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
- To avoid a conflict of interest, some groups will select a physician who is not in an HSDO leadership role
Roles and Responsibilities Overview
Representing all physicians*, the AR is responsible for:
- Acting as the main point of contact for communication with PPHS and HSDO, as required
- 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 reports
- Completing Letters of Participation (LoPs)
- Completing Letters of Termination (LoTs)
- Completing applications
- Meeting with a health service delivery organization (HSDO) or ARP Physician Support Services
- Development specifically related to the cARP
Using Code S012
- If AR receives compensation from another source for cARP business work, they can’t claim time again using this code
- Program meeting time cannot be claimed
Assigning a new AR
Once an AR is assigned, this role is maintained until the participating physicians re-assign the role. If the designated AR can no longer maintain the role:
- Physician group must notify PPHS and HSDO
- A new AR must be appointed within ten days or a temporary physician administrator will be appointed by HSDO who can serve for up to three months.
- If no AR is appointed, the Minister of PPHS may cancel the program
Checklist for Implementation
Establishing AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE
- Review AR roles and responsibilities
- Participating physicians appoint an AR
- AR notifies PPHS and HSDO, as required
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
- AR provides participating physicians and locums with copies of the:
- Conditions of Payment MO (COP MO)
- ARP Program Parameters MO (PP MO)
- AR submits start-up forms, including ARP006, LoPs, online report access administrator AHC2208
- AR executes physician group decisions on internal matters (e.g. billing submitter, banker and internal payment structure)
- AR provides all physicians with MO amendments as they arise
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.
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.