Executive Director’s Message – A Seat at the Table

Read Full eNews

The Alberta College of Family Physicians (ACFP) is no stranger when it comes to collaborating with partners and key stakeholders, and in recent years, lobbying the provincial government. The profile of the ACFP has dramatically increased and over the last 19 months, largely in part due to our consistent and our cooperative nature. As such, the ACFP has found itself a seat at many tables.

We are a small but mighty organization and continue to be selective in accepting these types of invitations. Your guidance and feedback help us confidently navigate these murky waters. Thank you for entrusting with us your voices; we will continue to represent your interests wherever possible.

In an effort to provide you, our members, a more direct line of sight to these conversations we will be providing regular updates through our eNews. Below is a brief summary of the working groups and meetings we currently sit at:

COVID-19 RESPONSE and impacts on Family Medicine

We will continue to meet with the Alberta Health’s Deputy Minister, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, and senior-level bureaucrats on an ad hoc basis regarding COVID-19 response, the growing care deficit, and other government decision making that impacts family medicine.

COMMUNITY PHYSICIANS COVID-19 WORKING GROUP (CPCWG)

We will continue to sit at this bi-monthly working group supported by Alberta Health Services (AHS), Alberta Medical Association Accelerating Change Transformation Team (AMA ACTT), College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), Primary Care Networks (PCNs), and the University of Calgary, which collaborates on recommendations and actions for provincially coordinated information, resources, and educational opportunities related to resources for community physicians.

Primary Care Alliance (PCA)

We will continue to sit at this monthly meeting to share the ongoing work we do on the following:

• White Paper “The Integrated Health Neighbourhood of the Future” and the communication plan to socialize the vision
• The Pain Strategy and Agreement in Principle on Care Plan for Albertans with Chronic Pain
• Advancing Patient’s Medical Home (PMH) and the PMH Change Package
• Alberta’s COVID-19 response and impacts on primary care
• Strategic planning for PCA priorities
• AMA negotiations and Joint Task Force
• Continuity in Primary Care research and evidence review
• Family Medicine in Alberta changing our norms research and evidence review
• Introduction to the Embargoed PMH Model Office Tool
• Privacy, Security, and Data Sharing Project
• AHS Primary Health Care Integration Network (PHC IN) Updates

AHS, AMA, ALBERTA HEALTH (AH), FACULTIES OF MEDICINE, AND PCN LEADERSHIP

The ACFP’s CPD and Communications teams along with the Medical Director, will continue to coordinate messaging, resources and outreach family physicians on topics regarding COVID-19 response, PPE, Connect Care rollout, immunization rollout, training and updates on guidance and pathways, wellness, safety, and other clinical and operational opportunities.

Chronic Pain and Substance Use

The ACFP’s Medical Director and I sit on the Alberta Pain Strategy Steering Committee, connecting with bureaucrats regarding the Agreement in Principle for the Care Plan for Albertans with Chronic Pain, and ACFP continues to lobby for a harm reduction approach to substance use in Alberta.

AMA JOINT TASK FORCE

We will continue to sit at this bi-monthly meeting to focus on collaborative responses to AMA negotiations, survivability of practice and advocacy for various needs and challenges of physicians in Alberta.

Patient’s Medical Home and System Integration

The ACFP President and I meet regularly with AHS Senior Leadership to ensure AHS Primary Care programs and services are designed to support the provision of excellent patient and community-based care that is accessed through a direct, longitudinal relationship with their family physician within a PMH in an Integrated Health System.

In your service,

Terri Potter, BA, PMP, CAE
Executive Director, ACFP