Fee codes are somewhat like the codes used in grocery stores for fruit and vegetables, but the medical fee codes are more complicated and the changes onerous to learn. The medical fee code changes were imposed on April 1, as COVID-19 cases mounted, creating a workplace nightmare. For example, if a physician sees a patient in a private office, then one fee code is used. Forcing changes to doctors' fee codes during a pandemic is unethical, potentially dangerous and an avoidable managerial error by Alberta Health Services. Yet the pandemic, which obviously requires flexibility in dealing with the burden imposed on physicians, has not stopped the fee code changes.

Source: CBC News April 15, 2020 10:52 UTC