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Business Cost Premium

Last updated on March 24, 2022

Effective April 1, 2020, under the 2019 Physician Master Agreement, eligible physicians will be able to claim a new Business Cost Premium (BCP) on fees for Consultation, Visit, Counselling and Complete Examination services to help cover the rising rent, lease, or ownership costs of a community-based office.

To be eligible for the BCP, a community-based office will need to register for a unique Facility Number and a physician must be attached to that facility number. BCP registration for facilities and physicians has started. As the Facility Number will be a required field on your claim submission in order to claim BCP, ensure your Electronic Medical Record or billing software has the capability of submitting your registered Facility Number.

Who is eligible for the BCP?

Physicians who provide eligible services in a community-based office, in an eligible geographic location, and who are responsible for some or all of the lease, rental or ownership costs of that office, either directly or indirectly are eligible for the BCP.  Physicians must also be entitled to receive and retain payment for the eligible fees directly from the Medical Services Plan (i.e. payments assigned to Health Authorities are not eligible for the premium).

Obtain a Facility Number for the BCP

The physician responsible for administration of an eligible facility (the “Facility Administrator”) must apply for a Facility Number by submitting the “Application for MSP Facility Number (New)” form and checking the box to request the BCP be applied to eligible fees paid to eligible physicians attached to that facility. Each location must obtain a unique Facility Number.

Notes:

  • Ensure that only one application for a Facility Number is submitted for each facility
  • A facility number must be assigned before submitting a Practitioner Attachment form, as this information is required for the form

Cancel or Change Details for a Facility

If there are any changes to the information for the facility after the application form has been submitted, the Facility Administrator must submit the “Application to Cancel or Change Details for Facilities with an MSP Facility Number” form.

Attach a physician to a facility for the BCP

Once a facility has obtained a Facility Number, eligible physicians can be attached to the facility in order to claim for the BCP. 

Individual physicians (including, if applicable, the Facility Administrator) must declare their eligibility for the BCP for each facility at which they provide eligible services, by completing the “Practitioner Attachment to MSP Facility Number” form.

How the BCP is calculated

Effective April 1, 2020, the following percentage values and the daily maximum amounts of the BCP are based on the eligible fees and location of the eligible community-based office in which services are provided:

  • City of Vancouver: 5% up to a daily maximum of $60 per day per physician
  • Metro Vancouver (excluding the City of Vancouver) and Greater Victoria: 4% up to a maximum $48 per day per physician
  • Other communities (outside Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria) not eligible for the Rural Retention Premiums: 3% up to a maximum $36 per day per physician

The MSP claims system will apply the percentage for the premium to the eligible fees and calculate the daily maximum based on the Facility Number submitted on the physician’s claims for the following BCP eligible fee items:

A downloadable excel spreadsheet of the BCP eligible fees is available on the Doctors of BC website at:

Eligible claims must be submitted via Teleplan with the following exception.

Effective February 10, 2022, Medical Practitioners who submit claims for fewer than 2,400 services per year and earn less than $72,000 annually in fee-for-service payments, and who do not submit claims to MSP via Teleplan, will be eligible to submit claims with BCP using the updated MSP Pay Practitioner Claim form (HLTH 1915) or the MSP Pay Patient Claim form (HLTH 1916).

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