Sask. doctor says physicians aren’t being paid correctly under province’s new billing system

A Saskatoon family doctor says the province’s new billing system is a disaster.

"It’s been a lot of headaches, a lot of unpaid bills, a lot of unexplained clawbacks in billing, reduced payments coming in," Dr. Adam Ogieglo told CTV News.

Ogieglo said the physicians at Lakeside Medical Clinic are missing hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments.

"We haven’t been able to figure out why this is happening and why certain physicians are getting hit harder by these clawbacks than others," Ogieglo said.

Ogieglo says payment for certain medical treatments he’s performed have been flat-out rejected by the province.

"It makes us feel undervalued. It certainly adds to stress. We are a business and we have expenses that we have to pay for," Ogieglo said.

"And at the end of the day, patients suffer – that's what it boils down to."

The government’s new payment system rolled out in February, as an update to the former billing process.

Saskatchewan Health Minister Everett Hindley said he’s heard concerns from "a number of physicians."

"There have been some bumps along the way that we need to work out," Hindley said.

"By and large, the new system is working well, but there are some things that do need to be ironed out. We're committed to making sure that we get that fixed for physicians as quickly as we can."

The billing issues come as the government tries to attract more physicians to Saskatchewan, to address the family doctor shortage.

About 200,000 people don’t have a family doctor in Saskatchewan, according to estimates by the Saskatchewan Medical Association.