Alberta’s government moving to strengthen primary health care across the province

Alberta’s government announced Wednesday they are moving to stabilize and strengthen primary health care across the province so that everyone can access care when and where they need it. 

Primary health care is the first point of contact Albertans have with the health care system, and includes health professionals such as family doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacists.

Last fall, health care leaders, Indigenous partners and experts from across Canada and around the world came together to form advisory panels as part of the Modernizing Alberta’s Primary Health Care System (MAPS) initiative. The panels identified immediate, medium- and long-term improvements to strengthen Alberta’s primary health care system.

Alberta’s government will begin moving forward on the recommendations in the final report to improve access to primary health care for all Albertans. The recommendations will be implemented through a phased approach, with several moving forward immediately, followed by medium- and longer-term improvements that will enhance community-based primary health care across Alberta.

“Today marks an important step in the work I am undertaking to enhance primary care as the foundation of our health care system,” said Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange on Wednesday.

“The Modernizing Alberta’s Primary Health Care System (MAPS) reports clearly identify the challenges our system is facing, and their release signals this government’s commitment to take immediate and ongoing action to support and stabilize primary health care in our province. I look forward to the ongoing work of implementing needed changes with our health care partners and providers.”

Several immediate actions are being taken, all of which are consistent with recommendations from the panels.

Dr. Janet Reynolds, co-chair of the MAPS strategic advisory panel called it a huge leap forward.

“Strengthening and clarifying governance, community involvement, and recognizing the importance of integrated team-based care that allows Albertans to access primary care from the most appropriate team member at the right time, in the right place,” she said. “This is how we can ensure equitable access to care across our province.”

Recommendations being acted on immediately include:

• Creating a primary health care division within Alberta Health.  
• Allocating $57 million over three years to provide family doctors and nurse practitioners with support to help manage their increasing number of patients. Each provider has the potential to receive up to $10,000 annually.
• Working with the Alberta Medical Association to create a task force to recommend a new payment model for family physicians that encourages comprehensive primary care – where a patient has a regular family doctor who they develop a long-term relationship with and who works with them to ensure all their health care needs are met.
• Developing a memorandum of understanding with the Alberta Medical Association to collaborate on a transition to a new physician compensation model, modernize primary care governance and enable family doctors to spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork and immediately stabilize primary care.
• Expanding online mental health services, allowing doctors to bill for virtual mental health checks and therapy, and compensating them for extra time spent with patients virtually.
• Ensuring doctors get paid if patients can’t prove insurance coverage, reducing administrative burden. This is known as “good faith” claims.
• Introducing a payment system that will support nurse practitioners to open their own clinics, take on patients and offer services based on their scope of practice, training and expertise. Nurse practitioners have completed graduate studies ensuring that they are properly trained to examine patients, provide diagnoses and prescribe medication.

“This work will help to solve some of the unique challenges for rural Albertans by encouraging health professions to practise in rural parts of the province,” said Martin Long, parliamentary secretary for rural health.

Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung said he’s encouraged by the announcement, though not yet familiar with the details.

"I haven’t had the opportunity to read through what the government did, but obviously there’s a need for improvement in our health care system, and if this is doing that, then I’m all for it," Genung said.

"The whole area around nurse practitioners makes perfect sense – I think it’s something Albertans have been looking for, for a long time.”

To support better health outcomes for Indigenous Peoples, the government will build more meaningful connections with Indigenous leaders and communities to identify improvements that reflect the unique nature of their communities.