For the second time in less than a year, Yukon doctors are experiencing some significant delays in getting paid by the government.

The Yukon Medical Association (YMA) says an upgrade to the territory’s billing system is the only long-term solution.

The Yukon Party said Thursday it’s hearing from some doctors that they’re waiting more than a month – sometimes 90 days or longer – for their claims to be paid.

“It is an increasingly competitive labour market for health care professionals, and the territorial Liberal government needs to recognize that no one wants to wait months to be paid,” YP MLA Brad Cathers said in a release. 

“The government needs to update its doctor payment system to reflect best practices in other jurisdictions and ensure billings for insured health services are processed and paid promptly. The Yukon’s health system is again being put at risk by the minister of Health and Social Services’ lack of action.”

YMA president Dr. Alex Kmet confirmed these wait times in an interview Thursday.

“I don’t have percentages of (delayed) billings, but (there’s) enough that many of our members have come to us asking for us to find a way to work with the Department of Health and Social Services to resolve it, because it was a significant concern to them,” he said.

Physicians have come to the YMA with concerns that untimely payments are affecting the viability of their businesses, making it more difficult to pay staff and corporate tax instalments, Kmet said.

Payments of billings were delayed late in 2021 as well, he added, but doctors worked with the government to resolve backlogs around May 2022.

But the YMA began to hear about more payment delays last November, he said. Health and Social Services said in an email that it became aware of delays in early January, and has been working to address outstanding claims.

Kmet believes, like the Yukon Party, that the doctor payment system needs an update to avoid these problems in the long run.

“The people in the Department of Health and Social Services have been working to (do) their best,” he said.

“I don’t think this is a person problem. I think it’s just the way the systems were constructed.” 

A more complex health care system and a growing population have contributed to delays in payments, Kmet said.

He’d like the government to work with the YMA to change the payment model – something YG is agreeable to.

The Star requested an interview with Health and Social Services Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee for this article, but instead received an emailed response from department spokesperson Claire Robson.

“Moving forward, we are exploring opportunities to improve our processes,” Robson wrote. “We value our relationship with the Yukon Medical Association and are committed to continuing to work with them to address areas of concern.”

Kmet pointed to Alberta’s system as a model for the Yukon to replicate.

When physicians there submit their billings, he said, they’re processed automatically.

Instead of relying heavily on manual reviews prior to payment, as the Yukon does, Alberta’s billings system audits claims after they’ve been processed, Kmet said. This could decrease backlogs in the territory and ensure doctors are paid, he said, while ensuring proper oversight.

It could also decrease the amount of time Yukon doctors spend on paperwork, he said.

Kmet referenced a Canadian Federation of Independent Business report published last month, which found excessive administrative work was limiting the amount of time doctors could spend caring for patients.

“It’s hard for (doctors) to see enough patients because they have too much paperwork and administrative tasks,” Kmet said.

That takes away from job satisfaction, he added, and payment delays only make it worse. He said the government and YMA need to work on resolving the issue long-term sooner than later, or he’s worried doctors, already burnt out by a strained health care system, could cut back on their practice, or move away from the territory, or even the field.

Doctor recruitment and retention is a major component of a health funding deal signed between the premiers and the federal government this week.

The issue is a top priority in the Yukon, as more than 3,000 Yukoners are on the wait-list for a family doctor.