This initiative targets physicians, provinces that lack these billing codes, and individuals with IDD, their families, and caregivers. Our research highlights that currently, these billing codes only exist in Nova Scotia and Ontario, and that only 18% of physicians in Nova Scotia used the billing codes over a four-year period.
This low utilization reflects a significant gap in healthcare accessibility for individuals with IDD, as research has shown that periodic health checks consistently lead to discovering unmet health needs and to targeted actions that would have otherwise been missed among this population.1
Share these posters to bring awareness by informing of and encouraging the use of these billing codes among general practitioners, emphasizing the importance of annual physical exams, and advocating for more equitable healthcare access for individuals with IDD.
To Share with your community
Do you attend yearly physical examinations with your family doctor?
If you are an individual with an intellectual or developmental disability, yearly physical examinations can play an important role in addressing your healthcare needs.
To Share with Physicians in Ontario
This is a billing code that physicians can use to bill for yearly health checks for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities who benefit from periodic health checks.
To share with Physicians in Nova Scotia
These are billing codes that allow physicians to bill for additional time during visits and yearly health checks for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who benefit from periodic health checks and longer appointment times.
