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Regulation number	Title
M-7	Medical Services Payment Act

Under section 12 of the Medical Services Payment Act, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council makes the following Regulation:

1This Regulation may be cited as the Full Time Equivalent Regulation - Medical Services Payment Act.

2In this Regulation

“Act” means the Medical Services Payment Act;(Loi)

“agreement” means the agreement entered into under section 4.1 of the Act;(convention)

“area” means an area in the Province specified by the provincial authority under section 2.2 of the Act;(secteur)

“General Regulation” means the General Regulation - Medical Services Payment Act;(Règlement général)

“Medicare” means Medicare as defined in the General Regulation.(Assurance-maladie)

“Schedule of Fees” Repealed: 96-112

94-14; 96-112

CALCULATION OF FULL TIME EQUIVALENT

3(1)In this section

“lower benchmark” , with respect to a type of practice, means the lower benchmark derived for a fiscal year by adjusting the 1989/90 dollar value of the lower benchmark for New Brunswick for the type of practice, as set out in Appendix 1, Dollar Value of the Benchmarks, of “Full-Time Equivalent Physicians, Interprovincial Comparisons, Methodology and Statistics for 1983/84 to 1989/90”, dated April, 1991, by the Working Group on Medical Care Statistics, by the effective fee percentage increase or decrease for that type of practice for each fiscal year subsequent to the 1989/90 fiscal year up to and including the fiscal year for which the benchmark is derived;

“upper benchmark” , with respect to a type of practice, means the upper benchmark derived for a fiscal year by adjusting the 1989/90 dollar value of the upper benchmark for New Brunswick for the type of practice, as set out in Appendix 1, Dollar Value of the Benchmarks, of “Full-Time Equivalent Physicians, Interprovincial Comparisons, Methodology and Statistics for 1983/84 to 1989/90”, dated April, 1991, by the Working Group on Medical Care Statistics, by the effective fee percentage increase or decrease for that type of practice for each fiscal year subsequent to the 1989/90 fiscal year up to and including the fiscal year for which the benchmark is derived.

3(2)For the purposes of the practice of diagnostic radiology, the lower benchmark and the upper benchmark shall be established after the first day in April in each year from the Medicare payment data base for the previous fiscal year for diagnostic radiologists by selecting all diagnostic radiologists who had payments in all four quarters of the fiscal year in the fee for service category for diagnostic radiology, ranking the total payments to those diagnostic radiologists, establishing the distribution of diagnostic radiologists by payment level and selecting the payment value corresponding to the 40th percentile as the lower benchmark and the payment value corresponding to the 60th percentile as the upper benchmark.

3(3)The actual number of full time equivalents in each area for the various types of practices engaged in by medical practitioners in the area is the sum of the full time equivalents for each medical practitioner engaged in that type of practice in the area.

3(4)The full time equivalent of a medical practitioner engaged in a type of practice is the sum of the fee for service full time equivalent, salaried full time equivalent and sessional full time equivalent of that medical practitioner during a fiscal year.

3(5)A fee for service full time equivalent shall be based on the fee for service payments from Medicare during the fiscal year, as adjusted under section 14.4 of the General Regulation, but if the medical practitioner was not paid at one hundred per cent of the rate as provided for in the agreement, a fee for service full time equivalent shall be based on the fee for service payments from Medicare during the fiscal year adjusted as if the practitioner had been paid at one hundred per cent of the rate as provided for in the agreement, as adjusted under section 14.4 of the General Regulation.

3(6)Where the fee for service payments on which a fee for service full time equivalent is based are

(a) less than the lower benchmark for that fiscal year for the type of practice, the fee for service full time equivalent is calculated as the ratio of those payments to the lower benchmark,

(b) equal to or between the lower benchmark and upper benchmark for that fiscal year for the type of practice, the fee for service full time equivalent is one, and

(c) greater than the upper benchmark for that fiscal year for the type of practice, the fee for service full time equivalent is calculated as one plus the natural logarithm of the ratio of those payments to the upper benchmark.

3(7)A salaried full time equivalent is calculated by dividing the amount of the salary paid by Medicare plus the dollar value of any benefits provided by Medicare by an amount that is equal to one hundred and seven per cent of the salary of the step in the classification level in which the medical practitioner is placed, as set out in the Medical Pay Plan for the Department of Health.

3(8)A sessional full time equivalent is calculated by dividing the amount of the sessional payments from Medicare by the amount obtained by multiplying the sessional hourly rate for that fiscal year by forty hours per week for forty-six weeks.

96-112; 2000, c.26, s.188; 2006, c.16, s.109; 2019, c.12, s.21

ADJUSTMENT OF FULL TIME EQUIVALENT

4(1)For the purposes of this section

(a) a medical practitioner is practising on a short term locum tenens basis where the medical practitioner

(i) replaces another medical practitioner for not more than one hundred and eighty-three days in a twelve month period or, where the medical practitioner being replaced is on an educational, sick or maternity leave, replaces that medical practitioner for not more than three hundred and sixty-five days in a twelve month period, and

(ii) replaces the other medical practitioner a minimum of three consecutive days each time a replacement occurs within a twelve month period referred to in subparagraph (i),

(b) a medical practitioner is practising on a long term locum tenens basis where the medical practitioner replaces another medical practitioner for a period of time exceeding one year but not exceeding four years, and

(c) a medical practitioner who replaces another medical practitioner other than in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b) shall be deemed to be a medical practitioner who becomes engaged in that type of practice in the area during the fiscal year in which the replacement occurs or, in the case where a replacement initially commences as a replacement in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b), in the fiscal year in which the requirements of paragraph (a) or (b) are contravened.

4(2)The provincial authority shall adjust the actual number of full time equivalents under subsection 2.2(6) of the Act by adding one full time equivalent to the actual number of full time equivalents for a type of practice in an area for each medical practitioner who becomes engaged in that type of practice in that area during the fiscal year and subtracting one full time equivalent for each medical practitioner who ceases that type of practice in that area during the same period.

4(3)The provincial authority shall not adjust the actual number of full time equivalents for a type of practice in an area in the case of a medical practitioner who becomes engaged in that type of practice in the area during the fiscal year if the medical practitioner is practising on a short term or long term locum tenens basis.

4(4)The provincial authority shall not adjust the actual number of full time equivalents for a type of practice in an area during a fiscal year in the case of a medical practitioner who becomes engaged in that type of practice during the fiscal year if

(a) the medical practitioner is to share in an existing practice in the area with a medical practitioner in the area, the latter has notified the provincial authority that he or she intends to cease that type of practice in that area within a specified period of time not exceeding five years after the medical practitioners start sharing the practice and the medical practitioners share the practice during the entire fiscal year or during the entire portion of the fiscal year remaining after they start sharing the practice,

(b) the actual number of full time equivalents for the type of practice in that area does not exceed the maximum desirable number of full time equivalents established by the provincial authority for the type of practice in that area in respect of the 2000-2001 fiscal year at the time the medical practitioners start sharing the practice, and

(c) the total payment to both medical practitioners from Medicare during that fiscal year does not exceed the amount that is calculated by taking the average of the payments from Medicare for the previous five fiscal years of the medical practitioner who has notified the provincial authority that he or she intends to cease practice, adjusted by any applicable percentage increase or decrease on those average payments for that fiscal year.

4(5)The provincial authority shall, in any subsequent fiscal year that occurs during the specified period of time referred to in paragraph (4)(a), adjust the actual number of full time equivalents for the type of practice in the area by adding one full time equivalent to the actual number of full time equivalents if

(a) the medical practitioners referred to in paragraph (4)(a) stop sharing the practice and the medical practitioner who notified the provincial authority that he or she intends to cease practice has not ceased practice, or

(b) the total payment to both medical practitioners during the fiscal year exceeds the amount referred to in paragraph (4)(c), as adjusted by any subsequent applicable percentage increase or decrease.

4(6)The provincial authority shall not adjust the actual number of full time equivalents for a type of practice in an area during a fiscal year in the case of a medical practitioner who has notified the provincial authority under paragraph (4)(a) and who ceases that type of practice in that area during the fiscal year within the specified period of time referred to in paragraph (4)(a), if the medical practitioner with whom he or she shared the practice continues to practice after the former has ceased practice.

4(7)Where both medical practitioners referred to in paragraph (4)(a) continue to practice in the area after the specified period of time referred to in paragraph (4)(a), the medical practitioner who gave the notification shall be deemed to be a medical practitioner who becomes engaged in that type of practice in that area during the fiscal year.

4(8)Repealed: 94-14

94-14; 2019, c.12, s.21

NOTIFICATION

5(1)A medical practitioner who intends to become engaged in a type of practice in an area shall, before commencing the practice, notify the provincial authority or a person designated by the provincial authority, of the type of practice, the area and when the medical practitioner intends to commence practice.

5(2)A medical practitioner who intends to cease a practice in an area shall notify the provincial authority or a person designated by the provincial authority of the type of practice, the area and when the medical practitioner intends to cease the practice.

5(3)Subject to subsection (4), a medical practitioner who is being replaced by a medical practitioner practising on a locum tenens basis shall notify the provincial authority or a person designated by the provincial authority, at least five days before the replacement occurs, of the commencement and duration of the replacement and the name of the replacing medical practitioner.

5(4)In the case of an emergency, a medical practitioner shall notify the provincial authority or a person designated by the provincial authority as soon as possible before the replacement occurs and of the date of replacement, duration of replacement and the name of the replacing medical practitioner.

COMMENCEMENT

Repealed: 96-112

96-112

6Repealed: 96-112

96-112

N.B. This Regulation is consolidated to June 14, 2019.

93-143 - Full Time Equivalent

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