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Key Result Area 1: Financial health

The AMA assists and supports members in maintaining their financial health. This includes negotiating with payers to ensure fair compensation, the provision of practice management services and the offering of financial products. Members in training are supported through a number of scholarships and bursaries.

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Goal 1 Physicians are fairly compensated for their skills and training in comparison to their colleagues and other professionals.

Priority activities
  1. Improve fairness in compensation between specialties:
  • Complete all aspects of the income equity measure this year, including member ratification.
  • Use the full measure to influence and promote fairness in compensation including in the rates review and the financial reopener.
  • Use the full measure to inform other compensation policy matters (e.g., stipends, ARPs, AMHSP)
  1.  Ensure fair compensation compared to other Canadian physicians and other Alberta professionals.
  • Through AMA Agreement mandates:
    • Complete the Micro-allocation
    • Prepare for an inter-provincial fee review and possible arbitration
    • Begin preparing for the 4th year financial re-opener
    • Complete the AHS payment reviews (stipends, on-call, overhead)
    • Complete the ARP rate review
  • Through other mandates:
    • Support clinical ARP and AMHSP negotiations
    • Support local and provincial compensation discussions
      • Lab Agreement
      • Cancer Control
      • WCB
      • Third party contracts

Goal 2 Physicians’ practice management decisions are based on sound management advice and best practice.

Priority activities
  1. Support activities that promote the effective management of practices, including:
  • Supporting sections in schedule modernization/improvement efforts.
  • Promoting professionalism and best practice in billing and referral practices through tools like the fee navigator and billing training tools.
  • Improve the accessibility of existing practice and clinic management tools and training information through the Learn@AMA learning management system and/or the AMA website.
  1. Support members participating in or considering alternate compensation models including:
  • Clinical alternate relationship plans
  • AMHSP arrangements
  • Third-party contracting models
  1. Prepare members for team-based funding conversations including:
  • Developing options for both clinic and PCN team funding flow and policies that could be implemented between clinics and PCNs for team-based funding, including contract templates./li>
  • Through the ACTT program, host a PCN Strategic Forum that focuses on teams in primary health care; showcasing successful examples of team deployment and options for implementation in Alberta.

Goal 3 Reliable and best-in-class financial products are available to all members

Priority activities
  1. In partnership with MD Financial Management and BNS, promote and provide educational sessions on the Medicus pension plan, created for physicians, to provide predictable monthly income on retirement.
  1. In partnership with MD Financial and BNS, complete a market assessment to ensure competitive rates and coverage of products offered to members through the financial services alliance.
  1. Assess the feasibility of providing members with subsidized medical education subscriptions, previously available through the CMA.