Insurance Numbers

[Darla]

Hey folks

 

My partner asked me this question and I found myself at a loss. Med students are assigned billing numbers upon entering schools so that they can see patients right? And health care is provincial. So if we go out of province for school, how difficult is it to get a billing number when/if we return to our home province or is it automatic?

 

Thanks!

[TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Actually, medical students don't get billing numbers for the simple reason that medical students aren't allowed to bill (at least in Ontario, this is true). Residents (at least PGY-1s) don't recieve a billing number either for the same reason- it says quite clearly and in no uncertain terms that we are not allowed to charge a fee for services rendered (condition #3 on both our CPSO postgraduate education and registration certificates). We do, however, get a CPSO number, which allows us to prescribe drugs, specifically, limited use drugs, but does not allow us to bill.

Medical students are able to see patients so long as there is a supervising physician overseeing their work/placement. Supervising physicians get to bill for this (the work that their medical students (and residents) do on their behalf).

As for when we get a billing number, each province is different in terms of program/rotation/examination requirements. Some provinces allow moonlighting within the second years, while others require completion of two or more years (with specific requirements) in order to moonlight/bill. I'm not sure of the specific requirements for applying for and recieving a billing number, but that's the general idea.

As for transferring between provinces, since health care is regulated on a provincial basis, you'll need to apply to whatever provincial college you are interested in practicing in first for a license before you can start working there. A medical license in one province does not apply nationwide. Again, I'm not sure about billing numbers- since in Ontario, OHIP pays our bills, I'd assume that you'd also have to apply to the individual provincial college for one of those as well.

[Darla]

Ack, Billing numbers? Clearly my sinuses are taking over my brain cells.

 

It was the CPSO numbers and moving around I was curious about.

 

Thank you for your help TimmyMax!! You've answered my (intended) question.

[EMD]

AFAIK, the provincial (medical) colleges register medical students. When I went to UBC for an elective I had to fill-out a bunch of forms for the registrar of the provincial college. That said, I don't think the process is onerous and I don't think there are any issues in obtaining the required certificates/registration if you're in good standing --- with perhaps the exception of Quebec where (they may want some sort of language ability proof).

 

Doing med school in one province and residency in another isn't a problem generally-- as the MCCQE (Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination) is a national examination. The only sticking point may be language-- e.g. doing med school in English and doing residency in French or vice versa (perhaps cutieyellow can comment more on that one). In English Canada, I'm not aware of any barriers whatsoever-- if you can convince a residency program to take you... the provincial college doesn't care where in Canada you got your MD if you've passed the MCCQE part I.

[Darla]

Fantastic! That's incredibly reassuring.

 

Thank you for your help.

[TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

While it is true that the MCCQE is a national exam and the provincial colleges won't care where you wrote it (so long as you passed), you'll still need to apply to the respective provincial college that you match to for residency, even if you were from that province to begin with. That can be a bit annoying, as some of my classmates found out this past spring, as some provincial colleges are a little easier to deal with than others.