Ratification vote begins for tentative WCB Agreement

January 20, 2015

Update: Learn more about the tentative agreement and ratification vote in our Question & Answers document.

Dear Member:

Negotiating compensation agreements on behalf of Alberta physicians is one of the core functions of the Alberta Medical Association (AMA). While the spotlight often stays on our major negotiations with government for system-wide agreements, at any given time we are also negotiating a number of different contractual arrangements for subsets of the membership.

One of the most significant of these is negotiation with the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) for physician services provided to employees covered by the WCB. Negotiations for a new contract have been underway since 2011.

I am pleased to tell you that we have reached a tentative five-year agreement with WCB.

A ratification vote will be held

The proposed agreement represents successful work by the two negotiating teams to identify common interests at the table. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the AMA and WCB in December, and served as the basis for the agreement on which members will vote.

The Board of Directors had oversight of the negotiations process throughout. They have reviewed the document (“WCB-AMA Physician Services Compensation Agreement”) and directed that it should be sent to physicians for a ratification vote.

The board endorses the tentative agreement, which effectively establishes the relationship between WCB and the AMA. It also fairly recognizes the special requirements of WCB work and demonstrates the mutual interests of the parties in caring for WCB patients.

One example of a mutual interest that was identified is improving the timing and efficiency of the exchange of information that is important and unique to these patients/workers. The tentative agreement applies incentives in areas that can reduce turnaround times for WCB patients to receive care and return to work when they are healthy once again.

Both parties contribute to meeting these mutual interests. For example, some of the improvements will come from the way physicians manage information flow with WCB. Since some incentives in the tentative agreement relate to time periods for reporting, you may want to update your systems to maximize your administrative ability to reach the new targets (if, of course, the tentative agreement is ratified).

For WCB’s part, by paying a premium for faster turnarounds, they encourage an earlier return to work by the healthy worker.

The final beneficiary of these changes will be the WCB patient.

What’s in the tentative agreement?

With an overall budget of $43 million over five years, we anticipate an increase of approximately 3% to 4% per year on each physician’s subset of WCB cases. (Like the AMA Agreement with Alberta Health, this follows three years of zero increases for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14.)

The total increase to the budget that we will actually see from year-to-year depends on how well we collectively improve our efficiency in exchanging information and caring for the patients. That is, the global amount to be applied per year will vary, depending on how well physicians meet the new targets for reduced turn-around time on reports and other tasks.

Very broadly, the elements of the tentative agreement are:

• Establishing the AMA as the representative for physicians (with the exception of members of the Alberta Orthopedic Society who have their own agreement with WCB)
• Term October 1, 2014 to March 31, 2019
• Physician reports
• Reporting timelines
• Compensation
  • Report fees
  • Anesthesia trauma fee
  • Frequent procedure codes
  • Recoveries
  • Schedule of Medical Benefit increases
  • Visiting specialist clinics
  • General practitioner fees specialist and anesthetist

A brief highlights document will be included in the voting package for your review – with each item referenced to the relevant articles or schedules of the full-length agreement for your easy reference.

About voting

All eligible physician members will receive a voting package via Canada Post. This will include:

• The complete tentative agreement document and its schedules
• Annotated highlights document
• Information about how to vote
• Ballot, ballot envelope and return envelope

Voting packages leave the mailing house January 22 and should begin arriving in physician offices about January 26. If you have not received your package by February 2, please contact charlene.daniel@albertadoctors.org.

Ballots must be returned to the AMA by Thursday, February 12 at 4:30 p.m. Votes will be counted on Friday, February 13.

I encourage you to vote Yes.

Your comments are always welcome. Email president@albertadoctors.org or leave a comment below.

Regards,

Richard G. R. Johnston, MD, MBA, FRCPC
President