Member Newsletter – January 2026
IN THIS EDITION:
Navigate to individual sections by clicking the topic headers below
President’s Update
AGM Debrief
Fee Codes/Billing
Business Cost Premiums
Retro Payment
Fee Code Increases
Billing Tip of the Month
Upcoming UBC GIM Journal Clubs
Long COVID Echo CME
Working Conditions Around BC
Translation Services
GIM Awards
Photo Requests
GIM Leaders
SGIMBC Website Updates
PRESIDENT’S UPDATE
As I enter my second year as President of SGIM BC, I am excited to share a renewed vision for our society and outline our priorities for the year ahead. We have matured as an organization—moving decisively beyond a reactive, “putting-out-fires” posture toward active management, strategic advocacy, and meaningful, larger-scale initiatives. This evolution reflects both the growing strength of our membership and the increasing urgency of the challenges facing general internal medicine in British Columbia.
A central focus this year will be inpatient GIM. This work sits at the very core of the healthcare system, yet its value remains insufficiently recognized—by the public, by our patients, by government, and, unfortunately, by administrative leadership. Our priorities are twofold: first, to advocate for fair and sustainable remuneration that reflects the complexity, intensity, and responsibility of inpatient GIM care; and second, to strengthen the identity and recognition of GIM as indispensable linchpins in hospital-based care, patient flow (both within hospitals and in the community), and overall system sustainability. We are acutely aware of the significant challenges faced by many groups across the province, most notably our colleagues at West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni, and SGIM BC will continue to work tirelessly as an advocate for all GIMs in BC. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need support.
To advance this agenda, our Compensation and Identity subcommittees will play a leading role, working within this broader framework to improve the professional lives of GIMs across the province through advocacy, policy engagement, and clear articulation of who we are and why our work matters. In the near future, we also plan to engage professional firms to develop a concerted advocacy campaign aimed at both the public and government. As an example of the type of awareness-building we need, I encourage members to read Dr. Hoag’s recently published Op-Ed in the Vancouver Sun. While focused on specialist waitlists, it demonstrates clear, public-facing advocacy—an approach we must adopt for the unique and pressing issues facing GIM.
GIM AWARDS
AGM DEBRIEF
On November 22, 2025 we hosted our Annual General Meeting in a hybrid in-person/online format. The focus this year was on province-wide working conditions and GIM’s struggle to clarify and project a unique identity within the medical community.
Please review the below minutes & financial statements for a more in-depth review of the meeting and SGIMBC’s outlook and plan for 2026.
Importantly, we elected two new members to the Executive Board: Dr. Moninder Vaid from Cranbrook (as our Interior Health Representative) and Dr. Michael Jansz from Duncan (as our Rural Representative). Dr. Jasdeep Saluja was re-elected as the Island Health Representative. I would like to welcome the new members and thank the outgoing executives (Dr. Samantha Segal and Dr. Mike Pascas) for their years of hard work for the organization.
Finally, we would very much appreciate if you’d fill in this short SURVEY so that we can continue to improve the AGM experience.
FEE CODES/BILLING
BUSINESS COST PREMIUMS
The Business Cost Premium (BCP) was expanded last year to include ALL billings (not just those for outpatient work). Any physician living in an area NOT covered by the Rural Retention Program (RRP) who is paying overhead for their outpatient practice, can apply the business cost premium to ALL their billings (as of Apr 1, 2025).
For more information (including a step-by-step guide to setting this up), go to the DoBC website
RETRO PAYMENT
Due to a delay in implementing the above change, anyone who had previously signed up for the BCP would have received a retro payment on the Dec 31 remittance.
FEE CODE INCREASES
You may have also noticed a slight increase in the inpatient rounding codes (32208, 32308 and 32318). This aligns nicely with our focus on inpatient GIM care. We recognize this is still below where it needs to be but it is a step in the right direction.
BILLING TIP OF THE MONTH
10006 can be used to bill for email communication with a patient. This can be an efficient way to quickly pass on information to a patient while still earning reasonable remuneration (~$25; recently increased by 150%).
It can be billed multiple times in the same day but here is a maximum of 12 services/patient/calendar year. Once you reach the max, you can switch to billing 10007 for email correspondence (there is no yearly maximum but it can only be billed once/day and it is paid at a slightly lower rate (~$16).
BUILDING CONNECTIONS
We are looking for GIM leadership contacts!
These local leaders can help us connect with GIM physicians in their communities so we can provide better support and information to more of our members.
If you are one, or know one, please email us the name, contact info and site location*
*Contact information would not be shared with third parties, nor used for anything besides SGIMBC official communications.
WEBSITE UPDATES
We are actively working on making the site more useful as a resource to our members (as well as sprucing up the look and improving usability).
Our next project is to add space for job postings!
If you are looking for locums, new hires and or anyone in between, please reach out to us to have your info posted.
LONG COVID WEB ECHO
CME-accredited education program
If you provide Long COVID care, consider joining this virtual learning community following the Project ECHO model (i.e. interactive, all teach all learn philosophy) that meets monthly and is specifically for family physicians and other clinicians looking after patients with Long COVID: https://www.longcovidweb.ca/echo
The next session is on:
Friday January 16, 2026 1:30– 3:00 PM EST
Dr. Satish Raj will speak on Management Strategies for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.
NP Cathy Scofield-Singh will share about what it’s like to provide Long COVID care in rural Manitoba, at the Open Discussion segment.
SIGN UP FOR LONG COVID WEB ECHO HERE
Contact: Christine.chan@uhn.ca
Clinicians can claim Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits from attending ECHO sessions.
PHOTO REQUESTS
We are updating the stock images on our website!
We want to better reflect the local GIM work and community.
If you’d like to showcase your own ‘real GIM’ photos, please email image files to membership@sgimbc.org
Preference for high-resolution JPEG files if possible.
*Images will only be used on the SGIMBC website. They will not be shared with third parties or used in any other form.*
*Credits will be noted if requested*
TRANSLATION SERVICES
A reminder that as a benefit of your membership with SGIM, you have access to free translation services for your community-based practice in ~240 languages. This is available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week with quick connection times (1-2 minutes). There is no need to pre-book. All you need to do is call 1-833-718-2154 and provide them with your name, specialty, MSP number and access code (for GIM it is 4740). BACK TO TOPWEBSITE UPDATES
We are actively working on making the site more useful as a resource to our members (as well as sprucing up the look and improving usability).
Our next project is to add space for JOB POSTINGS!
If you are looking for locums, new hires and or anyone in between, please reach out to us to have your info posted.
UPCOMING UBC GIM
JOURNAL CLUBS
February 4th, 12:00-1:00pm
Jason, Jassal
Zoom Link Meeting ID: 98407 374715 Passcode: 374715
March 4th, 12:00-1:00pm
Igor Slijivic
Zoom Link Meeting ID: 98407 374715 Passcode: 374715
April 1st, 12:00-1:00pm
Katherine McGuire
Zoom Link Meeting ID: 98407 374715 Passcode: 374715
Further Details HERE
