Travel Assistance Program – Physician Information


Travel Assistance Program (TAP) helps alleviate some of the transportation costs for eligible B.C. residents who must travel within the province for non-emergency medical specialist services not available in their own community. TAP is a corporate partnership between the Ministry of Health and private transportation carriers. The program is coordinated by the Ministry of Health and the transportation partners agree to waive or discount their regular fees. TAP does not provide direct financial assistance to patients for travel costs.

Physicians should give consideration to the services offered by local, regional, and traveling specialists to help ensure that patients benefit from these services before travelling outside their communities.

 

Program Benefits

Participating transportation carriers include:

  • BC Ferry Services, Inc.
  • Central Mountain Air
  • VIA Rail
  • Angel Flight
  • Harbour Air
  • North Pacific Seaplanes
  • Pacific Coastal Airlines
  • Pacific Coach Lines
  • Malaspina Coach Lines

 

Patient Eligibility

As the information provided by the referring physician will be used by the program to issue confirmation numbers, please consider the following eligibility criteria before issuing a TAP form:

  • the patient must be a B.C. resident, enrolled in MSP;
  • you are referring the patient to the closest site for non-emergency specialty medical services which are not available locally; and
  • the patient's medical travel expenses are not covered by third-party insurance plans, e.g., employer plans, active ICBC, Workers' Compensation or Department of Veterans' Affairs pension claims, the Canadian Armed Forces, or other government programs.

 

Eligible Services

Eligible services include:

  • Non-emergency specialist medical services available at the closest location outside to patient’s community.
  • Diagnostic procedures, laboratory procedures, diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine procedures, B.C. Cancer Agency, Transplant Units, HIV/AIDS treatment at St. Paul's, specialty clinics at B.C. Children's Hospital and other tertiary care hospital services.

The following services are not eligible:

  • Patient transfer from one facility to another.
  • GP to GP referrals (some exceptions apply) 
  • Supplementary benefit practitioner services (e.g., acupuncturist, optometry, physical therapy, massage therapy, podiatry, dentistry, naturopathy, and chiropractic services).
  • Non-insured services (e.g., cosmetic surgery, experimental procedures, clinical drug trials, preventative medicine) 

Meals, accommodation, fuel and local transportation expenses are not included in TAP.

 

Escort Eligibility

Please note the following policy for approving an escort to accompany your patient:

  • An escort is eligible only when accompanying a patient who is:

      (1)  18 years of age and under; or
      (2)   incapable of travelling alone for medical reasons.

  • An escort is not eligible for TAP when driving a vehicle on behalf of a patient who does not qualify under (1) or (2) above; or when travelling alone to pick up a patient.

 

Obtaining Tap Forms

Physicians can order TAP forms by:

Telephone:      Call HIBC at 1-866-456-6950 (toll free) or 604-456-6950 (for the Greater Vancouver area).  Press 3, then press 5.  This is the automated line that will connect you to a client service representative in Provider Services.

Facsimile:        Fax your request to: HIBC Provider Services at (250) 405-3592. Be sure to provide you name, office address and MSP Practitioner Number

 

Completing TAP Forms

It is the physician's responsibility to completely fill out Part One of the form, including the “Escort Required” box, and ensure the form is properly signed or stamped. Transportation partners have the right to refuse an incomplete or altered TAP form. Only one TAP form should be issued at time of referral .
 
Please enter the following information on the TAP form:

  • Referring physician's name and practitioner number.
  • Destination physician's name and practitioner number.
  • In cases where the patient is not referred to a specific physician (diagnostic procedures, laboratory procedures, diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine procedures, B.C. Cancer Agency, Transplant Units, HIV/AIDS treatment at St. Paul's, specialty clinics at B.C. Children's Hospital and other tertiary care hospitals), please check the "specialty services" box on the form.
  • Destination city.
  • Destination appointment date.
  • Escort required or not required (see eligibility above).
  • Physician signature of stamp, and current date.

 

Once the TAP form has been completed by the referring physician, give the patient a copy of the TAP information and ask them to fill in the address block, including postal code and telephone number and sign sheet and ask the declaration on the front of the form. Instructions and information are included on the back of the form. Additional program information is available on the Travel Assistance Program- Information for Patients web page. The patient then telephones the program to obtain a confirmation number prior to travel.

The TAP automated application service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 
B.C. (toll-free): 1 800 661 - 2668

Note:  Patients are responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements. There is no reimbursement after travel has been completed.

 

Follow Up Visits

After the initial visit, if the patient must return to the specialist, hospital or specialty service as part of the same course of treatment, the destination specialist's office or specialty service can complete and sign or stamp another TAP form for the next visit. A new form should be issued for each subsequent visit at the time the next appointment is made.

 

Information for hospitals
 
If hospital staff are assisting a patient to return home who arrived by ambulance, they should fill in Part Two – Hospital Use Only and sign or stamp the form in the signature space provided (the hospital social work department may sign or stamp the form).

 

Information for Destination Physician or Specialty Clinic
 
There is no provision for repeat visits on the new TAP form. If another appointment is required as part of the same course of treatment, the destination physician's office or medical specialty service should issue another TAP form for the patient at the time the next appointment is made, entering their own name and practitioner number in both the referring and destination physician spaces.

Only one form should be issued at a time. The procedure must be repeated each time another appointment is required. The patient must contact the program for a confirmation number each time a form is issued.

 



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