Alberta forks out funds for lump-sum payments to family doctors—but small practices need not apply

Thousands of family doctors in Alberta are set to have as much as $40,000 deposited into their bank accounts over the next few weeks, as the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) starts processing payments from the province’s transitional funding program.“Today we will begin distributing transitional funding support payments to eligible family and rural generalist physician practices,” AMA president Dr. Paul Parks wrote in an April 4 message to members. “The AMA has received the funds from Alberta Health.”The transitional funding program was created to provide a one-time payment to help family doctors and rural generalists cover the costs of running their practices while the province works out a new compensation model for family physicians. In December 2023, the Alberta government committed $200 million towards the program, to be paid out over two years.This year, eligible physicians will get payments based on the size of their patient panels, with $24,000 available to those caring for 500 to 999 patients, $32,000 for 1,000 to 1,499 patients and $40,000 for 1,500 or more patients.Read: Alberta commits extra $200M for family doctors, finalizes $1B health deal with OttawaTo qualify for the funding, doctors must be general, family or rural practitioners entitled to receive payments under Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan, be a member of the AMA, and be registered and in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.“We very much welcome these stabilization payments so that more family and rural generalist colleagues can maintain their practices and continue to provide comprehensive, longitudinal care to their patients,” wrote Dr. Parks.An estimated 3,000 doctors are eligible for the transitional funding. As of April 4, about half of that total have applied, said Dr. Parks.With the transitional funding program rolled out, the AMA is now focused on getting a proposed longitudinal care model implemented for the province’s family doctors.Read: More money, not enough details: Where’s the new payment model for Alta. docs now that the province’s budget is out?“The new funding model for family physicians is evolving from a fee-for-service, old-style type of funding to a more panel-based, comprehensive funding plan that that has multiple components in but it essentially is designed to (incentivize) that kind of comprehensive, long-term type of care,” Dr. Parks told the Medical Post during an interview last December.The AMA declined in a recent email to provide details on the comprehensive care model that’s been put in front of the province. But in a March 1 message to members, Dr. Parks said Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange “has given her word that we will implement the Physician Comprehensive Care Model as quickly as possible. She went further with a commitment to ensuring that Alberta will once again be competitive with other provinces for retention and recruitment and make family and rural medicine viable across the province.”Read: Will it be worthwhile, after all?

Alberta forks out funds for lump-sum payments to family doctors—but small practices need not apply

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