Late Licence Fees and Patient Care
Given the recent news coverage, the College would like to better explain its approach to late fees.
The College is solely concerned with patient safety.
The College is governed by legislation, which is the law of the land. Our legislation requires that a physician’s licence be suspended if it is not renewed by year-end. A physician cannot practice medicine with a suspended licence. The legislation in each province varies, as do the approaches of each College, although all (or perhaps almost all) Colleges charge late fees.
The goal of a late fee is to avoid suspending the licences of physicians who, for whatever reason, unintentionally failed to renew. When this happens, the first week of January may have surgeries cancelled or closed clinics or Emergency Departments. In short, patient care is interrupted.
Late fees help ensure that physicians are not suspended. This year, on the last day before the triggering of the late fee, over 500 physicians renewed their licence. Unfortunately, over 100 physicians failed to do so. Had the late fee been tied to end of year, these 100 physicians would have had their licences suspended by force of law and patient care would have been interrupted dramatically.
The College has explored multiple methods to reduce the number of physicians affected by late fees, from advertising to direct mail. Physicians receive weekly emails throughout the renewal period, both before and after the late fee deadline. Although there is annual variation in the number of physicians who are late to renew, the College has been unable to identify a method or combination of methods to eliminate all late renewals. The renewal schedule has not changed – all physicians in the province are aware that November is the month to renew licensure.
Reimbursement of late fees are seldom given, only in the most extenuating of circumstances. In the case recently reported, the physician is a uniformed officer the Canadian Armed Forces and was posted overseas throughout the renewal period.