RACE
For any RACE inquiries, please email race@providencehealth.bc.ca.
If you need to connect with a Specialist, please use the RACE App or call 604-696-2131.
RACE (Rapid Access to Consultative Expertise) is a novel strategy to enhance patient care. For traditional referrals, patients often wait months to see a specialist, however minor advice may be all that is needed. An educational interaction with knowledge transfer is encouraged when the specialist answers the call. In the spirit of “capacity building”, specialists are recruited for their interest in teaching and communication as well as their recognition as key opinion leaders. Compensation for physicians is via fee-for-service billing. While any FP could call any specialist, prior to RACE, it was on a “catch me if you can” basis and there was no guarantee that a specialist could be contacted or would call back in a timely manner. The RACE line provides structure to promote easy accessibility while allowing for sustainability through an organized rotation. Patients may have their healthcare issue dealt with in their FP office instead of needing to see a specialist. This will often render face-to-face consultation or referral to an emergency department unnecessary.
RACE Provides
- Timely guidance and advice regarding assessment, management and treatment of patients
- Assistance with plan of care Teaching opportunities — educational and practical advice
- Enhanced ability for FPs to manage patients in their offices
- Calls returned within two hours and commonly within an hour
RACE Does Not Provide
- Appointment booking and expedited referral
- Results of diagnostic investigations to the referring physician
- Arrangement of:
- Transfers within 24 hours
- Laboratory or diagnostic investigations
- A hospital bed
Update on the Vancouver Island RACE Service:
The Vancouver Island RACE Service has been providing direct communication between GPs and SPs for almost 3 yrs. The service has grown from the initial 4 specialties and now provides numerous local and provincially covered specialties (see below). That said we would like to expand our local RACE coverage. Please let us know if you have a Specialty you would like us to approach to solicit their interest and availability. We would also like to solicit any feedback that may help us to enhance the service.
Reminders:
- RACE coverage hours: 9am – 5pm, Mon-Fri **No coverage provided in the evenings or stat holidays
- Please ensure that you “COMPLETE” the calls via the App once you receive the callback from the Specialist
Below is a list of the specialties currently providing coverage:
| VANCOUVER ISLAND (LOCAL) | PROVINCIAL |
| Cardiology | Addictions Medicine |
| Chronic Pain | Addictions - Perinatal |
| Gastroenterology | Allergy |
| General Internal Medicine | Cardiac Transplant |
| Geriatrics | Child & Adolescent Psychiatry |
| Gynecology | COVID - GIM - Post-Infection Care |
| Hematology | HIV Care, Treatment, Prophylaxis |
| Infectious Diseases | Infectious Diseases - COVID-19 (Clinical) |
| Maternity FP Specialists | Infectious Diseases - Pediatric |
| Palliative | Infectious Diseases - Tropical & Post-Travel |
| Pediatrics | Medical Assistance in Dying Advice |
| Plastic Surgery | Medical Refugee Health |
| Psychiatry - Adult | Medical Termination of Pregnancy Advice |
| Psychiatry - Geriatrics | Orthopedic Conditions - Pediatric |
| Psychiatry - Sexual Medicine | Palliative Care |
| Rheumatology | Parkinson's Disease and Other Movement Disorders |
| Cardiac Transplant | |
| Pediatric Gastroenterology | |
| Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation | |
| Psychiatry - Eating Disorders | |
| Psychiatry - Perinatal | |
| Rheumatology - Pediatric | |
| Sexual Assault Service | |
| Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) | |
| Sleep Disorders | |
| Thrombosis | |
| Trans Gender Care | |
| Urology | |
| Vascular Surgery | |
| WorkSafeBC |
If you are a family physician or nurse practitioner interested in signing up for RACE, click here to complete your registration. RACE can be accessed via desktop computer, laptop, or mobile devices.
You can also download RACEApp+ on your smartphone or tablet via the following links:
For more information, please email race@providencehealth.bc.ca
RACE Resources
General:
For family physicians:
For specialists:
- RACE user manual
- Billing to G10001 for a RACE call
- Updated Specialist Services Committee Fees (effective November 1, 2015)