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GP/FPs and the delivery of babies

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1997; 156: 144

© 1997 Canadian Medical Association

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The steady increase in malpractice insurance costs may be an important factor in the decision of many general and family physicians (GP/FPs) to get out of the business of delivering babies. Family physicians who provide obstetric services have seen their Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) fees rise to $4332 per year during the last decade, more than three times the 1985 rate of $1200. While nowhere near the 800% increase that obstetricians have faced, it does mean that a GP/FP needs a certain volume of deliveries to justify the insurance costs.

Although national utilization data from the Canadian Institute of Health Information indicate that the percentage of total deliveries being handled by GP/FPs is decreasing, CMA physician surveys show that the actual number of deliveries per GP/FP active in the field is increasing. In 1986, GP/FPs performed an average of 30 deliveries per year; by 1995 this had increased to 35 per year. This suggests that physicians who were only doing a few deliveries per year have now stopped completely, and those that remain have a significant enough caseload to warrant paying the higher CMPA dues.

Source: Lynda Buske, chief, physician resources information and planning, CMA Research Directorate. Readers are invited to send potential research topics to the attention of Patrick Sullivan (sullip@cma.ca; 800 267-9703; [fax] 613 523-0937).

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