“We want to see the sickest patients and help them, rather than fill out administrative forms for insurance companies.”
That was the assertion made by Association des Médecins Omnipraticiens de Québec president Pascal Renaud in a report by CBC News that points to time being spent by doctors on filling out insurance-related forms, such as appointment referrals, instead of on actual consultations or treatments.
“It’s two hours a day of work, all the paperwork,” Renaud said. “That’s two hours we’re not seeing other patients.
“These are useless visits. As doctors, we want to see the sickest patients and help them rather than fill out administrative forms for insurance companies.”
Renaud was referring to appointments focused on patients getting their doctors to complete the required forms for referrals to services like physiotherapy and massage therapy.
Montreal-based Mathieu Isabel commented on such referrals: “The issue is when there are numerous requests to fill out repetitive forms that are extremely tedious for things that are not entirely medically necessary. On the day-to-day level, we keep seeing these requests from patients.”
In 2022, a Fédération des Médecins Omnipraticiens du Québec poll revealed doctors were spending 24% of their time completing insurance documents. In response to this poll, group benefits insurer Beneva adjusted its requirements.
At the time, Beneva executive vice president and group insurance leader Éric Trudel said: “We are pleased to help reduce the administrative burden of family physicians so that they can devote more time to the care of their patients, who are also, in many cases, our plan members.”
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