There are a multitude of considerations when starting a new practice and opening a medical clinic. NBMS Practice Support is here to help you navigate this process with tips on creating an effective business plan, how to determine overhead costs, understanding financial ratios, and the benefits of incorporating your practice, as well as many other dos and don’ts related to this crucial part of opening an office.

• The Importance of Creating a Business Plan for a Medical Clinic in New Brunswick
• Top 10 Business Plan Mistakes
• Business Plan Template (download)
• Benefits of Incorporating a Medical Fee-for-Service Practice

A skilled and supportive team is crucial for ensuring your clinic operates efficiently and smoothly. Whether you need to recruit talented individuals, train new employees or manage and develop existing staff effectively, NBMS Practice Support is here to guide you.

Recruitment

From writing an appropriate job description and advertising a position, to interviewing candidates and preparing a job offer, these resources will help guide you through all stages of the recruitment process and help make sure you find the correct fit for your office.

• Overview
• Medical Office Assistant Job Description Template (download)
• Receptionist Job Description Template (download)
• Office Manager Job Description Template (download)
• Registered Nurse (RN) Job Description Template (download)
• Interview and Rating Template (download)
• Reference Verification Template
• Offer of Employment Letter Template (download)

Onboarding

Onboarding is an important consideration as it sets the foundation for new employees’ success and integration into the team. A thoughtful onboarding program ensures that staff understand clinic policies, workflows, and their specific roles, leading to improved efficiency and patient care. These resources can help ensure your onboarding process fosters a positive work environment by building confidence, aligning expectations, and reducing turnover, ultimately contributing to the clinic’s long-term success.

• Overview
• Onboarding Checklist Template (download)
• Employee File Checklist Template (download)
• How to Welcome a New Employee
• Policies, Guides, and Procedures

Development

Continuous development and evaluation is key to an employee’s success and their ability to contribute to an effective team dynamic. Tips on managing probation periods, providing ongoing feedback, performance management and the importance of continuous education, learning and training can be found here.

• Overview
• Performance Improvement Plan Template (download)
• Progress Assessment Template (download)

Offboarding

Offboarding an employee is an important process consisting of all the decisions and procedures to be considered when an employee leaves their employment. These steps lead to the formal separation between an employee and a company through resignation, termination, or retirement. NBMS Practice Support has compiled these resources to help answer any questions you may have about this process and ensure offboarding in your clinic goes smoothly.

• Overview
• Release and Severance Letter Template (download)
• Offboarding Process Flow Example
• Termination Check List Template (download)
• Exit Interview Template (download)
• Project Status Update Template (download)

Maximizing and refining the use of information technologies (IT) can make your clinic run more smoothly, securely, and efficiently. NBMS Practice Support has provided these references to assist you in adopting and/or enhancing your use of various IT tools, such as Electronic Medical Record (EMR) platforms, AI Scribe software, scheduling systems, and more.

NBMS’s IT support services have been enhanced thanks in part to a generous $1M grant from the Canadian Medical Association, MD Financial Management Inc. and Scotiabank. Through their Health Care Unburdened Grant program, the NBMS was able to build a new comprehensive program to encourage and facilitate EMR adoption and optimization in the province.

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)

• Choosing an EMR
• Why should I get a provincially certified EMR?
• Properly Inputting Data Into an EMR
• Keyboard Shortcuts for Profile EMR

Other IT Resources

• Considerations for AI Scribe
• Password Managers
• Technical Specifications for Offices

What is the Patient’s Medical Home Expedition Program?

The Patient’s Medical Home Expedition is a comprehensive group learning series that started in October 2024. This program supports physicians and their interdisciplinary teams in implementing nine high-impact changes to facilitate the transition of their practice toward the Patient Medical Home (PMH) model. The program consists of:

• 6-part program delivered over 12 months
• Two in-person sessions
• Four virtual sessions
• Five coaching sessions (calls)
• A dedicated practice facilitator for your team

What are these changes based on?

These changes are underpinned by the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s New Vision for Canada: Family Practice – The Patient’s Medical Home, an evidence-based outline of what primary care should look like in the Canadian health-care system. This model outlines 10 key pillars and attributes of a primary care practice designed to align the system with a care approach proven to achieve outcomes that matter to patients, providers, and health systems. These outcomes include:

• Reduced use of emergency rooms and hospitalizations;
• Improvement in patients’ ability to access care;
• Health system cost savings, making our health system more sustainable;
• More preventative care services being delivered to patients;
• Enhanced quality of care provided to patients;
• And increased satisfaction with care received and care provision.

Click here to watch a video overview about the Patient’s Medical Home.

The NBMS Practice Support Program is collaborating with Medicare to offer a series of online billing information sessions.

Who can join?

Physicians and their staff who are new to billing or have limited billing experience in New Brunswick. Also suitable for those who would like a refresher.

Why attend?

• Learn up-to-date information from the Medicare Practice Liaison.
• Discover essential billing resources to streamline your billing processes.
• Learn strategies and practical tips to submit your claims accurately and confidently.
• Ask general billing questions and get answers in real time (please note that case specific billing questions should be directed to Practitioner Enquiries).

Register for one or more sessions from the schedule below.

SESSION 2 – Family Practice Billing: Review

This session provides an overview of Family Practice billing principles, including a detailed review of common codes, office-based services, procedures and hospital care billing. Gain valuable insights to optimize your billing processes.

Tuesday, May 20, 2025, 12 pm to 12:45 pm | English

REGISTER HERE

Thursday, May 22, 2025, 12 pm to 12:45 pm | French

REGISTER HERE

SESSION 3 – Reconciling: Navigating Your Claims Statement

Optimize your reconciliation process with guidance from Medicare staff. Learn to navigate claims statements, interpret explanatory messages, and manage claims cancellations and resubmissions effectively.

Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 12 pm to 12:45 pm | English

REGISTER HERE

Thursday, June 12, 2025, 12 pm to 12:45 pm | French

REGISTER HERE

SESSION 4 – Family Practice Billing Essentials

Aimed at family physicians who are new to billing in New Brunswick, this session provides a comprehensive review of Medicare basics, billing fundamentals and specialty billing codes. Discover important resources and best practices to help you bill accurately and confidently.

Tuesday, September 23, 2025, 12 pm to 12:55 pm | English

REGISTER HERE

Thursday, September 25, 2025, 12 pm to 12:55 pm | French

REGISTER HERE

SESSION 5 – Medicare Claims Entry (MCE) Review: Tips, Templates, and More

This session provides an overview of the Medicare Claims Entry software, including demonstrations on submitting claims for common billing codes. Learn how to create templates and utilize features to streamline your claims submission processes with MCE.

Tuesday, Nov 4, 2025, 12 pm to 12:45 pm | English

REGISTER HERE

Thursday, Nov 6, 2025, 12 pm to 12:45 pm | French

REGISTER HERE

Join our virtual New Brunswick Family Physician peer-to-peer network to connect with fellow physicians, share and exchange valuable insights on improving your practice, receive expert advice, and discuss what matters to you!

Why join the network?

• Discuss, identify, and share practice challenges and get practical ideas on how to overcome them.
• Engage in dialogue with New Brunswick physician leaders.
• See how other physicians use improvement tools and resources to build capacity for change.
• Learn practical tips and tricks from local physician champions on relevant topics to advance improvement in family medicine.
• Hear about trusted resources from the group.

Who can join?

The Network is intended for New Brunswick family physicians who want to improve their practice and connect with peers on a similar path.

Who facilitates the Network?

The Networks are facilitated by the New Brunswick Medical Society (NBMS) and their practice facilitators, who support the network and its participants. 

When and how to access the virtual sessions?

• May 21, 2025 12:00 to 1:00 pm

To register for the upcoming session, click here.

Subsequent Sessions

• June 10, 2025 12:00 to 1:00 pm
• September 24, 2025 12:00 to 1:00 pm

The NBMS offers a workshop entitled “Your Life after Retirement” that addresses the “softer side” of retirement, with the objective to help participants:

• Identify common obstacles to a successful retirement;
• develop plans for a meaningful life with a renewed identity;
• develop structures to avoid mental, physical, and social stagnation; and
• organize their days in a leisurely fashion.

If you are interested in taking the Your Life After Retirement course, please complete the waitlist form.

“My partner, Dr. Leïla Reguigui, and I, two new dermatologists in the province, practising out of the Georges Dumont in Moncton wanted to reach out to say what a tremendous help Jenica was to our clinic. We both came from Halifax, Leïla just finishing her residency and me doing a one-year locum. As you can imagine, opening our own clinic came with several hurdles and stresses. Throughout the entire process, Jenica was, by far, the person who gave us the most help. She was integral in hiring our staff and ensuring that we were well supported. Without her help and guidance, we would probably still be muddling through interviews and trying to get our clinic staffed. Her insightful assessment of candidates was top notch and the amount of time and effort she saved on our end is immeasurable. She has also been there to support us after hiring with other aspects of opening our clinic and if she doesn’t know an answer, she is quick to find one. In short, having Jenica as part of our team has been the best part of opening our clinic in Moncton. We hope that she continues to be a great resource and support for other physicians opening practice in New Brunswick.”

– Dr. Michael MacGillivary and Dr. Leïla Reguigui

“Starting a new practice is an undeniably overwhelming process and my Practice Support services at NBMS were timely, invaluable, and will be a game changer for physicians in New Brunswick! Not only did they connect me with all the necessary resources in the city, but they also helped me figure out what I needed to set up my office, walked me through the entire process including helping to choose an EMR and hire a medical office admin, and provided reassurance every step of the way. Can’t thank Jenica at NBMS Practice Support enough for her hard work!”

– Dr. Julie Chan