Health Minister Tyler Shandro - Gov't of Alberta

By Dori Modney

Alberta Health Minister announces enhancements to rural, and urban, health care

Apr 24, 2020 | 3:14 PM

EDMONTON, AB. — With doctors’ groups across the province vocalizing increased frustration with the province, Health Minister Tyler Shandro has written a prescription to ameliorate the situation.

(Read also: Alberta health care system is intact – But, doctors ask “For how long?”)

Only time will tell if Friday’s announcement quells the indignation of provincial physicians.

On Friday (Apr 24) afternoon, Shandro’s announcement focussed on rural health care, with a nod to complaints from urban doctors as well.

Effective immediately, the $60,000 cap on the ‘Rural and Remote Northern Program’ (RRNP) will be abolished. As well, the province is hitting the pause button on overhead changes that were announced earlier this year for urban physicians, while an extensive review by AHS, with physician involvement, is completed.

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Rural physicians will be exempted from any changes permanently. As for medical liability – rates for all rural physicians, including obstetrics, will be frozen at $1,000. Rates for all family physicians in Alberta will also be frozen at $1,000. Rates for all other urban physicians will range from a low of $1,200 to a maximum of $4,000.

On-call rates for all rural physicians will range from $20 per hour to $23 per hour, increasing payments to more than 1,500 physicians who are on call in rural Alberta.

The province is also looking to the chronic shortage of rural doctors. Shandro says $6 million will be set aside to pay for the schooling of 20 medical students over the next three years to incentivize young Albertans from rural communities to return to practise in their home communities after completing medical school.

“Over the last several weeks, discussions with rural caucus and rural physicians have made it clear that there are unique challenges to recruiting and retaining physicians in communities outside of Alberta’s major cities. These changes recognize that difference and will significantly improve access to health care for patients in rural communities.”

The province has contracted clinical researcher Dr. Lee Green, professor and chair, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, to engage physicians on how to improve health care in rural communities through alternative compensation models.

Green will open discussions on alternative funding models and programs themselves, but use alternative funding approaches to improve primary health care in the province. That will mean engaging with, hearing, and applying the wisdom of the practice community to make real change happen.”

Initiatives being implemented for rural physicians:

— Having the ability to earn more through the RRNP, effective immediately. The cap and flat fee components of the program will be removed and eligible communities will be reviewed.

— Immediately increasing on-call rates for rural family medicine physicians with special skills from $11 per hour to $20 per hour, and for rural on-call from $20 per hour to $23 per hour.

— Exempting rural physicians from the new overhead policy. Implementation of the overhead policy will be delayed for urban physicians until a complete policy review.

— Freezing the Medical Liability Reimbursement Program deductible for all rural physicians and all family physicians at $1,000.00.

— Engaging physicians on how to improve health care in rural communities.

There will also be work on a new salary model for primary care and the Provincial Primary Care Network Committee will be asked to form a working group to provide recommendations on how to improve primary care in rural communities.

There are currently about 1,000 rural physicians practising in the province and Alberta Health is spending about $81 million this year to address rural physician recruitment and retention through programs, including:

— RRNP – provides direct financial incentives to physicians who live and practise in under-serviced communities.

— Rural Health Professions Action Plan – works with communities to enhance the attraction and retention of health professionals for rural practice.

— Rural Medical Education programs – supports medical students and residents’ experiences with rural health care, with the goal of increasing interest in, and ultimately choosing a rural medicine career path.

— Physician Locum Service Program – ensures that communities with four or fewer physicians have access to continuous medical coverage if a physician is unable to provide services due to short-term absences.

— Rural On-Call Program – provides remuneration to physicians providing emergency on-call services at eligible facilities in rural areas.

Related information can be found on the Physician Funding Framework