EDMONTON - Alberta doctors affected by the province's booming economy will get more money starting in September.
The Alberta Medical Association announced details of the $56-million program, which comes from a contract reached with the government this spring, on Wednesday.
It will help doctors faced with rising business costs, such as family doctors and others who have to pay office overhead.
The program "is established to support practices where increased business costs are having an impact on stability and attractiveness, including family practice and other groups in like circumstances," said AMA President Gerry Kiefer.
While all office-based physicians in the province will get a fee increase of $2.75 per visit, the higher costs of doing business in Calgary and Airdrie warranted a larger raise, to $3.25 per visit, said Kiefer.
The program will also provide up to an additional $60,000 a year to doctors who agree to live and practise in rural, remote and northern areas of the province. The money in this part of the program will come from two areas, a flat fee based on the community and its relative isolation, and a fee-for-service modifier for each service.
Although both programs will apply across Alberta, they will target three "communities in crisis" in terms of access to doctors. The association says doctors in the Calgary/Airdrie region face unprecedented growth and above-average overhead costs. Doctors in Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie have the same problems coupled with "alarming shortages of physicians and infrastructure."
Kiefer said he hopes the initiative will help doctors forget about staff shortages and practice costs and focus instead on patient care.
