Inpatient Care

FPSC provides significant support, with individual physician payments as well as inpatient care network and other funding through the Divisions to help care for both assigned and unassigned patients in hospital.

Resources:

For more information about FPSC supports, please email fp.billing@doctorsofbc.ca.

FPSC funding administered by the Divisions of Family Practice

FPSC On-Call/Availability Funding for Inpatient Care—available starting April 1, 2026.

What is the FPSC On-Call/Availability Funding for Inpatient Care and when will it be available?

Starting in April 2026, the FPSC On-Call/Availability Funding for Inpatient Care will be available to support family physicians to work together to provide on-call availability to hospital inpatients. This funding will provide an amount of $182,000 (aligned with MOCAP level 2) per hospital for 24 hours/7 days per week/365 days per year. The funding will be administered by local Divisions of family practices. Divisions can apply for additional funding to support the administration cost of operating call groups. 

More details about the FPSC On-Call/Availability Funding for Inpatient Care will be shared once available.

Can family physicians receive more than one on-call/availability payment if they are providing on-call coverage for inpatient and long-term care at the same time?

Effective April 2026, when the FPSC On-Call/Availability Funding for inpatient care is introduced, the maximum on-call payment for physicians covering both inpatient care and LTC at the same time will increase to up to 1.5 times the maximum cap for an individual service (based on current weekly/daily maximum parameters).

Divisions can also submit proposals to repurpose existing unspent on-call/availability funds for the Long-term Care Initiative (LTCI) as part of FPSC’s commitment to flexibility when meeting community service needs. This includes physician sessional payments for quality improvement (QI) and leadership, and/or physician payments for attachment stipends, first available bed, and recruitment incentives. Unspent funds must be allocated to physician payments only.  
 
Please contact FPSCLTCI@doctorsofbc.ca for details on the process for submitting these proposals.  
 
Unspent on-call/availability funds for inpatient care can be repurposed specifically to support inpatient care activities. More details about the FPSC On-Call/Availability Funding for inpatient care will be shared as soon as they become available.

FPSC Strategic Development Funding—available starting April 1, 2026.

The Strategic Development Funding is available from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027 and is intended to support physicians to maintain inpatient care services that are at significant risk, and to engage local partners (e.g. health authority) to address compensation and non-compensation issues impacting physician retention and recruitment.

The FPSC will work with communities to determine their eligibility and funding amounts required. Please reach out to fp.billing@doctorsofbc.ca for more information.

 

Payments directly to family physicians

Assigned Inpatient Care Network Payment (previously 14086)

The Assigned Inpatient Care Network Payment is payable to family physicians (FPs) who provide inpatient care services for their own and colleagues’ patients (assigned) in hospital facilities. Starting April 1, 2026, eligible FPs who meet the eligibility criteria can receive $3,200 per quarter (up to $12,800 per year). The Rural Retention Program fee premium will also be applied for physicians in eligible rural communities. Physicians who submit their claim forms by the specified deadlines below can expect to receive their quarterly instalments by the respective payment dates:

Note:For retroactive claims prior to April 1, 2026, the network payment amount is $2,100 per quarter (up to $8,400 per year).

Payment period

Claim form received on or before

Payment to be made no later than

January 1 - March 31, 2026

February 6, 2026

March 13, 2026

April 1 – June 30, 2026

May 1, 2026

June 15, 2026

July 1 – September 30, 2026

August 1, 2026

September 15, 2026

October 1 – December 31, 2026

November 1, 2026

December 15, 2026

Eligibility Requirements 

To be eligible as a member of an Assigned Inpatient Care Network, FPs must meet the following eligibility criteria:  

  • Be a Family Physician in active practice in BC
  • Have active hospital privileges to provide inpatient care 
  • Be associated and registered with a minimum of three other network members (special consideration will be given to those hospital communities with fewer than four doctors providing inpatient care).
  • Each doctor must provide MRP care to at least 24 admitted patients over the course of a year; networks may average this number across their total members.
  • Cooperate with other members of the network to undertake all activities of a “clinical network”, including making arrangements for member(s) to provide clinically appropriate care to patients of the network.
    • A clinical network is defined as a group of clinical providers working together to:

      • Arrange clinically appropriate care to patients (24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year). This may be done by:

        • Setting up a call group to enable patient access to clinically appropriate care.

        • Arranging for cross-coverage and/or locum coverage when provider(s) are away.

      • Share clinical records or other relevant information to support the continuity of care when patient care transitions from one provider to another.

      • Provide peer support to other providers in the network.

Payment is payable for participation in the network activity for most of the calendar quarter (50% plus 1 day). 

Please note that physicians who are substituting on a temporary basis for another physician who is away from practice for a defined time-period are not eligible to claim this payment. In these situations, host physician can continue to claim the payment directly and distribute it to their locum physician based on internal arrangements.  

Physicians who provide services on a long-term basis (e.g., as a “practice associate” or “long term locum”) may claim this payment directly, provided they meet all eligibility requirements. If you have questions about your eligibility for this payment, please contact fp.billing@doctorsofbc.ca. 

Steps to claim payment

Eligible physicians will receive an invitation email in January 2026 with instructions for claiming the payment, as well as a quarterly email confirming that they continue to meet the eligibility criteria. If you believe you are eligible for this payment but have not received an invitation email, please review the FPSC Network Payment FAQs and contact fp.billing@doctorsofbc.ca to inquire about your eligibility. 

Family physicians who no longer meet the requirements of the Assigned Inpatient Care network payment must submit the FPSC Network Payment Practice Change Declaration form or contact fp.billing@doctorsofbc.ca to be removed from the network.

To retroactively claim the Assigned Inpatient Care Network fee (14086) prior to April 1, 2025, please review our FPSC Network Payment FAQs for instructions and/or contact fp.billing@doctorsofbc.ca for further instructions. 

Unassigned Inpatient Care Fee 14088—remains payable for FPs on fee-for-service

This fee pays $150 per hospital admission to the physician who accepts MRP status for the unassigned inpatient’s hospital stay. 14088 remains payable to family physicians who do not opt into the LFP Payment Model for inpatient care and remain on fee-for-service. 14088 is not payable to physicians remunerated by the LFP Payment Model for inpatient care.

Please review the eligibility criteria for 14088 in the FPSC Inpatient Care Billing Guide. Please contact fp.billing@doctorsofbc.ca with any questions. 

Updated March 21, 2025