Family doctors are working less in Quebec after the pandemic. This is evident from the compiled statistics NewspaperFees for this service show a drop in average income for professionals.
“Decreasing income in the medical sector is a result of reduced workload. Still, there are no questions asked,” says former health minister Caden Barrett.
According to data from the Régie de l’assurance santé du Québec (RAMQ), in 2022, family physicians earned an average salary of $266,000.
These are the lowest returns since 2018. In 2020, it peaked at $278,000, and since then, the average amount paid to general practitioners has been declining (See table)
The object touches a sensitive chord. The Federation of General Physicians of Quebec (FMOQ), which represents 10,000 family physicians, declined our interview request.
For Gaétan Barrette, the stats are beyond doubt. But the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) believes they are “not allowed to make decisions” (See other text)
Experts too
According to RAMQ, while their incomes have been yo-yoing for four years, specialists have also slowed down.
Gaétan Barrette argues that more practices depend on hospital turnover.
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For his part, André-Pierre Contandriopoulos, a professor in health management at the University of Montreal, is not surprised that doctors’ incomes are falling.
“It’s not that big [comme baisse], but it is interesting. As a job becomes more stressful or stressful, the natural tendency is to devote less time to it,” he explains.
According to him, the same behavior is observed among nurses who leave the public network, for example.
Not for our money
Gaétan Barrette doesn’t believe people are getting their money’s worth even though taxpayers are underpaying doctors who work less.
“Society accepts that doctors are well paid for their role, but in an old structure many functions were at risk,” he says, considering this past.
According to him, these figures prove the current health minister, Christian Dubey, right when he calls on doctors to take more patients.
RAMQ refers to total amounts including amounts paid to cover the costs of a private practice. Total amounts and caps are not considered in the calculations.
A battle of numbers between RAMQ and MSSS
In the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) and RAMQ, doctors’ incomes are not calculated in the same way, although they are responsible for payment, a nonsense condemned by experts.
“[Le MSSS] He chooses what he wants to show what he wants,” says André-Pierre Contandriopoulos of the University of Montreal.
By email, MSSS says that RAMQ does not take into account various bonuses paid to doctors and that its calculations include doctors who do not work full-time.
The MSSS follows physicians to what it calls a “gross minimum return,” with practice minimums that must be met quarterly and annually.
Generous bonus
By this logic, the total income of family physicians last year was $342,245, which is higher than the activities calculated by RAMQ.
“We note that general practitioner pay has continued to increase over the years, including by varying lump sums,” we write via email.
However, the bonus for accepting a new patient does not guarantee additional services like those offered with GAP, says Mr.
“The function of RAMQ is to pay doctors for the actions they need to treat their patients if there is an improvement in access [pour les patients]The number of actions should increase,” he moderates.
“Restless” numbers
According to former minister Gaétan Barrette, the RAMQ figures are “brutal” and show an overpopulation of part-time doctors.
“If you limit the analysis to a subset, the most efficient, it’s guaranteed to increase,” he continues, adding that MSSS wants to “buy peace.”
However, in absolute terms, there are more doctors, but they charge less for procedures, he recalls.
The MSSS argues that the pandemic years led to more favorable wages for physicians and that retirements affect the general average.
Average Income of Family Doctors
- 2018: $261,286
- 2019: $271,881
- 2020: $278,195
- 2021: $273,627
- 2022: $266,620
Average Earnings of Specialist Doctors
- 2018: $431,255
- 2019: $441,826
- 2020: $409,070
- 2021: $427,340
- 2022: $419,616
In 2022, Quebec radiologists earned above average incomes $808,000making them highly paid doctors.
Public health doctors are the lowest paid, with the highest average income $254,000.
Source: RAMQ
