An Authorized Representative (AR) is a physician selected by Participating Physicians of a cARP program to:
- Act as their group’s agent
- Liaise with Primary and Preventative Health Services (PPHS)
The AR role is formalized in the cARP program’s Letter of Participation (LoP) and the Conditions of Payment Ministerial Order (CoP MO). See cARP Forms
- Legal duties are found in Section 4 of Ministerial Order (M.O.) 148/2014, cARP Program Parameters
- While only one AR is required, assigning two physicians to the role is recommended
- Once a cARP program has been established, the AR designation can be changed
Roles and Responsibilities Overview
Representing all physicians*, the AR is responsible for:
- Acting as the main point of contact for communication with PPHS
- Distributing PPHS updates and documentation to physicians*
- Submitting letters and reports
- Managing online report access as the Access Administrator
The amount of time an AR will spend on administrative duties depends on several factors:
- Number of physicians*
- Number of sites and service streams
- Type of cARP (e.g. sessional is more time-intensive)
- How well the cARP functions internally (e.g. accurate billings, reporting hours)
*includes all Participating Physicians and locums
Time Commitment & Compensation
When developing the cARP, physicians should include AR-time in their monthly hours estimate. Connecting with an AR in a similar program may be helpful in understanding the time commitments.
ARs are compensated for time spent on administrative work by:
- Including eligible administration time in their Monthly FTE report
- Shadow billing using Service Code S012 and the non-Patient-specific ULI
AR hours are funded at the same rate as clinical hours. For most programs, the same internal payment rate for clinical hours is used for AR administration.
Some groups compensate physicians in leadership roles and non-ARP administration through overhead funding, as these hours cannot be added to the monthly FTE report.
Programs can choose to compensate non-ARP administration at the internal payment rate or develop a different rate, depending on overhead considerations.
Eligible administrative claims include:
- Signing and submitting on-time reports
- Completing Letters of Participation (LoPs), Letters of Termination (LoTs), and Clinical ARP Applications.
- Meeting with a health service delivery organization (HSDO) or ARP Physician Support Services
- Development specifically related to the cARP
Using Code S012
- Must reflect the correct number of calls, each representing five minutes of time
- If ARs receive compensation from another source for work related to clinical ARP business, they can’t claim it again using this code
- Program meeting time cannot be claimed
Requirements: Assigning a new AR
Physician group must notify PPHS of any change to their AR. If the designated AR can no longer maintain their role:
- Participating Physicians must choose a new AR within ten calendar days and notify PPHS
- Informing a health service delivery organization may also be required
- If a new AR is not appointed within ten days, a “temporary Physician administrator” will be appointed by a health service delivery organization and can serve for up to three months, allowing additional time to appoint the new AR
- If no AR is appointed after three months, the Minister may cancel the program
Frequently Asked Questions
The AR serves as the primary point of contact between the physician group and PPHS and is the signatory for required documents. Having a second AR is recommended as a backup to keep things running smoothly if the other AR is away.
Yes, and they must be a Participating Physician in the cARP.
The AR is responsible for liaising with PPHS. A clinic manager can communicate with PPHS, but the AR must be included on all communications.
The physician group appoints an AR. Many groups will select a physician who is not in a leadership role within a health service delivery organization to avoid a conflict of interest.
Once an AR is assigned, they retain this role until the Participating Physicians decide to assign the role to a different physician. A cARP group may wish to establish internal governance agreements, outlining term limits and election procedures for ARs, but this is not a requirement of PPHS.
Checklist for cARP Implementation
Establishing New ARs
- Review the AR roles and responsibilities
- Participating physicians appoint an AR
- AR notifies PPHS
- AR provides Participating Physicians and locum physicians with:
- Copy of the cARP Conditions of Payment (CoP) M.O.
- cARP Program Parameters MO
- AR submits ARP start-up forms (e.g. ARP006, LoPs, online report access administrator AHC2208)
- AR executes decisions made by the physician group on internal matters (e.g. billing submitter, banker and internal payment structure).
- AR provides participating physicians and locum physicians with MO amendments as they arise