By Sam Borsato - @BorsatoSam on Twitter // With files from the Government of Alberta

Doctors and Government Agree to Collaborative Effort in Reducing Health Spending

Aug 31, 2016 | 10:24 AM

ALBERTA – A tentative agreement has been reached between the Alberta government and doctors in the province to ensure financial sustainability, quality of care and access.

It comes as an amendment to the existing 2011-2018 agreement. That will be achieved through co-operation on a number of initiatives to improve health care overall:

A needs-based Physician Resource Plan that will help place doctors in the communities that need them;
Primary care improvements, including new information technology and data-sharing;
New compensation models that reward time and quality of care given to patients, not just the number of services provided 

In addition, the government and the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) have agreed to immediately commence negotiations on the overall master agreement that was previously scheduled to begin in 2017.

“Doctors hold positions of privilege and great responsibility in our province, and play an essential role in the health and well-being of all Albertans.  As stewards of our health system, they have shown a willingness to partner with the government in developing solutions that will slow down the growth in health spending and improve health services for patients over the long-term,” noted Sarah Hoffman, Minster of Health. 

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The AMA will be providing an in-depth explanation of the tentative agreement to its members in the coming weeks and will hold a consultation with its governing body, the Representative Forum. It’s expected that a vote would be held by mid-October.