March 31, 2025

Dear colleagues,

Welcome to the second edition of the Specialty Care Alliance (SCA) Bulletin.

The SCA continues to serve as a forum advocating on behalf of specialty care physicians across Alberta, in the AMA. Our work focuses on system stewardship, advancing shared interests and addressing key issues affecting specialists.

This issue includes updates on:

Specialty Care Working Group
Case-based rates proposal
Alberta Surgical Initiative
Physician Practice Improvement Program (PPIP) webinars
Community Information Integration (CII) Progress
Access Training for Specialists
New Family Medicine Practice Payment Model

Specialty Care Working Group set up to inform negotiations

A new Specialty Care Working Group has been set up to ensure that the voices of specialty care physicians are well-represented in the upcoming negotiations with the Alberta government. The group will make recommendations to the Board related to specialist compensation, funding and other matters that will help inform the AMA’s negotiating framework.

Case-based rates proposal

The Case-Based Rates (CBR) model proposes replacing fixed contracts with a standardized facility fee for specific procedures which would be payable to any accredited clinic willing to provide the service. This approach could:

expand the number of hospitals and Chartered Surgical Facilities (CSFs) available for performing certain procedures
reduce wait times
increase access to care

Although this concept was very well received when proposed directly by the SCA to the Minister of Health, it has yet to be implemented.

Alberta Surgical Initiative

The Alberta Surgical Initiative (ASI) aims to reduce wait times by expanding surgical capacity beyond formal hospital settings. Orthopedic surgeons are performing joint replacements in non-hospital surgical facilities, freeing up hospital operating rooms. A recent renovation of a Calgary based surgical centre reduced the throughput of cases at that institution. Those renovations have been completed, and the surgical centre has resumed all activities.

A recent “sludge audit” of ASI was conducted and completed. We expect to learn about the results in the coming weeks.

Are you equipped for completing PPIP? (Physician Practice Improvement Program)

The College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) launched the Physician Practice Improvement Program (PPIP) on January 1, 2021, to fulfill its legislated mandate of ensuring professional competence.

All CPSA regulated members must fulfill each of the three required PPIP activities within a continuous five-year cycle.

Required PPIP activities fall into three areas:

Practice-driven Quality Improvement (QI)
CPSA Standards of Practice Quality Improvement (QI)
Personal Development

AMA-ACTT hosts 60-90-minute PPIP webinars led by physician peers. The webinars are free, offered monthly with a varied schedule to support physician members in completing their CPSA PPIP requirements.

Current topics and the PPIP activities they could fulfill are as follows:

Topic Title	Applicable to CPSA’s PPIP activity of:
Quality Improvement (QI) Basics	Practice-driven QI
Facing the Drain of Medical Practice	Personal Development
Beyond the Pizza Party: Steps for Growing a Healthy Team Culture	Practice-driven QI OR Standards of Practice QI OR Personal Development
Virtual Care Standards of Practice	Practice-driven QI OR Standards of Practice QI
Working Through Conflict; Mastering the Process	Practice-driven QI OR Standards of Practice QI OR Personal Development
Closing the Loop: Sharing Consults for Seamless Continuity	Practice-driven QI OR Standards of Practice QI

For information on dates and how to register, please visit the AMA website.

Community Information Integration (CII) progress

The Community Information Integration (CII) program continues to expand, enabling specialists to submit consult reports to Netcare directly from their Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). With nearly 800 specialists already participating, this program enhances communication across the health care system. To encourage further adoption, a webinar on June 10 will provide hands-on guidance on CII implementation and demonstrate how participation can help fulfill PPIP requirements.

Learn more about the webinar and register

Now live! Access Training for Specialists and Team Members with a Caseload

The new curriculum will share strategies to support timely access to care for your patients. If you’re interested in taking the AMA-ACTT courses, make sure you have a Learn@AMA account. Don’t have an account? Sign-up for one now.

New Family Medicine Practice Payment Model - PCPCM

The AMA has been working closely with Alberta Health to launch a new funding model aimed at improving sustainability for primary care physicians. The AMA Strike Team, which includes members of the Section of Family Medicine, Section of Rural Medicine, PCN Physicians Leads Executive, AMA ARP Working Group as well as AMA staff developed this model over the better part of a year. We’d also like to acknowledge the work that SCA played in contributing to PCPCM.

Hundreds of family doctors have opted into the Primary Care Physician Compensation Model (PCPCM). We extend our best wishes to our colleagues in primary care and hope this model strengthens their ability to provide longitudinal patient care.

This bulletin provides key updates on system improvements and advocacy efforts relevant to specialty care. If you have any questions or would like to contribute to future editions, please contact specialtycarealliance@albertadoctors.org.

For additional information on ACTT resources, visit the AMA website.

Best regards,
Specialty Care Alliance
Alberta Medical Association