A question occasionally arises as to how Magenta Health physicians are compensated by OHIP for the medical care that they provide.

The traditional way that most family doctors in Canada are compensated is what is called "fee-for-service". Every time a doctor provides medical services that fall within a certain basket of services, they are able to bill the provincial insurance agency (e.g. OHIP) a certain amount.

An alternative that Ontario used to promote until very recently is a different model where instead of "fee-for-service", family doctors could be compensated on a "per-patient" basis. In this model, patients sign up to a particular family doctor, and for the most part, the family doctor is compensated a fixed periodic amount regardless of the actual services provided.

There's obviously many nuanced differences between these two models which policy wonks love to debate. Broadly speaking, the "per-patient" model is thought to incentivize family doctors to focus on helping patients stay healthy and to focus on preventative care. The "per-patient" model also enables remote care since, traditionally, family doctors would not be compensated for any care provided by email or phone, whereas the "per-patient" model allows family doctors to provide care via the most appropriate channel.

Most Magenta Health physicians operate on the "per-patient" model, and this is the core reason that we're able to provide as much remote care as we do. Notably, this is also the reason why we regularly submit invoices to OHIP for all patients enrolled with a Magenta Health physician, even if they haven't come into the clinic recently, and why it's important that we always have your up-to-date health card information. Thus, even if you haven't seen your Magenta Health physician recently, we may still email you to ask for your updated information, particularly when an invoice that we submit to OHIP has been rejected.