Clarification regarding the need to re-refer patients for the same medical reason has recently been made by Doctors of BC:
- A re-referral is not required for the specialist to see the patient for continuing care for the same condition regardless of time frame.
- The patient remains a referred case for that specialist, and the specialist may continue to bill specialist follow up fees.
- After the consultation, further visits to the specialist for the same diagnosis at intervals of less than 6 months can continue to be billed under specialist follow up fees. Re-referral is not required for ongoing specialist follow-up care.
- However, either the referring doctor or the specialist may determine that a new consultation is medically necessary, and re-referral is required within 6 months of the last service. Circumstances could include a new diagnosis, or a significant change in condition from the time the patient was last seen by the specialist. The re-referral can be submitted as a no-charge-referral (03333) if there is no FP visit with the patient. If patient is seen, an office visit can be billed and the re-referral would be noted in the same way the initial referra
Full information can be found on the Doctors of BC website.