This funding was jointly announced by the AMA and Alberta Health on December 21, 2023, and is intended to provide immediate help to stabilize family and rural generalist physician practices.
This is the first of three steps that the AMA’s Strike Team has called for in 2024 and it delivers on one of the components set out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the AMA and government.
NOTE: Additional funding is available through the Panel Management Support Program and the CII/CPAR Acceleration Grant. If you haven’t already, please sign up for CII/CPAR – and encourage your peers to do the same - by visiting CII/CPAR (albertadoctors.org).
Quick links:
- Eligibility requirements
- Payment conditions and amounts
- Action required to receive payment
- Questions?
Eligibility requirements
Eligible family physicians and rural generalists who meet the following requirements are eligible to receive funding through the TFP:
- Must be entitled to receive payment of benefits under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP).
- Must be a member of the Alberta Medical Association.
- Must be a general practitioner, family practitioner, rural generalist or family medicine specialist practicing in Alberta in a community-based primary care clinic. This includes physicians practicing at Primary Care Network clinics and Alberta Health Services-operated family medicine clinics.
- Must be registered and in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA).
Physicians must notify the AMA if they no longer meet the eligibility criteria. The AMA will collect a pro-rated portion of the TFP payment if a physician is no longer eligible or unable to comply with the program payment conditions.
Pediatricians and medical students are not eligible for the TFP.
Payment conditions and amounts
Alberta Health sets out the conditions for payment and requires family physicians and rural generalists to sign a declaration to receive payment.
The TFP declaration is an agreement in which physicians:
- Declare they meet the eligibility criteria.
- Agree to remain practicing in Alberta during the program period. Program ends March 31, 2025.
- Agree to maintain a panel size similar to the panel size the program payment was based on.
- Agree that program payments will be used to support the following:
- Costs of administrative staff to support primary care practice.
- Costs associated with equipment necessary to support comprehensive primary care practice.
- Agree that program payments will not be used for costs that are billable under the AHCIP.
- Acknowledge that program payments are public funds.
- Agree to notify the AMA if they are no longer eligible for the program.
- Acknowledge that the AMA must collect a prorated portion of the payment and the physician must return a portion of the payment if a physician becomes ineligible.
- Agree to return the entire program payment to the AMA if the physician does not meet all of the eligibility criteria.
Family medicine specialists and rural generalists with a minimum panel size of 500 will receive funding as follows:
|
Panel size |
One-time funding |
| 1,500+ patients | $40,000 |
| 1,000-1,499 patients | $32,000 |
| 500-999 patients | $24,000 |
Alberta Health calculated panel sizes as of January 3, 2024, by allocating patients to eligible physicians according to CPAR and/or the patient’s visit history. The patient’s visit history uses both fee for service and/or shadow billing as applicable.
Physicians live on CPAR are allocated patients from their CPAR panel and "topped up" through the remaining allocations 2-5.
Physicians not on CPAR are allocated patients through billing in allocations 2-5.
|
Cut |
Grant agreement |
| Allocation 1 |
Patients who are on one CPAR panel are allocated to that panel's primary eligible physician.
|
| Allocation 2 | Patients who have seen only one eligible physician are allocated to that eligible physician. |
| Allocation 3 | Patients who have seen more than one eligible physician are allocated to the physician with the majority of visits. |
| Allocation 4 | Patients who have seen multiple physicians the same number of times are allocated to the eligible physician that did their last physical exam. |
| Allocation 5 | Patients who have seen multiple eligible physicians the same number of times and have not had a physical exam are allocated to the eligible physician who saw the patient last. |
Allocations 2-5 are based on the past 18 months of billing data. Patients who have not been seen in the last 18 months will not be allocated unless they are on a single CPAR panel.
Members: Visit the declaration page on your AMA member dashboard (member login required) to sign the declaration and update your personal and banking information. Please note these payments will be made via electronic funds transfer only and banking information is mandatory.
Note: Physicians who do not see a TFP widget on their AMA member dashboard are not eligible for the TFP.
Non-Members: To be eligible for the TFP, a family physician or rural generalist must be a member of the AMA or pay the non-member fee equal to a full membership.
If you would like to become a member or pay the non-member fee, please email [email protected].
AMA members (or physicians that have paid the non-member administration fee) who are on Alberta Health’s list of eligible physicians and have completed the declaration will receive funding through direct deposit.
Questions?
If you have questions or require assistance, please reach out to [email protected]. You may also view the TFP Frequently Asked Questions.