Clinical Counsellors

Do you provide counselling treatments to customers injured in a car crash? Here are a few things you should know.

In order for ICBC to consider treatment funding, you must meet the definition of a “counsellor”. According to the Insurance (Vehicle) Regulation, “counsellor” means a person:

(a) who is a member in good standing of an association whose members provide the health care services of clinical or counselling psychology,
(b) who holds a master’s degree or doctorate in psychology, psychiatry, social work, or clinical or counselling psychology, and
(c) whose health care services of clinical or counselling psychology are overseen by a person who is a member of a health profession as defined in the Health Professions Act or a similar law of another jurisdiction.

Invoicing and reporting

Counsellors approved to treat our customers may use the Health Care Provider Invoicing and Reporting (HCPIR) application to send invoices and reports directly to ICBC. In order to use the HCPIR, a vendor number is required.

If you have been paid by ICBC before, you likely already have a vendor number. If you do not already have a vendor number or you need to make changes to your information, visit our Vendor number page.

Treatment guidelines

Counsellors are expected to assess patients and determine their treatment plans in accordance with the guidelines and practice standards of their association.

When treating a patient with an injury listed in sections 3 or 4 of the Diagnostic and Treatment Protocols in the Minor Injury Regulation made under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, a health care practitioner must educate the patient with respect to the following:

(1) (a) if applicable, the desirability of an early return:

a. to the activities the patient could perform before the injury, or
b. to the patient’s employment, occupation or profession or the patient’s training or education in a program or course;

(b) an estimate of the probable length of time that symptoms will last;

(d) the probable factors that are responsible for the symptoms the patient may be experiencing;

(e) appropriate self-management and pain management strategies.

(2) When treating a pain syndrome and a psychological or psychiatric condition, a health care practitioner must identify comorbid conditions, if applicable.

Note: Oversight is the responsibility of a practitioner to ensure treatment plans are in alignment with the treatment goals of the primary care provider(s). This may involve sharing of the assessment findings and treatment recommendations with the primary care provider, in accordance with the association’s information sharing guidelines.

Fees

Fees are based on a standard treatment, rather than being charged at an hourly rate.

Fee table

Initial visit and report	$215.00 (billable once) as outlined in the Insurance (Vehicle Regulation)
Standard treatment	$123.00 per treatment as outlined in the Insurance (Vehicle Regulation)
Pre-authorized number of treatments	12 (within 12 weeks of the date of the accident causing the injury) as outlined in the Insurance (Vehicle Regulation)
Reassessment report (upon request)	$50.00
Care plan meeting**	$10 per 5-minute increment

These fees apply to all treatments administered on or after April 1, 2020, regardless of the date of the accident that caused the injury.

*The initial visit fee includes the assessment and standard treatment provided that day. A standard visit is not to be charged for the date the initial visit took place.

**Care plan meetings must be initiated, approved, scheduled and facilitated by a Customer Recovery Specialist for the purpose of aligning goals, objectives and overall medical case management of a shared patient. They cannot be used to invoice for time spent discussing a shared patient or general correspondence, where the Customer Recovery Specialist has not scheduled the call and is not present for the meeting. Time spent by the health care provider in preparation for the care plan meeting is not billable.

Notes

ICBC customers who choose to visit a health care practitioner that charges a higher rate than what ICBC funds will not be able to recover the user fees from ICBC for claims with an accident date on or after April 1, 2019. The patient is responsible for paying the user fee portion, which they may submit to their private health insurer for consideration of coverage.
Treatments are based on sessions provided and fees reflect fair market rate for a standard industry visit. Treatment frequency will be based on clinical recommendations and should reflect best practice.
Multiple sessions provided by the same discipline, on the same day, will not be funded.
In the case of a no-show, the clinic’s no-show and cancellation policies should apply. ICBC will not pay for no-show appointments.

Report templates

You can find out more information about submitting reports, report templates and the report completion guide on the Reports page.

Contact & support

Visit the Support and resources page.