How group sessions can help physicians tame their schedules while deepening care

I recently spoke by phone and email with Dr. Carlos Yu. He practises in Ajax, Ont., east of Toronto, and runs 11 group sessions a week on top of his full family practice.Group visits, he says, are great for patients and good for doctors who want to tame their schedules while deepening care.“I love running groups because they let me work closer to the root causes—mindset, skills, and community,” Carlos says.“That takes more time in one-to-one care, but the scalability of groups gives that time back. It even lets me look after colleagues’ patients within my FHO and sometimes in the wider community. Watching people become empowered and increasingly self-managing is the real payoff—patients, clinicians, and the system all win.”Carlos delegates scheduling to his secretary. Sessions run every weekday 9:30–10:30 a.m. and 4–5 p.m. (except Fridays), plus Saturday 10:30–11:30 a.m.Most groups focus on mental health challenges, and he also runs a “Wellness Tuesday” for chronic-disease management such as diabetes.And running group sessions comes with several benefits. With six-to-12 participants in one group, patients learn from each other and more patients can be helped at the same time, which helps doctors get home on time. The group dynamic also encourages peer modeling to build self-efficacy—over time, patients typically manage more independently.Carlos recently ran a group wellness session for staff at the Toronto South Detention Centre, which was so well received that he’s been invited back to create a recurring program. Earlier this year, he also led a session for the Durham Law Society as part of their professional wellness initiative.These experiences show how physicians can engage the wider community through group-based care—bringing presence and connection to places that need it most.He also offers same-week OHIP covered group psychotherapy for his own patients and for referrals from local family doctors.Referring physicians appreciate this timely access, especially given the long waits for psychiatry and the high private-psychology fees ($250 per hour)—If you weren’t depressed before seeing a psychologist, you might be after getting the bill.Why don’t more doctors do this?Some don’t have access to a group room. Not all doctors also feel like they have the skill to facilitate groups. Adding in new workflows can also lead to additional administrative burden and confusion about billing, and without clear payoffs, it may be met with pushback from staff. Carlos will often use rooms from community groups or run sessions virtually. An AI scribe handle the charting, easing some of the administrative burden, and to account for no-shows, he over-invites by around 10-15%, while also using waitlists.How billing works in OntarioThere are two relevant codes under the March 2025 OHIP Schedule of Benefits:K144A: Chronic Disease Shared Appointment (6–12 patients) = $12.35 per ½-hour unit per patient 1 hour (2 units) = $24.70 per patient1½ hours (3 units) = $37.05 per patientK025A: Group Psychotherapy (6–12 patients) = same rate ($12.35 per ½-hour unit per patient)Example: a 60-minute group with 12 patients bills $24.70 × 12 = $296 per hour, or about $444 for 90 minutes.These group codes (K144A and K025A) are out-of-basket services under the FHO/FHT model. They are paid in addition to capitation but don’t count toward the inside/outside ratio used to determine access bonuses or capitation penalties—similar to K030 (Diabetes Management Incentive).That means group visits won’t directly “defend” against an outside-use penalty in the new FHO+ structure, since these codes remain out-of-basket.However, they play a powerful indirect role: by expanding capacity and same-week access, group visits keep patients inside the practice for care that might otherwise drift outside.This protects continuity, reduces outside-use triggers, and generates legitimate additional revenue—all while improving patient outcomes.The new FHO+ model blends capitation with new “plus” payments tied to access, quality, and team-based innovation.Group appointments—particularly for chronic disease and mental health—align perfectly with these priorities.Even though group codes remain out-of-basket, their impact on access and continuity directly supports the FHO+ goals of stronger primary care, fewer external visits, and better population health.If you want help doing this, Carlos will answer your emails for free. Contact Dr. John Crosby at drjohncrosby@rogers.com to set it up.

How group sessions can help physicians tame their schedules while deepening care

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