Province Enhances Need a Doctor Registry
Nova Scotia’s Minister of Health announced a new component to the Need a Family Practice Registry which may help more people get the care they need sooner.
Michelle Thompson says, “We are taking steps to improve the outdated registry and provide information about care options.”
The registry will now allow people to add health information to their personal profiles. Officials say the detail will be used to direct patients to services, resources, and care options in their community.
Adding health information is voluntary and will now be part of the process when people sign up. Anyone who is currently on the list will be contacted by Nova Scotia Health by email, letter, or phone and encouraged to update their health profile.
Profiles can be updated online at https://needafamilypractice.nshealth.ca/ or by calling 1-833-941-0040.
The information will only be used and shared to help find a family practice and to identify services that best match people's needs. Any information collected, used or shared follows the Personal Health Information Act and will be handled and stored locally and securely to protect it from unauthorized access or disclosure.
Health profiles will also be used to support a new incentive for family doctors with an office-based practice. Physicians who accept 50 patients with higher needs from the registry will receive $10,000. For each additional patient accepted, they will receive $200.
The incentive will be offered between July 1 and October 31st.
The registry will continue to be organised by community and people listed in chronological order based on when they registered.
The President of Doctors Nova Scotia says, “Triaging patients based on medical conditions adds a much-needed nuance to the Need a Family Practice Registry.” Dr. Colin Audain added, “That will help those on the list who have the most urgent need to have access sooner.”
As of early June, there were 148,431 people on the registry. About 800 family doctors in Nova Scotia have on office-based family medicine practice.
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