MD Scope Archive

June 2, 2026

In this issue:

• Share your appreciation through the JPAC Shine On Gratitude Program
• Wildfire season prep: Review your risk and coverage
• Promote your event through the AMA
• Primary Care Alberta updates:
  • Hand and wrist osteoarthritis pathway now live
  • Tobacco & nicotine patient pathway
  • Reminder: Hantavirus (Andes virus) cruise ship outbreak
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Implementation of the Revised Provincial Dermatopathology Requisition
    • Reference Interval Change: Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) 
    • Change in Performing Laboratory for Thiocyanate Testing 
    • Seasonal Suspension of Rapid Influenza and RSV NAT (PCR) 
• MD Financial 
  • AI's influence on financial advice
• Community Connections
  • Health care providers: Help strengthen cancer screening in Alberta

May 14, 2026

In this issue:

• Optimized Prescribing with Seniors: Intercultural communication in health care 
• A boost when it matters most: Medical student bursaries awarded for 2026
• Reinvigorated Specialty Care Alliance mandate puts specialists at the forefront
• Considering retirement? Learn about the ARTA Retiree Benefits Plan 
• Member recruitment update: Out-of-Country Health Services Committee 
• We're recruiting for AMA committees: apply by May 29
• Primary Care Alberta updates:
  • New patient letters in screening mammography reports
  • Laboratory tests for specimens collected in Diagnostic Imaging 
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Temporary changes to Anti-Cariolipin IgG Antibody testing and reporting
    • Central, Edmonton and North Zones only:
      • Updates to Calling Group for Edmonton Base Lab Critical Result
      • Urine Toxicology Panels - University of Alberta Hospital - Toxicology Laboratory
• MD Financial 
  • Banking that works as hard as you do
• Community Connections

April 30, 2026

In this issue:

• Dr. John Bradley acclaimed as President-Elect 2026-27
• We’ve moved: AMA’s Edmonton office has a new home! 
• What were your patients' experiences with the health care system in 2025?
• Peer Review Billing Committee launching in May
• Join Cancer Care Alberta for a session on upper GI cancer pathways
• Attend the Care-First health care provider webinar
• Calling experts for CPSA’s Accreditation Expert Panel Roster
• Member recruitment opportunity: Out-of-Country Health Services Committee
• Share your voice: Join an AMA committee
• Primary Care Alberta updates:
  • Expanding breast cancer screening in 2027
  • Urology referral pathway updates
  • Public alert for cryptosporidium outbreak at Butterfield Acres Petting Farm in Calgary 
  • Lab bulletin:
    • Reporting changes for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HS-CRP)
• MD Financial 
  • Make tax planning part of your wealth plan
• Community Connections

April 16, 2026

In this issue:

• Exceptional contributions deserve recognition: Nominate a colleague for an AMA Achievement Award 
• Interim Federal Health Program co-payments: Take action 
• Register to attend the CMA Regional member forum in Edmonton
• Two more weeks to exercise a Guaranteed Insurability Benefit option for 2026
• Apply for the Section of Rural Medicine Tarrant Scholarship
• Webinar: The role of primary care in ovarian cancer prevention
• PPIP support session: Caregivers as Essential Care Team Partners
• Orthopedic Hospitalist recruitment for University of Alberta Hospital 
• Primary Care Alberta updates:
  • COVID-19 vaccines available for eligible Albertans
  • Specialty advice availabel at your fingertips - use eConsult today
  • Tobacco & nicotine dependence pathway
  • Update to immunocompromised HPV primary screening pathway (ages 50 to 69)
  • Lab bulletin updates:
    • Central, Edmonton & North zones only:
      • Plasma/serum cortisol changes to method, interpretation and reporting at Edmonton base lab
      • Changes to Anti-Streptolysin O (ASO) measurement
      • Reporting delays for autoimmunity testing at University of Alberta Hospital
    • New instruments for testing human growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor 1 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 at University of Alberta Hospital
    • Temporary routing change of Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)]
    • Legionella urine antigen testing implementation
    • Update to Gynecological Cytology order in Connect Care
    • Serum muscle-specific kinase antibody testing
• MD Financial 
  • Who you hire can make or break your practice
• Community Connections

March 26, 2026

In this issue:

• 2026-27 President-Elect call for nominations now open
• Help spread the word of the State of Health Care initiative
• Send us your photos: You are the face of the AMA
• Translated colonoscopy resources for patients now available
• Alberta Netcare Newsletter: March 2026
• Apply for AMA committee openings
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • Update: Bicillin L-A (Benzathine Penicillin G) Shortage - Interim Alberta infectious syphilis guidance
  • Ongoing measles awareness needed, cases on the rise in 2026 
  • Lab bulletins: 
    • Update to management of immunocompromised patients for HPV primary testing
    • New ophthalmic pathology requisition
    • Reporting changes to tests involving aldosterone and renin
• MD Financial 
  • Planning your final arrangements
• Community Connections

March 12, 2026

In this issue:

• Optimized Prescribing with Seniors: Delusional disorder in older adults
• Submit nominations for the AMA Achievement Awards
• Attend the next Transitions in Care Talk: supporting medically complex patients
• Advancing high-value care: committee opportunity and update
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • Updated Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Pathway
  • Connect Care update: Unexpected delivery location for some future orders
  • Autistm Acceptance Week
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Changes to HIV NAT and HIV-1 viral load testing
    • Semen analysis requisition issue (Central Alberta)
• MD Financial
  • Avoid investment fraud
• Community Connections
  • Participate in Clinical Practice Guideline committees
  • Sinai Health - National Research Study

February 26, 2026

In this issue:

• Results of the CMA 2025 National Physician Health Survey now available
• Don't forget to claim your $2,200 CME dollars by March 31
• NEW: Team-based Care training launch
• Join AI Innovators: Health Tech Solutions on March 10
• Attend GI for GPs: Alberta's long-running gastroenterology course
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • Bicillin L-A (Benzathine Penicillin G) shortage - interim Alberta infectious syphilis guidance
  • Autism in infants & young children pathway
  • Poison prevention resources
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Removal of enter/edit functionality for POCT urinalysis test entry in Epic
    • (Edmonton suburban hospitals): Changes to sample transport for ammonia testing
• MD Financial
  • 2026 tax deadlines
• Promote your event through the AMA
• Community Connections

February 12, 2026

In this issue:

• Seeking committee members to lead health system stewardship
• Join the Physician and Family Support Program (PFSP) as a Case Coordinator
• Apply for the TD Insurance Meloche Monnex/AMA Scholarship
• Help drive the evolution of medicine as AMA's 2027/28 President!
• Alberta Find a Doctor transitioning to Alberta Find a Provider
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • MyHealth Records changes to parent/guardian access
  • Menopause & perimenopause pathways now live
  • Growth Chart training modules & handouts updated
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Changes to Roche diagnostic analyzers affecting some common tests at urban/regional hospitals & Calgary outpatient lab
    • Change to amiodarone and metabolite testing
    • Interim changes to HIV viral load testing
• MD Financial
  • New federal tax changes for 2026
• Community Connections

January 29, 2026

In this issue:

• Help shape AMA Government Affairs programming
• Optimized Prescribing with Seniors: Managing Insomnia
• Help drive the evolution of medicine as AMA’s 2027/28 President
• AMA Health Benefits Trust Fund: enroll now
• MyHealth Records changes to parent/guardian access
• Alberta Netcare January newsletter
• CMA Health and Media Training Survey
• Attend WCB-Alberta's 11th annual conference for community clinicians 
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • Measles history in Connect Care
  • Gynecology pathway updated
  • Gender-affirming care resource from CPSA
  • Helping parents understand the importance of newborn blood spot screening
  • Eating disorders resources
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA) test updated
    • Removal of Enter/Edit function for POCT manual glucose & POCT Transcutaneous Bilirubin test result entry
    • Glomerular filtration rate calculation update
• MD Financial
  • Making the case for quality investing
• Community Connections
  • Research participation opportunity for Immigrant International Medical Graduates (I-IMGs)
  • Volunteer as a judge for the Canada Wide Science Fair in Edmonton

January 15, 2026

In this issue:

• Government Affairs Advisory Committee: Enhancing AMA advocacy
• Zonal/regional RF delegate election results
• Section of Rural Medicine Tarrant Scholarship
• Transitions in Care Talk: System Navigation in Indigenous Communities
• New Year - new PPIP activity opportunities!
• Using Social Media as a Physician: Training opportunities from the AMA
• AMA Medical Director opportunities 
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • Tobacco & Nicotine Dependence pathway coming soon
  • Influenza update: Slowing the spread
  • Important Connect Care update: Selecting location for results delivery
  • New pathways from Provincial Pathways Unit
  • Lab bulletin:
    • Lipoprotein (a) testing issue
    • New colposcopy pathology requisition
    • Process change for contacting primary care provider about sickle cell disease
    • (Grand Prairie area): Cessation of rapid syphilis and HIV antibody testing at Grande Prairie Hospital lab
    • (Calgary Zone): New contact information for fine needle aspirate requisition
• MD Financial
  • How does a TFSA help me pay less tax?

December 11, 2025

In this issue:

• Billing Tip: 2025/2026 holiday claim processing and payment schedule
• Digital Health Innovation Session #3: AI in Medicine
• Wishing Shannon Rupnarain a Happy Retirement
• AMA holiday season office hours
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • Reminder: HPV primary screening has launched for ages 50 to 69
  • Ownership of Alberta Find a Doctor website transitioned to PCA
  • PCA requests feedback on virtual care
  • Lab bulletin:
    • Update to cystic fibrosis genetic test
    • External Send Out test results in Netcare update
    • Changes to Vitros analyzers limit
    • Removal of Epic Enter/Edit functionality for POCT AmnioTest and AmniSure manual test result entry
    • Changes to testosterone testing & reporting
• MD Financial
  • 2025 year-end tax planning considerations

November 27, 2025

In this issue:

• AMA Pulse Survey on dual practice and Bill 9 closes November 28
• Congratulations to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Dr. Bill Anderson
• Join the AMA Geographic Representation Working Group
• Enter to win two tickets to Oilvers vs Flames game on December 23
• Apply now for CMA leadership vacancies
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • Antibiotic use resources
  • Referral pathway update
  • Important: Delayed delivery of a minority of lab results to "copy to" (cc:) providers
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Formalin-fixed specimens & exempt human specimen packaging
    • Removal of Epic enter/edit functionality for POCT Pregnancy Urine Manual test result entry
• MD Financial
  • Five essential questions to help you build an emergency fund

November 13, 2025

In this issue:

• Optimized Prescribing with Seniors: Goals of Care
• Vote for Zonal/Regional RF Delegates by December 10
• The AMA's Uninsured Services Guide has been updated for 2025
• Alberta Electronic Health Record (Alberta Netcare Portal) Modernization
• Make your voice heard with Report My Story
• TD Insurance AMA Medical Student Bursary: Applications now open!
• Apply for Health Quality Alberta's Patient Experience Awards
• New webinar: Leveraging Group Medical Visits to Enhance Care Delivery
• PCA updates
  • Ammonia testing update for Fort Vermillion, High Level and La Crete
  • D-Dimer testing update for Fort Vermillion, High Level and La Crete
• MD Financial
  • The ultimate guide to financing your medical school education
• Community Connections
  • Your perspective on Alberta's Compassionate Intervention Act
  • Help remove barriers for internationally trained physicians

October 30, 2025

In this issue:

• WCB-AMA Agreement - Voting closes next week!
• Learn about ARTA retirement benefits
• Interested in the history of medicine in AB? We have a grant/scholarship for that!
• PCA updates
  • Avian flu identified in birds in Calgary area
  • HPV primary screening launching for ages 50 to 69
  • Edmonton Zone: New patient letters in screening mammography reports
  • Ganglion Cyst (Hand & Wrist) Patient Pathway now live
  • Newborn hearing screening results now in Netcare
  • Adult Orthopedic Referral Pathway updated
  • Lab bulletins:
    • New chemistry analyzers (Fort McMurray area only)
    • Reminder: Please use updated respiratory virus test req’s
    • Cervical cancer screening change
• MD Financial
  • Don't miss out - enrol in the Medicus Pension Plan
• Community Connections
  • Seeking physician participation: Interview on health promotion strategies for perinatal wildfire exposure

October 16, 2025

In this issue:

• Nominate Zonal/Regional RF Delegates by November 3
• Congratulations to the 2025 AMA Award Recipients!
• AMA welcomes Dr. Jennifer Bestard
• NEW report types for patients through My Personal Records
• Join the second session in ACTT's Digital Health Innovation Series
• Are presidential ghosts haunting your inbox?
• Congratulations to Linda Ertman on her 30-year milestone!
• PCA updates
  • Fall immunization updates
  • Primary care providers needed to review urology pathways
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Change in respiratory virus test requisitions
    • Dermatophyte test change (Calgary & South zones)
    • Changes to transfusion test menus
    • Discontinuation of stool WBC testing
    • New restrictions on daily lab orders
    • Change in Hemoglobin A1c testing
• MD Financial
  • How to budget using the pumpkin spice latte exchange rate
• Community Connections

September 25, 2025

In this issue:

• The 2024-25 AMA Annual Report is here! AGM registration is now open
• Renew your AMA membership today
• Register to attend the Family Medicine Innovation Forum
• AMA/WCB Advisory Committee: Apply for vacant positions
• Congratulations to Marisa Bonuccelli on her 30-year milestone!
• PCA updates 
  • Midwifery scope of practice update
  • Hyperthermic Syndromes, Part 2
  • PCA Pathway on polycystic ovary syndrome
  • Lab bulletins:
    • Change in Connect Care requisition printing
    • Expanded testing at Cross Cancer Institute lab
  • New mobile mammography units

September 11, 2025

In this issue:

• Optimized Prescribing with Seniors: Melatonin in older adults 
• Help shape the future of continuing care 
• AMA committee opening: Online applications now being accepted! 
• Primary Care Alberta updates: 
  • Enhancements to summative documents delivery in Connect Care 
  • Perianal disease clinical pathway 
  • Respiratory Virus Dashboard adds RSV severe outcomes view
• Lab Bulletins: 
  • Cystic fibrosis and CFTR testing updated 
• MD Financial 
  • RESP withdrawal rules and strategies
• Community Connections 
  • Have 15 minutes? Take a research survey on practices related to ADHD

August 28, 2025

In this issue:

• DAT decoded: Finding the signal in the noise
• Attend the webinar - Operation CPAR Conflicts: The final panel frontier 
• For AMA members: New Digital Health Innovation series. Register now! 
• Apply for CMA leadership opportunities 
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • 2025-2026 COVID-19 immunization program update
  • HPV Self-Sampling Pilot criteria expanded
  • Lab Bulletins:
    • South Zone: Mononucleosis test change
    • Edmonton Zone: Standardized vitamin D test
• MD Financial
  • The value of advice when inheriting a house
• Community Connections
  • Attend the Canadian Global Care Society 8th Annual Pain Run
  • Innovations in Medicine - September 14

August 14, 2025

In this issue:

• 60-day Notice - AMA Annual General Meeting, elections and bylaw changes
• Health Quality Alberta recruiting new CEO to advance health care excellence
• Share what's weighing you down! Complete the 2025 Admin Burden survey
• Submit a CMA nomination today!
• Alberta Human Rights Tribunal rules in favor of disabled patient. Physicians should be aware.
• Cafe de Paris: A new resource for Alberta health professionals
• Slide into something cool! Join the 2025-26 Edmonton doctors curling league
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • COVID-19 vaccination bookings
  • Saskatoon Farms gastrointestinal outbreak: New AHS website available
  • Pneumococcal vaccine program expansion
  • Atypical opioid-related overdose presentations from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction
  • Lab Bulletins:
    • Alberta Precision Labs resumes Urea Breath Testing (UBT) for all Zones
    • Return to Complement C3 testing to Edmonton base lab
    • Changes to CSF Prion disease testing panel (Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD)) protein screen
• MD Financial
  • RESPs - What's the best contribution strategy for my family?
• Community Connections

July 24, 2025

In this issue:

• Apply to join the AMA Rates Committee
• Thank a colleague through JPAC Shine On Gratitude Program
• Primary Care Alberta updates
  • CPSA: Procedures for chest and breast pumps and lactation support equipment
  • Lab Bulletins:
    • Anaplasma Phagocytophilum process change
    • Updated Transfusion Medicine resources
    • Edmonton Zone: Changed hours for post-vasectomy sample drop-offs
    • UTM and VT collection process changes
      Calgary & South Zones: Outpatient test result delays
    • Edmonton Zone and non-acute sites in Central and North Zones: Testing update for C. difficile
  • Ovarian cancer prevention clinical guidelines
  • Reminder: Measles resources
• MD Financial
  • Financial planning for physicians: Why you're different
• Community Connections
  • Research project: Health care professionals' perspectives on perinatal wildfire health knowledge and experience.

July 10, 2025

In this issue:

• Optimized Prescribing with Seniors: SGLT2 inhibitors in older adults - A valid therapeutic option
• Celebrating 50 years of PARA: Supporting Alberta's Resident physicians
• Primary Care Alberta updates 
  • Lab Bulletins: 
    • Urine Toxicology Panels updated in North, Edmonton and Central zones
    • Delays in Urea Breath Testing
    • New fixed cell-based Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody Testing
    • Measles Specimen Collection Pathway update
• MD Financial 
  • Clearing early career debt
• Community Connections 
  • Help test the new provincial primary care sleep apnea clinical pathway 
  • Seeking participants for study exploring racial discrimination experienced by health care workers

June 26, 2025

In this issue:

• Changes to AMA direct payments. What do you need to do? 
• Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 ADIUM Student Elective Travel Grant 
• Reminder to specialists: Connect Care survey
• Is your project eligible for the Connected Care Innovation Grant?
• Primary Care Alberta updates 
  • New measles resource from AHS
  • Measles: Standing exposure advisories in North Zone
  • Reminder: Measles exposure location resource 
  • Lab Bulletins: 
    • Ordering changes for CBC and differential 
    • New order process for stool kits
    • Routine C. diphtheriae toxin testing discontinued for skin infections
  • New Discharge Planning Guide for Indigenous clients 
  • New topic tab on Alberta's Pathway Hub: Hand and Wrist
  • New Access to Information Act: What primary care teams should know 
  • Changes to COVID-19 vaccination program 
  • New: Measles communications toolkit 
  • Salmonella outbreak in Canada linked to salami 
• MD Financial 
  • Investing as a physician: A primer 
• Community Connections 
  • Help test the new provincial primary care sleep apnea clinical pathway 
  • Seeking participants for study exploring racial discrimination experienced by health care workers

June 12, 2025

In this issue: 

• Meet your new President-Elect!
• Urine trouble if you test without symptoms
• Canada Health Infoway AI Scribe Program – Less paperwork. More time. 
• SHAPE Hub 2025 now accepting applications for the 2025 Trainee Research Grants
• Improving providers' referral experience with the Specialty Access webinar series
• Primary Care Alberta updates 
  • New: Translated measles posters
  • Lab bulletins: 
    • Measles specimen collection pathway updated
    • Delayed results for Parvovirus IgM testing
    • Changes to Bilirubin on-site testing at some rural facilities in North and South Zones
    • New chest pain pathway launches at rural sites using high-sensitivity Troponin testing
    • Update to Insulin Antibody testing process
  • Pathway of the Week: Gender-Affirming Care 
• MD Financial 
  • DIY: What kind of do-it-yourself investor are you? 
• Community Connections 
  • Between the gaps: A cross-sectional survey of healthcare providers exploring prescription drug coverage barriers to accessing STBBI treatment