payable to physicians working under an alternative payment/funding model whose duties would otherwise include provision of this service.