MSP billing and maximizing your negotiated benefits

Doctors of BC negotiates a number of benefits with the government of BC on behalf of all doctors in the province. Some of these negotiated benefits are based on a doctor’s year-end income which includes fee-for-service (FFS) and/or sessional payments by the Medical Services Plan (MSP), or through a non-salaried service contract in the prior calendar year. These benefits may help offset costs throughout your career and as you prepare for retirement.

Maximizing your negotiated benefits

To ensure that you maximize these negotiated benefits, it’s important to protect your earnings to avoid forfeiting the following benefits. 

• The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) Rebate Program
• The Continuing Medical Education (CME) Fund
• The Contributory Professional Retirement Savings Plan (CPRSP)
• The Parental Leave Program (PLP)
• The Physician Disability Insurance (PDI)

Depending on your practice agreements, MSP can only track a doctor's fee-for-service (FFS) earnings through either their personal practitioner number, which identifies the practitioner rendering the service; and/or a payment number and/or payee number, which identifies the person or group (e.g. clinic, hospital) to which payment is to be made. Read additional information about entering into an assignment of payment: Release of Information form: Gaining transparency for your Assignment of Payment agreement.

Preparing for an audit

It is important to keep in mind that all accountability and liability for any MSP claim is directly associated with the practitioner number. This means that any backdated payments required during an audit will be covered by the physician linked to the practitioner number; therefore, if a group of doctors file under the same practitioner number, the doctor whose number appears on the MSP claim assumes full responsibility of the services provided. Additionally, if a doctor bills under another doctor’s MSP number, that doctor will not receive a record of those earnings reported by MSP at year end, and therefore, forfeit the negotiated benefits discussed above. Learn more about MSP enrolment.  

To reduce the risk of an MSP billing audit, CMPA legal implications, or fee-for-service billings not captured under your Mini Practice Profiles, accurate billings practices are both required and worthwhile.

Additional resources 

Read more about Doctors of BC’s negotiated benefits and Mini Practice Profiles.