Practice Support Program
As physicians, managing a practice can take time away from quality patient care. Whether you’re just starting your medical career, you need more support with an established clinic, or you are transitioning out of practice, the Practice Support Program is here for you.
As this program grows it will provide you with access to a network of experts (Practice Facilitators) and resources on-demand. The goal will be to offer support and resources for every stage of a physician’s practice.
Please note: all eligible physician members have access to this program, regardless of their payment modality.
Practice Facilitation
Practice Facilitation provides access to facilitators (for now virtual access only) to help you achieve practice efficiency and quality improvement. Practice facilitators will meet with you to understand your unique practice and provide a recommended approach. You can identify a specific topic, describe a situation, or request general practice advice and support.
Who are our
Practice Facilitators?
Our list of practice facilitators will grow in time. We currently offer one Practice Facilitator who can help you achieve practice efficiency, quality improvement and optimize everyone’s role if working in a team-based care environment. Your Practice Facilitator will meet with you to understand your individual practice needs and provide a recommended approach. You can identify a specific topic of focus, describe a situation to the facilitator, or request general advice and support. We strongly encourage all physicians to discuss the engagement of a practice facilitator with their colleagues and staff before submitting a request – a unified team approach is ideal.
PRACTICE FACILITATOR
Sue Peters
Sue Peters is a certified Clinical Audiologist, Organizational Change Professional and Lean Leader with 32 years of healthcare experience working in both the public and private sector. As a Practice Facilitator, Sue supports physicians and other clinical team members improve care delivery within their practice environments and advises teams to build their own internal capacity for quality improvement. Sue has most recently worked with the Alberta Medical Association’s Accelerating Change Transformation Team (ACTT) supporting physician-led groups advance Patient Medical Homes including team-based care and integration with the Patient Medical Neighborhood. This work has involved partnering with several stakeholders including Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services, Primary Care Networks and PCN Zone communities.
Sue has gained valuable experience in a wide variety of health care environments in Canada, the US and internationally in a range of settings including all levels of care from quaternary to primary care and rehabilitation. Her projects have required that she work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams within the healthcare system including leadership teams, policy makers, specialists, family physicians, program/clinic coordinators, patient partners and a variety of other healthcare professionals, clinical staff, and support teams. Clients have included Health PEI, the Medical Society of PEI, Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services, Alberta Medical Association, University of Alberta, National Health Service, Interior Health (BC) and Advanced Bionics (Class III medical device manufacturer). Sue can recommend practical and innovative solutions to projects based on her experience coupled with input from her working teams and clients.
Who Can Participate?
This program is designed for physicians who:
- Are interested in modifying how they practice to improve quality of care;
- Are seeking support or guidance in introducing changes to create more efficient workflows;
- Want to support their team in working to their full scope of practice and reaching their full potential; or
- Want to change their practice to improve access to care.
Physicians who participate in the program will be required to dedicate effort and time to achieve their desired results. This includes completing a pre-assessment survey, working with the practice facilitator to develop a plan, executing the work plan with regular check-ins and completing a program evaluation.
The Process
Request:
Fill out the request form below so that we can assess your needs and readiness to enter the Practice Support Program.
Review:
We will review your request and assign a practice facilitator, if appropriate. If this resource is not deemed to be the right match for your needs, we will walk you through other options.
Assessment:
A practice facilitator will work with you to assess practice readiness for change.
Implementation:
A practice facilitator will work with your practice on your identified needs.
Support:
Once the practice can sustain the recommended change, your practice facilitator will remain as a resource to you, for up to six months. Practice facilitators are not intended to do the work within your practice but will help direct and connect you and your practice with the right supports.
Maintenance:
The practice maintains the change. If new support is needed, a new request form can be submitted.
Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
EMR Data Entry Reimbursement Program
To support community-based physicians transitioning to electronic medical records (EMR), MSPEI will provide eligible members with funding to hire data entry clerks to input patient data into the new provincial Telus CHR.
MSPEI members scheduled to implement an EMR may apply for an up to $1,000 fund to support hiring a data entry support person to enter patient records into the EMR. This funding is from a CMA Affinity fund provided by CMA, MD Management and Scotiabank. The fund is intended to support the overall health and well-being of our members. The Data Entry Funding is designed to help physicians transition to an EMR efficiently, while reducing the stress and burden where possible.
This program is being launched as a pilot and is subject to change.
Criteria:
- Member in good standing with MSPEI.
- Access to a qualified medical data entry specialist who has been or is scheduled to be trained on the provincial EMR.
- Are scheduled to or have completed implementing the provincial Telus CHR solution.
- Must pay for data entry support upfront and submit proof of payment for reimbursement.
Scope of Data Entry Support:
The funding is designed to support physicians in hiring extra support (must be previously or scheduled to be trained on new EMR) to enter patient data into the new EMR, placing priority on entering the next eight weeks’ worth of patient appointments and/or inputting the most complex patients. Physicians are expected to provide oversight of the quality of the data entry.
Funding:
Each physician will be eligible for up to $1,000 reimbursement. Must be able to demonstrate payment was made in full to data entry specialist.
Reimbursement Process
- Seek pre-approval through Data Entry claim form.
- Submit expense for reimbursement – with proof of payment to data clerk.
ON-SITE HARDWARE and WI-FI ASSESSMENT
Request an On-Site Assessment
MSPEI has partnered with IT Consultant, Nick McLeod, to offer our members on-site wi-fi and hardware assessments. If you are a fee-for-service physician or work in a private health centre, you may benefit from this service. (Health PEI locations have their own process for internet and hardware procurement).
Through this service, you will be provided:
- An on-site assessment which includes an internet speed test and an assessment of your wi-fi access;
- Review your hardware needs and make recommendations for upgrades, if required;
- Liaison with your landlord to discuss Internet/wi-fi needs, if applicable
If you wish to take advantage of this service, please reach out to Nick McLeod (cc’d on this message) at help@uit.email. MSPEI will cover the costs associated with this on-site assessment.
EMR PEER CHAMPIONS PROGRAM
The EMR Peer Champion program matches EMR users with a physician colleague who has become proficient with the provincial Collaborative Health Record (CHR). Physicians will be paired with an EMR Peer Champion for virtual or in-person sessions. The sessions are tailored to the physician’s needs and current EMR experience.
The program benefits physicians who are seeking tips on how to be more efficient with the tool, including how to better perform specific tasks, or who want to expand their use of the tool overall.
Physicians who participated in the EMR Peer Champion pilot program reported:
- 100% felt they received practical and relevant advice.
- 74% said their confidence increased (moderate to high) after working with the Peer Champion.
- 67% felt their efficiency increased after the session(s).
- 100% would recommend the Peer Champion to a colleague.
- 67% said the time with the Peer Champion changed their outlook on their future use of the EMR.
“Keep it going! This was a high-yield session.”
New EMR User paired with EMR Peer Champion
Online Resources
Access tools and resources in real-time to help with common questions and issues facing physicians. This section will grow as more resources become available, so be sure to check this page regularly for new resources.
Physician Referral and Resource Guide
The Physician Referral and Resource Guide was created by and for PEI physicians and serves as a directory to help physicians access health services for their patients. It focuses on referrals to PEI’s provincial programs, QEH and PCH specialists, out-of-province services, frequently used community health services, and the doctors’ phone line for pharmacies. The document also includes a billing guide with the most frequently used family physician billing codes.
Please note that the information in this guide is subject to change and will be updated on a regular basis. We expect it to grow and evolve over time and invite you to send your feedback on suggested changes to admin@mspei.org.
To get your copy, please log in to the MSPEI members’ portal by clicking the button below.
Physicians’ Guide to Uninsured Services
MSPEI’s Guide to Uninsured Services provides guidance for PEI physicians when billing for uninsured services. It is intended to help make the process of billing for uninsured services as comfortable and efficient as possible.
Charting Champions
This Charting Champions course is designed to support and help PEI physicians become more efficient at charting and doing less charting after hours. It has come highly recommended including by PEI physicians who previously completed it.
Participants will take part in six key modules, have access to group calls, guest speakers, and more.
Participants can expect to take part in:
- Six key modules (about 3hrs in total length)
- Six group calls/month
- One special guest call/month
- Access to private members’ Facebook group
Key learning objectives:
- How to close your charts after every patient;
- How to lead clinical encounters to run closer to time, manage patient expectations and prioritize the possible tasks to do within the day’s encounter;
- How to create prioritized time to review and complete worklists, inboxes and forms;
- How to create systems to use your team optimally and enhance patient care;
- Strategies and support to close backlog of incomplete tasks and charts; and
- How to develop processes to reduce interruptions and reduce decision fatigue
Participants are also eligible to receive CME credits (20 unaccredited and 5 accredited Mainpro points).
Reimbursement Details:
MSPEI is pleased to offer ordinary members in good standing a limited-number of full course reimbursements ($2,600 value) on a first come-first-served basis. Locums and visiting consultants currently do not qualify for this funding. You are required to pay the full course fee and then apply to MSPEI for reimbursement. To apply for the reimbursement, you must submit your emailed receipt and your certificate of completion, upon completion of the course’s six core modules, to admin@mspei.org.
Deadline for reimbursement is December 31, 2023.
Hear what your colleagues have to say about Charting Champions:
Completing the Charting Champions Program for Physicians by the Charting Coach has resulted in a significant improvement in my daily workflow in clinic. I am focusing on completing patient documentation during/after seeing patients during the day so that I am not staying late into the evening to complete this work, which has improved my work-life balance. I was able to clear a backlog of charting while completing this course as well. I was pleasantly surprised that the strategies I learned while completing this course could be useful for my colleagues and administrative supports at the QEH Pediatric clinic as well. We are focusing more on paying attention to workflow interruptions and what patient related tasks actually need to be addressed by a physician.
Dr. Heather Flieger,
Pediatrician, QEH
This program has helped me sort out how to be more efficient while also safe with regards to clinical charting. I was feeling very tired and stressed from having to stay at the office for many hours at the end of the day (and on weekends) to complete clinical charting. I was unable to enjoy any home life or experience quality time outside of work. While it is still a work in progress this has helped me greatly focus on ways to improve my efficiency and charting, to ensure I am able to maintain work-life balance.
Dr. Gina Colbourne,
OBGYN, Charlottetown
Are you ready to make changes to support a better work-life balance?
Register now:
We highly recommend you watch the Masterclass Replay video (Click on the link below to view) before signing up. For those who are only struggling a little bit, this free video may be all you need rather than committing to the full course.
Guide to closing your practice on Prince Edward Island
Choosing to close your medical practice is a big decision and it comes with a to-do list that can be just as daunting. This guide is intended to help you navigate who and where to turn to for support as you take each critical step to ensure your patients are taken care of appropriately as you close.