Following consultation with the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), the Ministry of Health (ministry) has created a new billing specialty designation under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) for Palliative Medicine, effective October 1, 2024.

Billing specialties are assigned by the ministry when physicians register for a billing number and must be used when submitting claims. In order to be assigned a billing specialty, the physician must have the appropriate specialty or subspecialty, as recognized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO).

The new OHIP billing specialty designation for Palliative Medicine has been assigned number “45” in the OHIP claims system.

Eligibility

In order to obtain the Palliative Medicine billing specialty, the physician must have a subspecialty in Palliative Medicine as recognized by the CPSO. In order to obtain the CPSO subspecialty, a physician must hold a Palliative Medicine subspecialty certification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). If a physician does not hold the RCPSC subspecialty certification but believes they are eligible, they should contact the CPSO directly in order to assess their eligibility.

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