It’s Time to Talk: Advance Care Planning In British Columbia

March 2014
Aging Population | Policy Paper
Link 1.63 MB

Doctors of BC Position: Advance care planning is a process by which a capable adult talks over their beliefs, values, and wishes for health care with their close family/friend(s) and a health care provider in advance of a time when they may be incapable of deciding for themselves. Doctors of BC recommends that advance care planning can be expanded in BC by increasing training for healthcare providers, increasing awareness of existing advance care planning resources, integrating advance care plans with patient records, and improving communication between providers and patients with chronic and complex life-limiting illnesses.

Nurse Practitioners

October 2013
Allied Health | Policy Statement
Link 295 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Doctors of BC supports building a collaborative relationship with nurse practitioners (NPs) as part of a multidisciplinary approach to the provision of health care in BC. Maximizing the role of allied health professionals, including nurse practitioners, in the health system requires clear evidence-based processes for scope of practice changes that allows for stakeholder input and that respects well-defined titles such as “physician” or “doctor”.

Physician Assistants

October 2013
Allied Health | Policy Statement
Link 158.08 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Doctors of BC supports the establishment and deployment of physician assistants (PAs) in British Columbia. Doctors of BC recommends that PAs be recognized by the provincial government as a regulated profession, with regulatory oversight by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. Additionally accessible, affordable, and adequate liability coverage should be made available to and required of all PAs and the provincial government explore stable funding options for PAs.

Working Together: An Exploration of Professional Relationships in Medicine

September 2013
Allied Health | Policy Paper
Link 519.78 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Doctors of BC believes that professionalism and effective relationships in healthcare can be enhanced in healthcare provider organizations by clearly defining scope of practice and expected roles, and by health authorities and government working to promote and support collaborative relationships with physicians and other healthcare providers.

Implementing Mandatory Food Literacy Education

January 2013
Health Promotion & Public Health | Resolution

Doctors of BC Position: Doctors of BC calls on the BC Ministry of Education to implement mandatory food literacy education for all BC secondary school students, as part of the BC Education Plan.

Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs

January 2013
Pharmaceuticals | Policy Statement
Link 231.83 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Doctors of BC supports the prohibition on direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs as important to maintain and enforce in Canada. Doctors of BC supports the collaboration of government, health care providers, patient groups and drug manufactures to develop and provide accurate, unbiased prescription drug information to patients.

Closing the Gap: Youth Transitioning to Adult Care in BC

December 2012
Children and Youth | Policy Paper
Link 329.71 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Successful transition from pediatric to adult care is the provision of uninterrupted, coordinated, developmentally appropriate, and psychologically sound health care. Doctors of BC supports providing complex pediatric patients with access to a family physician from birth, developing individualized transition plans for pediatric patients graduating to adult care, and creating a method for ongoing tracking and evaluation of successful care transitions for youth.

Email Communication with Patients

November 2012
Digital Health | Policy Statement
Link 255.65 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Doctors of BC recognizes that email communication is a key component of virtual care and should be used only for transmitting information related to the provision or administration of care, and should be done within proper privacy and security protocols.

Ensuring Seamless Information Delivery to BC’s Electronic Medical Records: Achieving Interoperability

July 2012
Digital Health | Policy Statement
Link 198.89 KB

Doctors of BC Position: A challenge of information technology is interoperability among the various health systems in BC. To increase interoperability of electronic medical records (EMRs), leadership, funding, and support is needed so that information can move seamlessly between healthcare providers and healthcare organizations.

Wait Times and Patient Care Guarantees

February 2012
Access to Care | Policy Statement
Link 152.68 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Wait times continue to be an issue of significant concern in the BC health system. In order to guarantee patient care, Doctors of BC supports treating patients within established wait time benchmarks for key services and/or procedures, and this should be supported by the option to use another public or private facility if needed to meet the benchmark.

Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) in Health Care

February 2012
Funding and Compensation | Policy Statement
Link 177.09 KB

Doctors of BC Position: A public-private partnership (PPP or P3) is a contract between a public sector entity and a private sector entity. Doctors of BC believes that there is a role for public-private partnerships in healthcare – where privately delivered services and facilities are publicly funded – so long as they increase efficiency and meet high quality care standards.

Multidisciplinary Primary Care

August 2011
Allied Health | Policy Statement
Link 239.21 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Multidisciplinary primary care is an important component of a broader primary care approach designed to meet the challenges of the increasing prevalence of chronic disease, the growing needs of an aging population, and the ongoing concerns of patient access to primary care. To enhance multidisciplinary primary care in BC, Doctors of BC supports setting standards to guarantee patient safety and quality of care, funding to incorporate allied health providers, and physicians should have the option to operate in these teams as the clinical team leader.

Activity Based Funding

August 2011
Funding and Compensation | Policy Statement
Link 251.91 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Doctors of BC believes that activity-based funding should prioritize quality of care, should be developed collaboratively with stakeholders and healthcare providers, should be evidence based, and should be flexible in order to support innovation.

Medical Student and Resident Debit Relief

August 2011
Funding and Compensation | Policy Statement
Link 182.51 KB

Doctors of BC Position: To help reduce the impact of medical student debt Doctors of BC supports raising annual student loan limits to adequately cover expenses and tuition, deferring loan payments and interest accrual until residency training is completed, and offering debt relief incentives for new physicians who commit to practice in BC.

Emergency Department Overcrowding Policy Statement

July 2011
Access to Care | Policy Statement
Link 167.94 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Doctors of BC encourages the provincial government to mitigate emergency department wait times and overcrowding, by considering measures such as establishing maximum length of stay benchmarks, overcapacity protocols, bed optimization strategies, and expanding availability of functional acute care beds.

Improving Access to Acute Care Services

July 2011
Access to Care | Policy Statement
Link 208.81 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Due to an aging population and increasing case complexity, there is a growing need for access to acute care services. Doctors of BC calls on the provincial government to establish modeling for the supply of functional acute care beds, account for increased need for acute care beds, and provide the necessary infrastructure and resources to ensure patients timely access of acute care beds.

Doctors Today and Tomorrow: Planning British Columbia’s Physician Workforce

July 2011
Professional Satisfaction | Policy Paper
Link 1.31 MB

Doctors of BC Position: Physician workforce planning is key to meeting the evolving health needs of the BC population. Doctors of BC recommends establishing a multi-stakeholder committee including Doctors of BC, the Ministry of Health, and health authorities to better coordinate the development of physician resource plans and identify short and long term physician resource priorities. Workforce planning needs to be supported by a provincial framework for needs-based physician resource planning and a physician workforce database to provide a baseline for future planning.

Population Health

April 2011
Health Promotion & Public Health | Policy Paper
Link 179.38 KB

Doctors of BC Position: A population health approach recognizes that multiple factors contribute to the overall health of a population, and these factors are referred to as determinants of health. Doctors of BC supports increasing collaboration among government through a multi-stakeholder approach, prioritizing vulnerable populations, and supporting evidence-based preventative services. Population health initiatives should not come at the expense of the availability of acute care.

Public and Private Health Care

November 2010
Funding and Compensation | Policy Statement
Link 278.55 KB

Doctors of BC Position: To improve the speed and efficiency of BC’s health care system, Doctors of BC supports a publicly funded health care system and the use of public-private partnerships.

Valuing Quality: Patient-Focused Funding in British Columbia

September 2010
Funding and Compensation | Policy Paper
Link 481.43 KB

Doctors of BC Position: Within this paper, Doctors of BC refers to Patient-Focused Funding or PFF, which is any method of compensating providers (e.g., individual providers, hospitals) that uses incentives and supports to improve the appropriateness, quality, and efficiency of care for patients. To be successful, patient-focused funding models should be developed collaboratively with physicians, models should be monitored and evaluated, and they should be delivered with flexibility to respond to provider performance and evolving program goals.

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