Bulletin 250501 — 2024 Physician Services Agreement - Year 1 increases
Physician compensation increases for the period of April 1, 2024 to October 31, 2024 will be paid in May 2025.
To: All Physicians, Hospitals and Integrated Community Health Services Centres
Category: Primary Health Care Services, Physician Services, Community Surgical and Diagnostic Centres
Written by: Physician Relations and Contract Oversight Branch, Physician and Provider Services Division
Date issued: May 12, 2025
Bulletin Number: 250501
The Ministry of Health (the ministry) and the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) have been working together to implement physician compensation increases in accordance with the 2024 Physician Services Agreement (PSA).
The Agreement provides for a 9.95% across the board increase over and above the 2.8% across-the-board compensation increase already paid on physician payments for the period April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.
The OMA and ministry had reached an implementation agreement, providing that a lump-sum payment covering the period of April 1, 2024 to December 2024 would be processed and paid on the May 2025 remittance advice (RA). However, as a result of the ministry’s internal payment processing system, it turned out that the May 2025 payment could only include the period of April 1, 2024 to October 31, 2024.
The November and December 2024 lump-sum payment will now be paid no later than the August remittance advice and will include OHIP Claims System and Primary Care Automated Payments as outlined below.
A final compensation increase payment will be paid no later than the November remittance advice and will include all payment items not already processed, including (but not limited to):
- Contract-based payments that are paid outside Medical Claims Payment System for the period of April 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 as outlined above
- Any other eligible payment items that have not already received the increase for January 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025 as identified in INFOBulletins 241203 and 241204
More details of all items covered in future compensation increase payments will be outlined in subsequent INFOBulletins.
Reporting
For physicians and groups that receive a monthly remittance advice through the Medical Claims Electronic Data Transfer (MCEDT), the Accounting Adjustment will reflect the 2024-2025 Compensation Increase payment value at the solo physician or group level based on how the compensation increase payment was processed.
The “Compensation Increase Report” will be delivered to the physician via MCEDT. Physicians will be required to provide permission to their appropriate designees for reviewing and/or downloading this report, if they have not already done so.
The solo report will detail the Total Payments, Percent Increase and Compensation Increase for each Clinic Code under which the physician provided services and received a payment in the period.
The group report will detail the Total Payments, Percent Increase and Compensation Increase for each Payment Element (example: Access Bonus Payment) under which the group received a payment in the period.
The group report will also show the Total Payments, Percent Increase and Compensation Increase for each physician affiliated to the group during the period.
Further information
The following fee-for-service physician payments, specialist contracts, and programs will receive the compensation increase on physician payments made during the period:
OHIP Claims System Payments
- Professional fee-for-service physician payments
- Office based technical fee-for-service physician payments (excluding hospital technical fees)
- Facility fees paid to Integrated Community Health Services Centres
- Specialist physician contract payments which are tied to the OHIP claims system through shadow billing
- Community Palliative Care On-Call Coverage (CPOC)
- Ministry of Attorney General Payments (Sexual Assault and Blood Drawing)
- Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services Payments (K Codes)
Primary care automated payments
The following primary care models and programs will receive the compensation increase on eligible automated physician payments during the period:
| Contract Type | Contract Element(s) |
|---|---|
| Aboriginal Family Health Team (AFHT) |
|
| Blended Salary Model (BSM) |
|
| Comprehensive Care Model (CCM) |
|
| Family Health Group (FHG) |
|
| Family Health Network (FHN) |
|
| Family Health Organization (FHO) |
|
| General Practitioner Focus Practice (GPFP) Care of the Elderly (COE) |
|
| General Practitioner Focus Practice (GPFP) HIV |
|
| General Practitioner Focus Practice (GPFP) Palliative Care (PC) |
|
| Group Health Centre (GHC) |
|
| Homeless Shelter Agreements (HSA) |
|
| Rural and Northern Physician Group Agreement (RNPGA) |
|
| St. Joseph’s Health Centre (SJHC) |
|
| Toronto Palliative Care Associates TPCA |
|
The following primary care models and programs will receive the compensation increase on eligible automated physician payments during the period:
- Office Practice Administration (OPA)
- Group Management & Leadership (GMLP)
- Rurality Gradient Premium
The Preventive Care Management Bonus is an annual premium and will be included in the final compensation increase process in November 2025.
Program contract-based payments not included
Physicians, groups and other facilities that receive payments outside the Medical Claims Payment System (MCPS) under other payment programs will receive their compensation increase payments based on the regularly scheduled monthly payment date (as soon as practicable), or as a one-time payment in November 2025.
- Community Health Centres (CHC)
- Indigenous Primary Health Care Organizations (IPHCO)
- Academic Health Sciences Centres (AHSC) Alternative Funding Plan (AFP) Contracts
- Alternative Payment Plan (AFP) Contracts
- Assertive Community Treatment Teams (ACTT)
- Clinical Decision Unit (CDU)
- Complex Continuing Care On-Call Coverage
- Divested Provincial Psychiatric Hospitals (DPPH) Top-Up Funding
- Emergency Department Alternate Funding Arrangement (EDAFA) Contracts
- Family Health Team Specialist Sessional Groups (FHTSSG)
- Hospital On-Call Coverage (HOCC)
- Hospital Paediatric Stabilization Program
- Laboratory Uniform Minimum Level of Compensation (UMLC)
- Medical Officers of Health Funding
- Mental Health Sessional Funding
- Nurse Practitioner Physician Collaboration Programs
- OMA Priority Insurance Program (OPIP)
- Ontario Fertility Program (OFP)
- Ontario Physician Locum Programs
- Ontario Review Board and Consent and Capacity Boards
- Ottawa Paediatric Locum
- Periodic Ocular Visual Assessment (POVA)
- Physician On-Call Coverage (POC)
- Pregnancy and Parental Leave Benefit Program (PPLBP)
- Psychiatric Stipend Funding
- Public Health Physicians - Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Payments
- Public Health Unit Top-Ups
- Rural and Northern Physicians Group Agreement (RNPGA) Vacancy Locum Program
- RNPGA ED Funding Paid to Group
- RNPGA Salary Continuance
- RNPGA Base Funding
- Rural Medicine Investment Program
- Sioux Lookout Base Funding
- Telestroke
- Tuberculosis for Uninsured Persons (TB-UP) Payments
- Underserviced Area Program - Northern Physician Retention Initiative
- Underserviced Area Program - Northern RRRI
- Underserviced Area Program – Nursing Station Physician Outreach
- Underserviced Area Program - Psychiatry Outreach
- Underserviced Area Program - Visiting Specialist Clinic Program
- WAHA Base Funding
Payment dates for the 2024-2025 compensation increase payments
The ministry will process most interim compensation increase payments in April 2025 for payment in the month of May 2025.
Physicians and groups who receive a remittance advice (RA) will see the payment deposited on or about May 14, 2025.
2024-2025 compensation increase payments to retired or deceased physicians
The ministry will deposit the compensation increase payments to the solo bank account on file where the bank account has remained open.
Where bank account details are not available, a cheque will be issued payable to the solo physician or to the “Estate of” in the event the physician is deceased. Cheques will be sent to the same address on file with the ministry that was used for the remittance advice.
No changes to the Schedule of Benefits for Physician Services
The 2024-2025 compensation increases are one-time payments and do not increase physician compensation amounts in funding agreements or fee code values in the schedule of benefits.
Appeals process
The percentage increase and the compensation increase payments have been calculated based on the methodology agreed to between the ministry and the OMA in accordance with the PSA and the Agreement.
As such, the agreed-to methodology between the ministry and the OMA does not provide for an appeal process for physicians who received a compensation increase payment and are disputing the amount of the payment that they received.
Keywords/Tags
Physician Services Agreement; PSA; physicians; payments; compensation increase
Contact Information
Do you have questions about this INFOBulletin? Email the Service Support Contact Centre or call 1-800-262-6524. Hours of operation: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Monday to Friday, except holidays.