The Government of Alberta has been in negotiations with the Alberta Medical Association since late February over the responsibility of providing quality health care in a financially sustainable framework.

As of Wednesday, August 30, a tentative agreement has been reached between both parties with three key areas being amended in the existing agreement.

  • A needs-based Physician Resource Plan that will help place doctors in the communities that need them
  • Primary care improvements including new information technology and data-sharing
  • New compensation models that reward time and quality of care given to patients, not just the number of services provided

The goal of these changes is to reduce the overall cost and slow the growth of health care spending by the end of 2018.

“Doctors hold positions of privilege and great responsibility in our province and play an essential role in the health and well-being of all Albertans," said Sarah Hoffman, Minister of Health. "The physician members of the AMA understand our professional responsibilities as stewards of the system. With this set of proposed amendments to our agreement, we have created tools that can move us toward a high value, integrated and sustainable system.”

Some of the new innovations that will be introduced include a new physician peer review and accountability mechanism and the linking of certain benefits and compensation increases to performance on other cost-saving measures.

“It is important to have a cooperative relationship between physicians and government to achieve fiscal stability while still maintaining access and quality," said Dr. Carl W. Nohr, President, Alberta Medical Association.

Nohr said that the AMA will be using Primary Care Networks such as the Highland Primary Care Network to work towards a system integration that places patients at the centre of everything that doctors do.