The Surrey-North Delta Division hosted four neighbourhood networking events in April, 2021 to explore and strengthen physician networks and FP-to-FP shared care.

FP-to-FP shared care is defined as a network of co-located or virtually connected physicians working in alignment to provide excellent patient care through collaboration and information sharing. The networks can be within a neighbourhood or across different neighbourhoods. Patients can be referred bi-directionally to other FPs within the network based on existing sub-specialties, to reduce the volume of specialist referrals and subsequently, reduce wait times. These FP-to-FP networks will help ease physicians' workload and reduce burnout as physicians won't need to provide 100% of the care to their patients all the time and will be able to leverage expertise and support from their colleagues. Other benefits of a robust FP-to-FP network can include vacation or parental leave; after-hours and weekend coverage; MOA or locum sharing; and group supplies’ purchasing, among others.

 

Here are some of the highlights from the neighbourhood networking sessions:

• FP-to-FP networks are important to alleviate isolation and burnout among physicians.
• Family physicians do not need to provide 100% of the care to 100% of their patients 100% of the time.
• Accepting referrals for a sub-specialty is a personal decision and will not impact physicians' autonomy.
• A referral to another family physician does not mean a new attachment. Physicians can send or accept a referral for a sub-specialty (for example, joint injection or a PAP test) and send patients back to their primary care provider for longitudinal care.
• Pathways can create a registry of physicians accepting referrals for a sub-specialty.
• There are billing codes available for FP-to-FP referral or consultation from a different clinic, in addition to the actual procedure or service that can be billed separately.
• There are family physicians currently accepting referrals for a sub-specialty in each neighbourhood.
• Physicians agreed that strong FP-to-FP networks would reduce the need to rely on limited PCN resources, and yet, still enable excellent provision of care for complex or high-needs patients.

 

Future FP to FP network discussions will focus on:

• FP referrals and consultations through EMR
• Billing codes available for FP consultation
• Pathways registry for sub-specialties.
• Identifying the existing and new sub-specialties in each neighbourhood
• Existing FP-to-FP networks and the link to proposed PCN resources

 

Join Us For Future Conversations

We encourage our members to join these ongoing discussions. They provide an opportunity to understand where we are in our journey and provide input towards the implementation of PCN in Surrey-North Delta. If you are interested in joining these neighbourhood network discussions, please contact your PES Lead.

 

North Delta & West Newton 

Saira Abrar

sabrar@divisionsbc.ca

(604) 365-0764

Guildford & North Surrey 

Alan Huang

alanhuang@divisionsbc.ca

(778) 708-0206

Cloverdale/ Panorama/ East Newton & Fleetwood

Lape Ogunsulire

(778) 238-9146

logunsulire@divisionsbc.ca