Spouse to a Family Physician, Dad to 2 amazing children, Founder & CEO. Helping organizations, companies & individuals to deploy technology to solve problems.
Vancouver, BC, Canada!
Joined December 2021
- Tweets1.3K
- Following147
- Followers102
- Likes2.4K
Steven Izen retweeted
The real tragedy with BC's health system?
Deliberate lack of transparency means almost nobody knows how broadly dysfunctional it is.
And how little we know about the low productivity and ineffectiveness of the massive resources devoted to it.
Things could be so much better.
Steven Izen retweeted
So maddening. THIS kinda misleading noise does such harm. 👇
VERY obviously vaccines safety already studied! Mountains & decades of data. Thousands of researchers work in space. National surveillance programs. Independent entities assessing safety. Etc.
It is also an example of the motte & bailey fallacy. Conflate the hard to defend (antivaxx noise) with easy to defend ("You are against safe vaccines? You monster!").
Vaccines have saved 150 million + lives in past 50 years, mostly kids: who.int/news/item/24-04-2024… cc @picardonhealth @UbakaOgbogu
It's not just Alberta—this issue affects all of Canada. The gap between fees paid to family doctors and inflation has grown so wide that family medicine is becoming financially unsustainable & less appealing as a career.
We must advocate for fair fees to reverse this trend.
Since 2010, Alberta physicians have seen fee increases of just under 9%, while inflation has soared nearly 39%. This growing gap impacts fairness and sustainability.
At SMYLS, we’re here to help physicians bridge this inequity.
#FairCompensation #SupportPhysicians
The QB Gov plans to use the Notwithstanding Clause to force Drs trained in the pros to stay. Instead of addressing Canada’s Dr shortage at its root—two decades of underpaying physicians.
theglobeandmail.com/canada/a…
Every physician in BC should read and share Mark’s letter.
markroseman.com/docs/
Admin burden is only an issue because of how poorly Family Drs are remunerated. The shortage of FDs is not caused by excess paperwork, it's directly caused by 20yrs of sub-inflationary increases. FM has become financially unviable. The admin burden is the symptom not the disease
Canada needs more family doctors. Unfortunately, administrative burden is a huge deterrent against medical students entering family medicine. Let’s help physicians get back to seeing more patients, and doing less paperwork. thestar.com/opinion/contribu…
Steven Izen retweeted
Do you think pay for family docs (FPs) in BC is a "solved" problem because of LFP, minus a few details?
Think again.
The scenario below shows "good" FPs always lose financially to "bad" FPs, often by quite a bit.
And "bad" FPs cost the system MUCH more, as illustrated.
Steven Izen retweeted
It’s not enough to cover costs. If Family Practice is not profitable, what is the incentive to say in, join or open a clinic?
Continued below inflation increases to fees will push more doctors out of family medicine and pave the way for private pay clinics
Steven Izen retweeted
that is because they don’t see the 20+ yrs of sub-inflationary increases that FDs have suffered. Forcing them to take pay cuts every yr.
The concept of the LFP is good, but $25/visit +130/hr is terrible,.. and panel payment is silly.
2x fess + retropay for past 20yrs
Steven Izen retweeted
Teams has some great potential. But we can't even pay our Family Doctors properly. The studies also show team base care is more $
Family Drs have taken forced pay cuts every year for 20+ years, due to fee increases below inflation.
Let's fix that, then talk about teams :)
Steven Izen retweeted
The LFP in concept a good idea, but it still a sub-inflationary increase after 20 years of fee erosion. Forcing yearly pay cuts isn't fair. A rate of $50/encounter + $260/hr would be more appropriate, and inline with FD education, responsibility, stress, and current economy.
… and compare the increase to what was giving to doctors that provide the care
Steven Izen retweeted
In case it's not obvious, I find the govt's latest announcement about opening a dozen new "First Nation Primary Care Centres" absolutely disgusting.
It's not because we're doing a good job providing care to First Nations people, many of whom do have unique needs and challenges and who benefit from care provided by people who can recognize and address those needs.
We're doing a horrible job at it and we should be doing much better. For all kinds of reasons.
The current level of health care provided to First Nations should make everyone very uncomfortable and be an acute source of international embarrassment for all of us.
It's disgusting because this announcement isn't about that. It's about cynical pre-election politics.
Here's the reality. These centres will be understaffed and not deliver anywhere close to the primary care services required or even implied by the announcement.
Get ready for more primary care centres that likely won't even have a doctor or nurse practitioner available most of the time.
You'd never open a center that wouldn't actually do what it says it will, would you? Yes, yes they would. And they've done it dozens of times with the Urgent and Primary Care Centres.
Want evidence, from the government's own data? See bcupcc.ca/performance
Making more empty promises to First Nations to score votes is bad enough. Throwing away money that could be better spent to deliver real care is bad enough.
No, what's really disgusting is that these damn centres will be used as evidence of how much the NDP govt is committed to First Nations health.
And as an excuse not to make real investments that deliver real results. Because they've already spent however many millions of dollars on this.
This isn't about providing desperately needed health care to First Nations peoples. It's about using them as window-dressing for yet another political stunt.
100% Agree.
Family Doctors have to advocate and educate what exactly the value of primary care is, their role in it, and their value physicians.
While @BCFamilyDoctors, @DoctorsOfBC, and @bcndp celebrate the LFP, Family Doctors are still struggling to make ends meet and keep their practices open after 20+ years of fee increases that haven’t kept up with inflation.
Family Drs deserve 2x fees + retroactive pay.
This quoted post is unavailable.
Steven Izen retweeted
I'm glad you said "first" step but I question "huge."
Are you okay that primary care at UPCCs costs several times what indie family docs get?
That OVERHEAD at UPCCs by pt. volume can be as much or more than most family docs bill in total?
And they have less responsibility?
Steven Izen retweeted
100% Agree.
We've seen the impact of 20 years of declining pay on access.
The most obvious solution to any labor shortage? Increase pay to attract new Family Drs & retain current.
This will boost attachment, reduce ER visits, and cuts hospitalizations. It's a no-brainer.
#9 Start to pay all Family Doctors with the highest possible remuneration to attract new FD’s, keep existing FD’s and provide the best possible Longitudinal Healthcare for all BC.
While provincial governments have been dragging their feet on fair pay for Family Doctors, SMYLS has stepped in, helping Family Doctors boost revenue by more than the last 20 years of fee increases combined.
Now that's progress! Well done :)
