Welcome to the Alberta Medical Association’s Section News – an opportunity for sections to report on their challenges and objectives. This service helps sections communicate with all AMA members as well as physicians in their own specialties. Your feedback is encouraged. Please contact Agnes E. McIntyre, Administrative Assistant, Section Services: T 780.482.2626; TF 1.800.272.9680; email agnes.mcintyre@albertadoctors.org.
November 2013
Section of Anesthesia Dr. Michael R. Cassidy, President Annual general meeting All section members are invited to attend the 2013 annual general meeting of the Section of Anesthesia on Tuesday, December 3, from 7-9 p.m. The AGM will be by videoconference and teleconference (rooms and dial in information to be provided). Sites are being arranged at the following locations: • Calgary – Rockyview General Hospital. • Edmonton – Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute. • Grande Prairie – Queen Elizabeth II Hospital. • Lethbridge – Chinook Regional Hospital. • Medicine Hat – Medicine Hat Regional Hospital. • Red Deer – Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. An agenda and reports will be circulated prior to the meeting. Economics representatives will meet from 6-7 p.m. at the same locations on the same date.
Section of General Psychiatry Dr. Gordon J. Kelly, President 2014 Scientific Conference and annual general meeting – call for abstracts “Challenges of Change for Our Patients and Profession” will take place March 27-30, 2014 at the Rimrock Resort in Banff AB.
The call for abstracts is open until December 13. There are two formats available: • One-hour workshop. • 20-minute presentation. In order to be considered, please complete the abstract form and disclosure statement, including identifying the three learning objectives of your session as well as providing a brief abstract (250 words or less). Completed abstracts can be submitted by email to Karen Batchelor at conference@albertapsych.org.
Section of Occupational Medicine Dr. Kenneth J. Corbet, President kcorbet@ucalgary.ca AMA Representative Forum, September 27-28 Dr. Kenneth F. Harrison represented our section at the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) Representative Forum (RF) held September 27-28 in Edmonton. Note that an AMA oversight group was formed in the fall 2012 to monitor the performance/compliance of individual AMA sections with respect to: • • • • •
RF attendance. Section reports to RF. Reports of RF meetings to section members. Bylaw compliance. Reports of annual general meetings and changes to section executive.
The Section of Occupational Medicine is in compliance with all of these requirements. All section members are encouraged to review the RF report.
• Importing an initiative from another jurisdiction (Canadian or international) that would be new to Alberta. • Developing a new initiative.
Comments or questions should be forward to Ken Corbet (President) at kcorbet@ucalgary.ca.
This will be an agenda item for discussion at the upcoming AGM for the section.
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Association of Canada (OEMAC) 2014 Annual Scientific Conference
Continuing Professional Development • Occupational and Environmental Factors in Infectious Disease and Updates in Occupational Health ○ University of California, San Francisco CA ○ March 6-8, 2014 ○ Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco CA ○ Brochure: http://www.ucsfcme.com/2014/ MDM14N01/MDM14N01.pdf ○ Registration: http://www.ucsfcme. com/2014/MDM14N01/info.html
The 2014 conference will take place in Edmonton, September 27-30, 2014. Initial meetings of the Edmonton and Calgary working groups were held this summer, followed by a meeting with the OEMAC Executive at the 2013 Montreal conference in October. A learning needs assessment will be completed with a report from the Royal College Maintenance of Certification Program and the OEMAC 2013 conference evaluation. The working groups are meeting in November/ December to confirm key themes and speakers for the conference.
• American Occupational Health Conference (AOHC) ○ American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine ○ April 27-30, 2014 ○ San Antonio, TX ○ Conference information: http://www. acoem.org/aohc2014_conference.aspx
Members interested in contributing to the planning of this conference may contact: • Dr. Jeremy R. Beach (Co-chair - Edmonton) jeremy.beach@ualberta.ca • Dr. Kenneth J. Corbet (Co-chair - Calgary) kcorbet@ucalgary.ca
System-Wide Efficiencies and Savings (SWES)
Section of General Practice Dr. Ann R. Vaidya, President T 403.873.2352/F 403.873.2364 gppres@albertadoctors.org
This is one element of the Consultation Agreement under the seven-year AMA Agreement with Alberta Health. Three dimensions of the health system must be simultaneously pursued to optimize health system performance:
SGP Executive Meeting and Strategic Retreat details
• Improving the patient experience of care. • Improving the health of populations. • Reducing the per capita cost of health care.
The 2013 Section of General Practice (SGP) Executive Meeting and SGP Strategic Retreat are scheduled at the Rimrock Resort Hotel, Banff.
The AMA has asked each section to suggest up to five initiatives in their respective areas of practice to improve efficiency, health outcomes and the patient experience in Alberta.
The SGP Executive Committee meeting is November 28 and the SGP Strategic Retreat is November 29-30. Details will follow in the next issue of Section News about the topics discussed during both meetings. Stay tuned.
These could include: • Enhancing or strengthening an existing initiative in Alberta. • Winding down an existing initiative in Alberta that is no longer providing value.
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November 2013 Section News
Section of Rural Medicine Dr. Tobias N.M. Gelber, President srmpres@albertadoctors.org
PCN evolution update The Primary Care Alliance has been distributing the Primary Care Newsletter, which contains updates and information about PCN evolution, to all primary care physicians. We encourage you to read the newsletters and stay informed as PCN evolution move forward. The articles are also posted to the Innovation in primary care delivery web page under the PCN evolution (2.0) news heading.
Annual general meeting The Section of Rural Medicine’s (SRM’s) Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held Saturday, January 25, 2014 from 5–7 p.m. in the Castle Room of the Banff Park Lodge. We encourage all SRM members who are able to attend.
If you have any feedback or thoughts on PCN evolution, please send them to pcnevolution@albertadoctors.org.
AGM Survey To help increase attendance at future AGMs, SRM wants to hear from members about other locations and/or conferences with which the AGM can be held. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey by Friday, November 29.
Breast cancer screening guidelines Toward Optimized Practice (TOP) released an updated Breast Cancer Screening Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG). The updated guideline provides recommendations for screening women in the average risk population and new information on:
Section of General Practice/Section of Rural Medicine joint submission ◊ Section of General Practice Dr. Ann R. Vaidya, President T 403.873.2352/F 403.873.2364 gppres@albertadoctors.org ◊ Section of Rural Medicine Dr. Tobias N.M. Gelber, President srmpres@albertadoctors.org
• Women with high risk factors requiring more intensive screening. • Criteria for referral to medical genetics based on maternal and paternal history. • Age categories: previous 50-69 age group now extended to 50-74 years. More information is available on the TOP website www.topalbertadoctors.org.
GP Alternate Compensation Model On Friday, November 15, the Section of General Practice (SGP) sent an email to all primary care physicians requesting feedback on a draft General Practice Alternate Compensation Model. The draft model includes: • Fixed payment tied to a specific, defined patient population. • Remuneration that reflects the health needs of each patient. • Relative income predictability for physicians.
Information and options to provide to bariatric patients A recent collaborative project between Alberta Health Services and the Physician Learning Program has resulted in the development of a bariatric surgery video designed specifically to enhance referrals of appropriate patients for surgical intervention, and to address misconceptions surrounding bariatric surgery. More information and the video are online at https://www.albertadoctors.org/news/newsarchives/bariatric-surgery-video-news. For additional information, contact plp@ualberta.ca.
The alternate model is simply another choice for compensation for primary care physicians. It is also NOT part of PCN evolution or family care clinic, but is something SGP is exploring independent of these initiatives. The new model will, however, be complementary to PCN evolution.
Recent/upcoming events • Hospital Medicine Conference: November 22-23 at the Health Sciences Centre, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary. For more information or to register please visit http://medicine.ucalgary. ca/physicians/cme/courses.
All feedback will be reviewed at the upcoming SGP Strategic Retreat.
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November 2013 Section News
sent to all primary care physicians over the past few weeks. These articles are available on the Innovation in primary care delivery web page under the PCN evolution (2.0) news heading.
• Performing Arts Medicine Conference: December 6 at MacEwan Conference & Events Centre, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary. For more information or to register please visit http://medicine.ucalgary. ca/physicians/cme/courses.
PCN Physician Leads Forum The fall forum for PCN Physician Leads was held in Calgary on October 18-19 at the Delta Bow Valley hotel.
Primary Care Alliance ◊ Section of General Practice Dr. Ann R. Vaidya, President T 403.873.2352/F 403.873.2364 gppres@albertadoctors.org ◊ Section of Rural Medicine Dr. Tobias N.M. Gelber (Chair), President srmpres@albertadoctors.org ◊ PCN Leads Executive Dr. Phillip W. van der Merwe, Chair pcnexec@albertadoctors.org
The key topic at the fall forum was the PCN 2.0 Evolution. There were 33 PCNs represented at the Forum with the highest number of attendees recorded to date: • 79 physicians. • 31 executive directors. • 25 AMA and other staff. Section of General Practice Executive Committee members, Alberta Health, Alberta AIM, TOP and PCI were also in attendance.
The PCA issues a joint Section News submission about issues affecting general practitioners. Please send any comments and feedback on this submission to Linda A. Ertman (Program Coordinator, Practice Management Program) at linda.ertman@albertadoctors.org.
AMA President Dr. Allan S. Garbutt opened the forum and welcomed the attendees. Minister of Health Fred Horne delivered an address later that morning. The forum session topics included:
Primary Care Alliance (PCA) Board Activities of the PCA Board have largely focused on the evolution of primary care networks (PCNs). For more information, please see the PCN evolution update below.
• PCN evolution journey, overview and update. • Celebrating the successes of contingency planning and the impact on patient care. • Family care clinic discussion. • Leading and influencing change, change management and transitioning planning. • What are Alberta patients telling us – PCN province-wide patient benchmarking survey. • PCN evolution information management/ information technology. • Primary care strategy – early opportunities, improvement to access, attachment, educating the public about the value of PCN. • Quality improvement plans. • PCN evolution townhall meeting. • Zonal meetings and Zonal elections (North and South). The next forum is planned for March 7-8, 2014, at the Matrix Hotel in Edmonton.
Other work has included: • Discussing the purpose, role and governance structure of the PCA Forum and the PCA Board. • Preparing a General Practice Alternate Compensation Model presentation that highlighted the flow of funds, linkage to PCN evolution and the importance of governance. • Producing a letter of support for the Alberta Screening and Prevention (ASaP) Initiative. • Developing criteria for primary care representative appointments to Strategic Clinical Networks and various other committees. The next meeting of the PCA Board will be held December 1.
PCN evolution update The Primary Care Newsletter contains updates and information about PCN evolution and has been Alberta Medical Association
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November 2013 Section News