reports from council
practitioners plan for and participate in their inspection-assessments.
Bill 87 – The Protecting Patients’ Act Council considered Bill 87, The Protecting Patients Act. The Bill is an important piece of legislation that proposes sweeping changes to the Regulated Health Professions Act, the legislation that provides health colleges with the authority to regulate health professions in the public interest. The Bill contains amendments to strengthen the legislative provisions relating to sexual abuse and transparency as well as changes to enhance the complaints, investigation and discipline processes. Council voiced general support for the intent and the overall objectives contained in Bill 87, noting that several legislative proposals advanced by the College to strengthen the provisions to protect patients from sexual abuse are incorporated in the Bill. Council, however, has identified some substantive issues, as well as a number of other issues which could be addressed through“ housekeeping” amendments as the Bill moves through the legislative process. The College will make a request for changes in its submission to the government. The College’ s recommendations are designed to ensure that the amendments contained in the Bill will achieve the desired outcome and avoid unintended negative consequences. The College will participate in the government’ s consultation process as the Bill moves through the legislative process. We have several articles about Bill 87 starting on page 9.
Uninsured Services draft consultation Council is inviting feedback on a draft policy that addresses issues around uninsured services and block fees. The draft policy – entitled Uninsured
Services: Billing and Block Fees – is not intended to tell physicians how much to bill, but rather, it sets out general principles of professionalism and relevant legislative obligations. The draft policy retains the central principles of the current Block Fees and Uninsured Services policy. However, changes have been made to enhance clarity and flow, strengthen existing expectations, and address issues not covered by the current policy. The importance of clear communication around fees is particularly emphasized. These proposed changes are a result of a review of public polling, research and feedback from a preliminary consultation. Moreover, decisions of the Inquiries, Complaints, and Reports Committee were reviewed to identify frequent or persistent problems. Please see the article about the draft policy on page 21.
Practice Ready Assessment program Council approved registration changes that will help support a Practice Ready Assessment( PRA) program for family medicine with a small number of eligible candidates. The PRA program is designed to identify international medical graduate candidates who are deemed ready to enter practice in Ontario based on meeting qualification requirements and successfully completing a 12- week clinical assessment. The PRA program is under development by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Touchstone Institute with extensive involvement by the College to ensure that it aligns with national standards and our registration requirements.
Following successful completion of the clinical assessment, the College will issue a restricted certificate of registration to practise medicine under supervision for 24 months, enabling the candidate to achieve certification by the College of Family Physicians of Canada with successful completion of the examination. Should the candidate not be
16
Dialogue Issue 1, 2017