Medical Services Plan of British Columbia (MSP) funding of DXA bone density testing
MSP has agreed after 25 years of refusing, to finally fund DXA at Prohealth. Patients desiring an MSP-funded BMD Test must have a referral from their family doctor and must meet MSP criteria for doing the test. Although in many cases this requires a three year interval between DXA tests, in instances where a patient is at high risk on therapy or has other specified medical conditions, a test could be done after one or two years.
If you are not referred by an outside physician or nurse practitioner, you may pay for a BMD test; the charges $88 for single site, $150 for two sites. This does not require a physician referral.
Bone density testing is recommended for all men and women over the age of 65 years. As well, testing should be offered to postmenopausal women and men over 50 with additional risk factors such as parental hip fracture, personal fragility fracture, cigarette smoking, excess alcohol, or other clinical concerns where bone density information will aid in management. You will need to discuss with your doctor whether a bone density test is appropriate and whether the MSP will pay for it.