On Call Duties As A Family Doc?

[darknebula]

Hi there,

 

I am wondering how a typical solo or group family practice in a  major or mid sized urban setting deal with providing after hours/on call coverage for their set of patients? Is this a must? do most offices have to do it? 

 

I came across this article: https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/pdf/PSG-After-Hours-Coverage.pdf

 

It makes it seem that an office cannot just put on a voice mail directing their patients to go to the nearest emergency dept....

 

Thanks in advance for all the replies! 

[JohnGrisham]

Hi there,

 

I am wondering how a typical solo or group family practice in a  major or mid sized urban setting deal with providing after hours/on call coverage for their set of patients? Is this a must? do most offices have to do it? 

 

I came across this article: https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/pdf/PSG-After-Hours-Coverage.pdf

 

It makes it seem that an office cannot just put on a voice mail directing their patients to go to the nearest emergency dept....

 

Thanks in advance for all the replies! 

That is exactly what they are doing more often than not in BC - and they shouldn't, as per the CPSBC policy..

 

Until the college actually puts some bite into their policies, many FM docs these days do not provide much call coverage for their patients, at least in BC in metropolitan centres. They use the ability to fade into the background due to the large number of docs. Older docs and rural docs tend to be better about providing call coverage/after-hours.