Alberta’s doctors have agreed to test new funding models in an effort to stymie health-care spending and improve patient care.
On Monday, the provincial government and the Alberta Medical Association announced the results of a ratification vote that would bring changes to the way some physicians in the province are paid.
A tentative agreement, outlining key changes the existing 2011-18 agreement, was announced at the end of August.
Seventy-four per cent of responding physicians voted in favour of these amendments. Voter turnout was 29 per cent, which is lower than the average 38 per cent for votes since 2003.
The new agreement is a result of six months of negotiations between the AMA and the provincial government and is meant to improve the quality and financial sustainability of Alberta’s health care system.
“In ratifying this agreement, physicians and government are moving in positive new directions,” said Dr. Padraic Carr, president of the Alberta Medical Association. “We will work to moderate the rate of expenditure growth while maintaining quality care and providing greater value for patients.”
In its inaugural budget the NDP promised to slow the growth of health-care spending to two per cent annually by 2018.
Key changes include the development of a needs-based Physician Resource Plan to place doctors in the communities that need them; primary care improvements, including data-sharing and information technology; new physician peer review and accountability mechanisms; and changes to compensation.
Currently, doctors are paid according to fee-for-service. This system attaches a price tag to different medical procedures and is widely criticized for being expensive and ineffective.
In an effort to reward time and quality of care over the number of services provided, some primary-care physicians, as well as academic physicians, will be placed under different compensation models.
Now that the amendments have been ratified, demonstration projects for the voluntary blended capitation model for primary care will need to be established.
The AMA Board of Directors meets Oct. 28 to look at implementation of the new amendments.
