PCCM Panel Size Calculation Overview
This resource supports physicians who are interested in transitioning to Alberta's new Physician Comprehensive Care Model (PCCM) for primary care. To apply and maintain a PCCM BA, physicians must meet and maintain a minimum panel size of 500 patients, alongside additional criteria.
The PCCM Panel calculation can be viewed on the AMA Member Portal. In some cases, a physician's PCCM panel size will differ from their CPAR panel size or the panel size calculation associated with the Panel Management Support Program (PMSP).
The process described below assumes the physician is already live on CII/CPAR. If you are not yet live on CII/CPAR, contact your PCN or AMA-ACTT to start the onboarding process or to learn more.
Three main factors determine your PCCM Panel size calculation:
1. EMR Panel Size & Processes
2. CPAR Panel Size
3. Out-of-Province Patients
1. EMR Panel Size & Processes
Each month, a panel of patients is automatically uploaded from your EMR to CPAR. Each EMR has specific criteria that determine whether an individual patient should be included in the CPAR panel upload or not. See below for EMR-specific guidelines on how to ensure your primary care patients are being properly uploaded to CPAR.
2. CPAR Panel Size
Your authorized CPAR Panel Administrator can login to the CPAR Online Portal to see your approximate CPAR Panel size. If you are not sure who your Panel Administrator is, please ask your PCN, or contact [email protected].
In the screenshot below, the “Total number of records in file” is the number of patients that your EMR uploaded to CPAR. If this number is not what you expected, then your EMR processes should be reviewed to ensure all of your primary care patient records in your EMR are properly configured to be included in monthly CPAR uploads (see #1 above). The “Total number of records processed” is your final CPAR Panel size, including patients in Conflict.
Your CPAR Online Portal does not have the ability to generate a list of patients that are included in your CPAR Panel. The portal can only tell you the CPAR Panel size and provide access to Conflict and Demographic Mismatch reports.
3. Out-of-Province Patients
Your final PCCM Panel size is calculated by taking your CPAR Panel size and subtracting any patients who do not have an Alberta PHN. This will form your final PCCM Panel size.
PCCM Panel Conflicts & Payment Rules
Any patient that is listed on more than one provider’s CPAR panel is considered to be in “Conflict”. These patients will be listed on the physician’s CPAR Conflict Report, which their Panel Administrator can download from the CPAR Portal.
For the first year after the PCCM launch, Conflicts will not impact PCCM payments. Starting April 2026, physicians will not receive payment for any patients in Conflict. It is recommended that you work toward cleaning up your panel by removing patients who don't receive services from you.
To learn more about managing panel conflicts explore AMA's CII/CPAR Resources.
Questions & Resources
To help us receive, review and prioritize PCCM-related questions, we kindly ask that you submit your inquiries via our web form.
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