October 2024

From the Primary Care Alliance

The flu and cold season is upon us once again. As care providers, we must encourage our patients, particularly the most vulnerable, to get their flu shots. As you know, there have been ongoing issues with securing a distributor to deliver publicly funded vaccines to community medical clinics. This is very concerning for physicians and patients across Alberta – particularly as we are on the cusp of what looks to be a challenging respiratory virus season. The AMA is pushing Alberta Health to address this situation so that Albertans who typically seek vaccines through their family physician can do so. 

The Minister of Health made a recent announcement about Primary Care Alberta, the new provincial health agency overseeing and coordinating the delivery of primary health care services  The announcement signals, on one hand, the significance of primary care and recognition of its importance and role as the foundation for patient care. On the other hand, it raises many questions that are yet to be answered. What will governance look like in the new Regional Networks? How will we combat the human health resource shortage we are facing in the community and in our hospitals? How can we ensure that we don’t create further siloes in care provision? We wait to see how the agency’s mandate will be realized and how it will interact with family physicians and other primary care providers. We trust that input from front line care providers, particularly family physicians, will be considered in policy making, planning and implementation.

Dr. Ema Gye

Chair

Primary Care Alliance

Join the Physician Leadership Network (PLN) and earn CME credits!

AMA-Accelerating Changes Transformation Team invites you to participate with your colleagues in 60-minute sessions on topics developed from the Canadian College of Health Leaders (LEADS) framework. These virtual interactive sessions provide practical information, tools, and opportunities to connect with your peers. Sessions are repeated to give you attendance flexibility. 
Sign up today and join the next PLN webinar: Topics in Teamwork, Part 2: Leadership Styles on December 10 OR December 11. 

AMA-ACTT leader joins Health Cities committee

AMA-Accelerating Change Transformation Team, Executive Vice President of Health System Transformation, Christine deMontigny is a new member of the Strategy Committee at Canadian not-for-profit, Health Cities.

This committee is responsible for aligning Health Cities’ initiatives with its long-term vision and mission to drive modernization and innovative models of care. 

ACFP announces 2024 Award Recipients

The Alberta College of Family Physicians is proud to celebrate the physicians, students, residents, and clinics who demonstrate what “Excellence in Family Practice” truly means.

Check out the 2024 Award recipients and consider nominating a peer today!

New PCN Governance Training Essentials sessions added

Are you looking to learn more about effectively contributing to and influencing governing body performance while earning CME credits?

New virtual interactive sessions have been added for PCN Governance Training – Essentials on November 27 and February 26, 2025.

This curriculum from AMA-Accelerating Change Transformation Team introduces the governance of PCNs in Alberta, the structure PCNs operate within and the many functions, roles and responsibilities that contribute to optimal boards and committees

Other news

Family Physicians & Rural Generalists! Registration is open for PCCM Panel Prep – Part 3

Join AMA-ACTT for Part 3 of our webinar series and learn how to access, understand and action CPAR (Central Patient Attachment Registry) reports. These reports allow you and your team to manage Demographic Mismatches and reduce Conflicts, which improves care continuity and may improve the accuracy of your Alberta Health panel size estimate. Understanding how to action these CPAR reports will help you prepare your panel for the Physician Comprehensive Care Model (PCCM) launch, which has a panel component.  
Physicians and teams - register today and take control of your panel size!  
Monday, Nov 25 - 5:30 p.m. or Thursday, Nov 28 - 8:00 a.m. 
If you missed Part 1 or Part 2, there's time to catch up. Watch the recorded webinars and read key takeaways in our growing PCCM resource library.

2025 Primary Care Strategic Forum – Call for speakers

Are you interested in becoming a breakout speaker at the 2025 Primary Care Strategic Forum?
Now's your chance. The Primary Care Strategic Forum Advisory Committee is looking for engaging, interactive and inspiring sessions that focus on the key content streams. Submissions will be accepted until December 3 at 12:00 p.m. MT. The call for breakout speakers proposal guide Is a helpful resource to guide you through the submission process.
More information is available on the event website. 

PCN Pain Rounds presents “Neurodiversity and Pain” on November 14

During this 90-minute webinar, participants will learn how to assess a patient for neurodivergent traits, describe the impact of neurodiversity on the experience of pain, and develop a treatment plan with a patient that accounts for neurodiversity. Session guest speakers are Dr. Carly McMorris and Cara Nania. All primary care providers are welcome to attend. Register now.

FAST multi-specialty launch coming December 2

FAST (Facilitated Access to Specialized Treatment) is a provincial central access and intake program. FAST currently accepts referrals for general surgery, gynecology, orthopedic surgery, urology¹ and vascular surgery.  
On December 2, FAST will expand to four new surgical specialties across Alberta, including plastic surgery², neurosurgery, otolaryngology², and oral maxillofacial surgery. During this time, Edmonton Zone will also expand beyond colposcopy to accept all gynecology³ referrals.   
Learn more and review referral instructions at AHS.ca/FAST.   
 ¹Urology referrals in Edmonton Zone should continue to be submitted through eReferral.  
 ²Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology are live in Edmonton Zone. The launch on Dec. 2 will not change how referrals for these specialties are accepted.  

³Expanded gynecology reasons for referral in Edmonton Zone will not impact how Colposcopy referrals are accepted in the Zone. 

Patient referral information online through My Personal Records

As of October 31, Albertans will be able to view referral information for Urology consults entered in the Netcare eReferral system. Referral information will be viewable through the My Personal Records (MPR) application and will include referral date, referring provider, reason for referral and more. Referrals sent to other specialties will be released at a later date.
Get more information. 

Last chance to join a project on shared care planning with complex patients

Physician recruitment ends November 30 for the multi-partnered one:carepath project led by the University of Alberta. The project partners with primary care physicians to use their care planning tools with patients living with advanced stage chronic disease. Currently, there are 92 family physicians from 22 Primary Care Networks participating. Patients from your panel are identified for you as the care plan template is available in all provincial EMRs and auto-populates from a patient’s chart. There are funds to support your participation.
Join today and help the team secure additional resources for spread and scale that will go directly to primary care.  
For more information contact Lynn Toon or Tanya Barber.

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Email: primarycarealliance@albertadoctors.org

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