The Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) Payment Model was developed by the BC Ministry of Health in consultation with BC Family Doctors and Doctors of BC. An alternative to the fee-for-service model, the LFP payment model is a blended model to support physicians in family practice who provide longitudinal family medicine care. It was developed to:
Recognize the complexity of longitudinal care
Value the time spent with patients
Resource family medicine clinics as critical healthcare infrastructure
Acknowledge the value of indirect care and clinical administrative services
Support physician agency and flexibility in practice
It supports family physicians by compensating for time, patient interactions, and the number and complexity of patients in their practice. On February 1, 2023, eligible family physicians in BC who register for the LFP Payment Model will be able to start billing under the LFP Payment Model.
How to Enroll
1. A facility number is required for all LFP claims. If your clinic does not have one, the physician who is most responsible for administration in the clinic can submit an application to MSP. (Online Application or Printable Form) This facility number must be added to all LFP claims.
A physician who meets the Initial Eligibility Criteria (pages 1-2) may enroll in the LFP Payment Model by submitting Registration Code 98000 to HIBC via Teleplan. Physicians are advised to submit the Registration Code five business days prior to submitting claims under the LFP Payment Model or to hold claims for 5 days before submitting to allow for processing time. Code 98000 must be submitted annually between Jan 1 and Mar 31 to stay enrolled (but can be done anytime during the year in the first year of enrollment).
2. A physician submits the Registration Code – 98000 using their MSP Practitioner Number and the following “patient” demographic information:
PHN: 9694105066
Patient Surname: Portal
First name: LFP
Date of Birth: January 1, 2023
ICD-9 code: L23
To have this patient added to your account, please email our billing team at billing@dr-bill.ca to require the 98000 LFP Portal Patient be added to your profile.
Billing Under the LFP Payment Model
The following services are included under the LFP Payment Model: (a) LFP Practice Services; (b) Non-Panel Services; and (c) Maternity Service
LFP Time Codes and Patient Interaction Codes, along with approved surgical codes in Appendix D can be found in the LFP Payment Schedule. Fee-For-Service codes, such as tray fees and diagnostic tests, are not payable in addition to Patient Interaction Codes in relation to services included in the LFP Payment Model.
Excluded Services:
ICBC Claims | WCB Claims |
Services billed in any facility (long term care, in hospital, rehab, etc) | Out-of-province patients |
Medical Assistance in Dying | Out-of-country patients |
Services not insured by MSP | Surgical procedures not included in section D of the LFP Payment Schedule |
Patients covered by other insurance such as, Medavie Blue Cross (DND, RCMP, Refugees) Veteran’s Affairs | Services provided under a contract or other payment model |
Billing for Excluded Services
FFS can be used to bill patients who are not eligible to be a part of LFP, such as patients mentioned in the excluded services above. Claims paid through other bodies, such as ICBC and WCB will continue to be submitted and paid as usual separately through those channels. If billing for both LFP and FFS on the same date, start and end times must be included on each fee for service claim, even if they do not usually require times to be added.
LFP Time Codes
LFP Time Code claims are submitted daily for Direct Patient Care, Indirect Patient Care, and Clinical Administration.
Time Codes are always billed with diagnosis L23, not the actual patient diagnosis.
One or more claims may be submitted for each Time Code each day. There is no requirement to separately claim for the time spent with each individual patient. The first patient seen in each block would be billed on the claim with no need to switch between direct and indirect care codes throughout a block of time worked. Start and end times on each block of time must be entered.
The end time is when you finished with the last patient. The times for all claims billed each day must not overlap. Time Codes are billed in full 15 minute increments, not a greater portion thereof.
Patients who are not a part of your panel, but seen during the time you are seeing LFP patients, can also be included in the time blocks for LFP patients. These patients must not exceed 30% of the total LFP and non-panel services each year. “Non-Panel Service” means Direct Patient Care and Indirect Patient Care that a physician provides to a patient who is not: (i) on the physician’s panel; (ii) on the panel of another physician who works at the same LFP Clinic as the physician; or (iii) receiving Maternity Services, if the service is provided: (a) at the physicians LFP Clinic; 6 (b) as a virtual care service associated with the LFP Clinic, except if the physician provides successive services to patients located in a Facility; or (c) to a patient in their Home Setting (but not in a Facility).
Please do not hesitate to reach out to our Billing Team if you have any questions or concerns!
- The Dr. Bill Team