From the Primary Care Alliance

This month, I wanted to remind my colleagues of the importance of panel management and practice improvement activities to maximize the funding for the Panel Management Support Program. The funds are part of $57 million over three years provided by government to physicians participating in panel management.

1. If you haven’t already, please sign up for CII/CPAR – and encourage your peers to do the same - by visiting CII/CPAR (albertadoctors.org).

2. Utilize support staff to participate in panel management by validating patients, resolving conflict reports and demographic mismatches, and supporting screening and disease management protocols. Does your staff need more training on panel management? Visit Learn@AMA (albertadoctors.org) to access a library of courses on panel management and practice improvement.

3. Physicians and support staff are invited to join an AMA ACTT EMR Network and/or other Networks of Practice (albertadoctors.org) to support panel management and practice improvement activities.

On another front, the spring AMA Representative Forum featured further discussions about stabilization of the health care system. The leadership of the Alberta Medical Association continues efforts to advocate for stabilizing and supporting family physicians to provide primary health care and they also recognize the urgent need to highlight the challenges in primary health care.

There is a lot of work going on to support family physicians in providing the care that Albertans need. We appreciate the feedback from frontline primary care physicians and urge you to continue engaging.  
                  

Dr. Ema Gye
Chair
Primary Care Alliance

Understanding your panel and maximizing funding for the PMSP

Participating in panel management and utilizing support staff in practice improvement activities will help physicians maximize their payments for the Panel Management Support Program (PMSP).
NOTE: If you have questions about the program, please review the PMSP Frequently Asked Questions at the link below.

Practice Facilitator Core Training: Self-Directed now available to enrol!

Do you want your team to learn about quality improvement? Enrolment is now open for the self-directed Practice Facilitator Core Training. This training is for those who do not directly facilitate quality improvement with clinic teams or anyone that has taken Practice Facilitator training before and is looking for a refresher. Learners can complete the individual courses at their own pace and revisit the content at any time. 

Financial Supports for CII/CPAR 

In addition to helping maximize payments under the Panel Management Support Program, physicians that go live on CII/CPAR soon, will be automatically eligible for Acceleration Grant payments.

Reach out to AMA-ACTT (Accelerating Change Transformation Team) or your PCN today to get started.

Join the ACFP Webinar on PPIP Standards of Practice on April 18

Sign up for the ACFP Thursday Evening webinar, “PPIP SoP Workshop: Choose your own component, fulfil your requirement” to learn how to complete a standard of practice quality improvement activity as part of the Physician Practice Improvement Program (PPIP).

This free session is the perfect space to learn alongside your colleagues and have some of your PPIP questions answered!.

Other news

REMINDER: New lab supply ordering portal for community providers 

Alberta Precision Laboratories’ new province-wide community provider online lab supply ordering portal will go live April 1, 2024. 
To access the new portal and receive login credentials, all community providers must verify their account as soon as possible by contacting CPSMOperations.EOC@albertahealthservices.ca
This credentialing step is essential; failure to do so will result in the inability to access or order clinical lab test supplies. 
For more information: Lab Supply Ordering Portal 

FAST expands General Surgery province-wide

General Surgery has joined the Facilitated Access to Specialized Treatment (FAST) central access and intake program in all Zones.
When making a General Surgery referral, please use the new referral form and ensure to attach all mandatory labs and diagnostic imaging from the new referral pathway.  
Once the referral is ready to submit, please use the central FAST fax number for your Zone:  

• North Zone: 1-833-627-7025   

• Edmonton Zone: 1-780-670-3224   

• Central Zone: 1-833-627-7022   

• Calgary Zone: 1-833-627-7023   

• South Zone: 1-833-627-7024   

For more information, visit ahs.ca/FAST or email with feedback or questions. 

Valuable panel data available soon

Valuable panel data available soon 
The 2024 Primary Healthcare Panel Reports from the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) will be available in April.
What is a panel report from the HQCA?
Panel reports provide a personalized summary about patient panels, allowing primary care providers to compare their data with peers to help identify improvement opportunities. The reports provide data on:

• Panel size and frequency of patient visits, 

• Screening rates, 

• Chronic conditions,

• Health system use, both inside and outside clinic walls, 

• And more. 

Reports are confidential and updated twice-annually. If you’re a current requestor of these reports, please watch an email from the HQCA for your login information. If you would like to request a report, visit request.hqca.ca. 

AMA Achievement Award nominations now open!

The Alberta Medical Association is calling for Achievement Award nominations for individuals who have contributed to the improvement of the quality of health care in Alberta. 
 

The Medal for Distinguished Service is given to a physician(s) who has made an outstanding personal contribution to medicine and to the people of Alberta, and in the process has contributed to the art and science of medicine while raising the standards of medical practice.

The Medal of Honour is awarded to a non-physician(s) who has raised the standards of health care and contributed to the advancement of medical research, medical education, health care organization, health education and/or health promotion to the public.
 

The AMA Award for Compassionate Service honors a physician who is an AMA member and, during their career, has demonstrated outstanding compassion, philanthropy and/or volunteerism to improve the state of the community in which they are giving back.

Nominations must be submitted by April 30. The awards will be presented at the AMA’s Fall 2024 RF President’s dinner.
 

To request a nomination form for these awards, please email Sarah Zieminek, phone 780-733-3633, toll-free at 1-800-272-9680, ext. 3633 or visit the AMA website.

Last Call for Nominations for the 2024 ACFP Awards

The Alberta College of Family Physicians (ACFP) annual Awards program, which honours and celebrates the outstanding contributions, leadership, and commitment of physicians, residents, students and clinics in family practice, is accepting nominations for the 2024 cycle. Nominate a colleague who has shown exceptional work in family medicine or a clinic that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in patient and community care. 

Nomination packages are due April 1, 2024. Need more time? Email ACFPawards@acfp.ca to request for an extension. 
For details on how to submit nominations for the ACFP Awards, visit their website.

Do your part to prevent a privacy breach

Privacy breaches happen all the time and one of the best ways to prevent them is through training. AMA-ACTT offers free online training for physicians and clinic team members to learn how to prevent and manage a privacy breach.

You can learn at your own pace, access helpful resources and tools, and obtain certification upon completion. Learn more and register.

Get trained on Pediatric Mental Health with CanREACH Conference this May

Participate in CanREACH, a CME dedicated to training provincial primary care providers, like yourself, in evidence-based child mental health assessment and treatment. Happening this May 24-25, 2024, the conference is typically offered twice yearly and delivered virtually to provide attendees more confidence in managing this area of medicine.
"I now have the skill and ability to diagnose and treat my kids in their Medical Home,” notes a past participant of CanREACH.

Space is limited and sessions fill quickly. Register now.

Preventing Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Where Primary Care Meets Guidelines

The intent of this virtual real-time CME is to delve into current dyslipidemia guidelines and explore complex, challenging cases experienced by primary care providers in the context of CVD risk reduction. Participants will engage in stimulating discussions about the intersect between guidelines and practice, how to address unusual cases, and apply a nuanced approach to management.

The date is May 8, 2024, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and is complimentary.
 Information and registration.

Enhanced Lipid Reporting a success

Thank you! With your help over 26,000 Albertans have been screened for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and treatment has increased by 14% for those deemed statin indicated. Over 3,000 have accessed the MyHealth CVD patient education materials.
 

Primary care providers are finding Enhanced Lipid Reporting (ELR) quick and easy to use. 
“ELR benefits my practice by saving me time.” - Dr. Deanna Funk, Spirit River, Borealis PCN 
“Through ELR, severe cases of CVD risk are much easier to recognize allowing my patients who should be offered statin therapy that opportunity.” - Dr. James A. Pope, Grande Prairie PCN
 

Learn more: video , ELR one-pager and infographic.
Contact ELR for questions or support.

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