Billing Supports and Connected Care Advocacy Win

Billing Supports and Connected Care Advocacy Win

Dear SGFP Members,

Today I’d like to share two brief updates on billing supports, as well as a positive development on digital health advocacy.

FHO+ Transition

For those preparing to transition to the FHO+ model, April is approaching quickly, and we recognize that communication from the Ministry has been limited. We continue to be reassured that implementation remains on track on the Ministry side. If we get the sense that there will be any delays with implementation, we will share these with you accordingly. The SGFP and OMA are also actively developing resources to support physicians through this change. We know many of you are seeking clarity, and we are working to ensure you have access to timely, practical guidance.

Upcoming Billing Sessions

To support all members as well as the FHO+ transition, the SGFP and OMA are co-hosting the Let’s Talk Billing webinar series. Hundreds of you have joined the first two sessions, and we’ve received a remarkable volume of thoughtful questions. Recordings are available on both the OMA and SGFP websites, and new sessions will continue to be posted. Upcoming session include:

• Open Q&A, plus short session on palliative and LTC codes - February 25, 6-7 p.m.

• FHO+ Billing, New Codes, New Fee Values and More - March 11, 6-8 p.m.

Advocacy Update: Connected Care for Canadians

In a December Chair’s letter, we shared that the SGFP Executive formally supported the campaign to reintroduce the federal bill, Connected Care for Canadians. This legislation focuses on patient safety and the modernization of Canada’s health data standards to enable secure, interoperable sharing of health information across systems.

We were the first Ontario physician organization to endorse this important bill, and last week it was officially reintroduced, an encouraging step forward. For family physicians, the promise of interoperability is directly tied to day-to-day practice:

• Disconnected systems force family physicians into manual data entry, adding to the admin burden. Interoperability is key to lifting this burden.
• Vendor lock-in limits physician choice and can restrict access to patient information. This bill would prohibit data blocking and is an important step toward ending these practices.

Physician involvement in the co-design of interoperability workflows can meaningfully reduce administrative burden and improve clinical flow.

While we remain humble about our role, we are proud that SGFP’s early support helped signal the importance of this work for family physicians and their patients. And this is only one small slice of our work: in the coming weeks, SGFP will be sharing additional digital health advocacy that we believe can meaningfully accelerate and inform how this legislation could come to life in practice.

Thank you for your continued engagement, your thoughtful questions, and your commitment to your patients and the profession. Your insights shape our advocacy, and your participation strengthens our collective voice.

Warm Regards,

Dr. Dave Barber

Chair, SGFP

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