HAPPY PASSOVER, EASTER, & SIKH NEW YEAR TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE! As we approach Passover, Easter, and the 2025 Sikh New Year, we extend our best wishes to those celebrating these meaningful holidays. This is also a time to reflect on the importance of cultural safety in healthcare—ensuring that every person feels respected, heard, and safe within our community of care. Cultural safety goes beyond awareness; it requires us to actively recognize and address power imbalances, biases, and systemic barriers that impact health outcomes. A key step towards cultural safety is fostering environments where harmful behaviors and microaggressions are acknowledged and addressed. Even subtle comments or actions can undermine trust and well-being, and it is the responsibility of individuals to step up and intervene when these occur. By fostering trust and inclusivity, we can provide care and create healthcare environments that support the well-being of diverse communities. Wishing a joyful and peaceful Passover, Easter, and Sikh New Year to all who observe! | EQUITY, DIVERSITY, & INCLUSION RESOURCES For those looking to deepen their understanding and commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare, we've compiled a list of valuable resources. These tools offer practical guidance on fostering inclusive, respectful, and equitable care environments for all patients and providers. | NEW LTC FEE CODES Effective March 1 and April 1, 2025, four key changes have been made to LTC fee codes. -
Name changes to 00114 and 00115: 00114 has been renamed "Long-term Care In-Person Visit," with clarified billing requirements; 00115 has been renamed "Long-term Care Urgent Assessment," now payable only for assessments completed within 24 hours of a request. -
A new Family Conference Fee (13121 – per 15 minutes or greater portion thereof, $50.35): Payable starting April 1, 2025, for in-person or telehealth participation in a family conference with one or more family members, representatives, or substitute decision-makers. For a full list of requirements, restrictions, and billing tips, please visit BC Family Doctors or contact billing@bcfamilydocs.ca | AI TRANSCRIPTION RESOURCES & *DISCOUNTS* Interested in learning more about integrating AI scribes into your clinical practice? AI-powered tools have the potential to streamline documentation and reduce administrative burdens, allowing physicians to focus on patient care. For more information on implementing AI scribes safely and responsibly, best practices, security considerations, and regulatory compliance, please refer to the resources below: Additionally, for any health technology practice support needs, please reach out to PSP@doctorsofbc.ca | POINTCLICKCARE: TRAINING WITH SMARTZONE Navigating PointClickCare efficiently can save time and streamline your daily workflow. Below are some helpful tips and tricks to enhance your experience and make the most of the platform’s features. -
Explore SmartZone, PCC’s learning system – resources include e-courses (with simulations, video clips, interactive hands-on learning), virtual instructor-led training sessions, and role-based training plans (recommended e-courses grouped together by specific job titles) -
To find SmartZone training options, login to your PCC account, click “Home” and then “External Links.” Next click “SmartZone with SSO,” which logs you in to your SmartZone account. From here you should be able to browse the course library, see all training options, and self-enrol. -
SmartZone can also be accessed via the Resource Hub in PCC. Click on the question mark icon, then “Resource Hub”, then “Train Me/Enroll Me”, then click on the title of the course you're interested in. | PROGNOSTICATION IN LTC Learn more about prognostication in LTC with resources from Fraser Health's Long-term Care Virtual Conference. Slides from presenter Belinda Robinson (FRCPC Geriatrics and Internal Medicine) are available here, and Fraser Health's reference sheet, Evidence-Based Prognostication in LTC is available here. | LTCI LEARNING SERIES: ADVANCED CARE PLANNING On April 18, 5-6:30pm, join your colleagues and presenters Kathleen Zimmerman (Social Work Coordinator) and Michele Martin (Social Work Regional Practice Resource) for an evening of virtual education and learn how Advanced Care planning intersects with health care legislation, what it means for your practice with LTC residents, and how to access it within electronic health records. Register here today! If you missed the February 12 Learning Series, Dementia Behaviour Management in Long-term Care by Dr. Jane Saunders, presentation slides can be found here, or you can watch a recording of the session here. All of our previous Learning Series resources can be found here. | HELP US GROW THE LTCI COMMUNITY Help Grow Our LTCI Community - Refer a Colleague Today! Physician peer-to-peer referrals are one of the most effective ways to recruit new doctors into long-term care. Sharing positive LTC experiences with colleagues highlights the many rewarding aspects of this work and how it can complement a variety of practice styles—whether full-time, part-time, or alongside a clinic practice. If you enjoy caring for residents, we encourage you to talk to your peers about the flexibility, meaningful patient relationships, and professional fulfillment that LTC offers. Help grow our community by forwarding this newsletter or sharing LTCI's contact information with colleagues who might be interested! | EVENTS April 17, 2025, 10am - 11:30am: UBCLC's Indigenous Patient Experience: Measuring Cultural Safety In Health Care This free webinar will describe the creation, relevance and outcomes of the Indigenous Advisory Committee’s Indigenous Cultural Safety Survey Module designed to measure five domains of culturally safe care: Relationship-Based Care, Identity, Respect, Self-Determination and Equity, and Discrimination.
April 23, 2025, 5:30pm: VDFP's Dine & Learn - Dermatology Roundtable Join five local specialists for their dermatology talks.
April 28, 2025, Vancouver Island Conference Centre (Nanaimo): Island Health's Culture Conference: Psychological Safety in the Workplace Connect with peers, discover and apply insights, and unite as medical staff to transform workplace culture. Guests include keynote speaker and Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Dr. Don Wilson—a member of the Heiltsuk Nation, with ancestral ties to the Haisla and Kitasoo Xai’xais Nations. Dr. Wilson’s professional interests include Indigenous health, international women’s health, LGBTQ+ health, and metabolic health.
May 1, 2025, 7-9pm, Laurel Pointe Inn: VDFP's National Physicians Day Celebration Join us to celebrate National Physicians' Day, welcome our new Victoria-area physicians to the community, and acknowledge the contributions of retiring colleagues.
June 24, 2025, UBC CPD: Nawh whu’nus’en - We see in two worlds: Trauma sensitive practices for collectively healing in relationship Level 1 Nawh Whu’nus’en - We See in Two Worlds is a free online course based on a widely accepted understanding that trauma-sensitive practices are the basis for offering culturally-safe and respectful health services for Indigenous relatives. It draws on two-eyed seeing models, weaving together Indigenous ways of knowing with western trauma theory and neuroscience.
October 6-7, 2025, Sheraton Vancouver: Joint Collaborative Committees (JCC) Conference The JCCs are pleased to announce the first JCC Conference in the Fall of 2025, held in Vancouver, BC. This dynamic new event will combine the Family Practice Services Committee Summit, the Specialist Services Committee Symposium, and the JCC Showcase, featuring presentations from FPSC, SSC, the Shared Care Committee (SCC), and the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues (JSC). | | | | |
