General Guidelines

The following information is one part of POSP's Program Guidelines. Please reference the complete guidelines as needed.

1. The physician must meet the following threshold eligibility requirements:

a. The physician must be in good standing with the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta.

b. The physician must be providing insured services within the province of Alberta.

2. If the physician provides insured services solely in clinics operated by or in leased space provided by Alberta Health Services, the physician must engage with Alberta Health Services to determine eligibility for POSP. POSP will provide physicians in this situation with more information on the process to determine eligibility.

3. POSP will not provide funding to physicians who are solely practising as a locum tenens as defined in Alberta Health's Physician Resource Guide. Where a physician is practising as a locum tenens, POSP will only fund the physician whom the locum is temporarily replacing.

4. Physicians applying for POSP funding must complete required POSP documentation including but not limited to:

a. Physician Participation Agreement

b. Direct Deposit Form

c. Change Request Form (as required when any change in enrolment information occurs)

5. Physicians who belong to a clinic that has not participated in POSP and wish to receive POSP funding must submit an Application Form for the clinic.

6. POSP funding is provided on a per physician basis. The eligible funding/reimbursement amounts are outlined in the VCUR 2006 and VCUR 2008 sections below. All POSP funds are directed to a single bank account as identified by the physician.

7. A physician is only eligible for POSP reimbursement for an EMR solution at one clinic at any given time. A physician involved in more than one clinic at the same time must declare to POSP which clinic's EMR solution will be used for determining POSP reimbursement.

8. POSP does not cover any indirect physician office costs, such as lost productivity resulting from information technology installation and/or training time for staff, except for the transition allowance funding as described in these program guidelines.

9. POSP will not reimburse physicians for the time they spend maintaining their EMR solution, either through direct billing or through a company owned by the physician.

10. POSP, at its discretion, may examine transactions submitted for reimbursement for potential conflict of interest as it relates to the physician and/or related parties profiting from the provision of services. Two or more parties are related when they are subject to common control, joint control or common significant influence. Related parties also include management and immediate family members. If transactions from a related party are found, reimbursement may be denied.

11. The total amount of public funding physicians receive for their EMR, including funding from POSP, may not exceed 100% of the total costs for the EMR solution.

12. POSP will not provide funding to a physician if the physician does not intend to use the EMR solution as the primary method for entering and maintaining patient information as defined in the College of Physician & Surgeon of Alberta's Patient Records Standard of Practice (Standard 21). The physician must commit to migrating from using paper-based patient records as the primary method of maintaining patient information in a clinical setting.

13. Each physician is responsible for any tax consequences that may arise from this POSP financial assistance. Each physician is encouraged to seek advice from his/her tax advisor on the treatment of POSP payments.

14. All physicians must have a valid privacy impact assessment (PIA) and corresponding Health Information Act file number to be eligible for POSP funding.

15. POSP will provide PIA support to physicians on VCUR 2008 EMR solutions who require PIA amendments because of changes initiated by POSP or Alberta Health, such as Master Services Agreement (MSA) change requests or new legislation. POSP will not provide PIA support to physicians on VCUR 2008 EMR solutions who require PIA amendments because of physician or clinic-initiated changes.

16. The POSP online General Privacy Training and Privacy Officer Training must be completed by the clinic privacy officer who is responsible for compliance, before PIA support can be provided.

17. The physician must have submitted a PIA to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) and received a Health Information Act file number by Milestone 3 (Go-live) of the EMR solution implementation. If this file number is not received by Milestone 3, POSP funding will be suspended until the physician receives the file number.

18. A physician transitioning to a VCUR 2008 EMR solution is eligible for funding of data management services including data migration, record retention and billing transition support as approved by POSP. These services are performed by VCUR 2006 vendors and VCUR 2008 qualified service providers (QSPs) as appropriate for each clinic’s situation.

19. POSP services are offered to help address the impact of office automation on a physician’s practice. Eligible POSP services are offered at no charge over and above the funding provided for the use of EMR solutions. A description of these services is available on the POSP website at posp.ca.

20. POSP, at its discretion, may perform periodic audits as it relates to the program in conformance with the Physician Participation Agreement.

21. The POSP Program Director is authorized to use and share the information (other than confidential patient information) that physicians provide under POSP with Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services and the Alberta Medical Association. This information may be used for the purpose of enabling physicians to meet program outcomes and to ensure coordination of activities among Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services, the Alberta Medical Association and POSP.

22. Contractual obligations between the clinic/physician/qualified service provider are not the responsibility of POSP.

23. A physician may withdraw from POSP at any time. In this instance, the physician is required to immediately notify POSP of the change in status. POSP payments will cease upon notification.

24. Funded leaves are available under the circumstances outlined below. In all leave cases, a physician must notify POSP when he/she starts and ends a leave of absence by submitting a Parental, Disability or Sabbatical Leave Form. POSP will waive the requirement to meet usage measures during the absence period.

a. Parental leave: Payments can continue to the participating physician for up to one year provided the clinic continues to operate through the use of locum or other physician support. If the physician does not return to practise after one year, funding will be terminated and the replacement physician (if any) will be encouraged to apply to the program.

b. Disability leave: Where a physician is disabled and unable to practice, funding can continue for up to one year provided the clinic continues to operate through the use of locum or other physician support. For the funding to continue beyond one year, proof of disability is required. If it is unlikely that the physician will return to work, funding will be terminated and the replacement physician (if any) will be encouraged to apply to POSP.

c. Sabbatical leave: Payments can continue to the participating physician for up to one year provided the clinic continues to operate through the use of locum or other physician support. If the physician does not return to the practice after one year, funding will be terminated and the replacement physician (if any) will be encouraged to apply to POSP.

25. If a physician withdraws from POSP and wishes to re-enter, he/she should reapply to POSP by submitting the Change Request Form.

26. A physician who is unable to meet these general responsibilities or the usage and benefit measurement requirements as defined in these program guidelines will have their funding suspended until they are in compliance.

27. Any changes or modifications to these program guidelines will take effect upon notice to the physician through electronic mail at the address provided in the Direct Deposit Form or addresses subsequently modified by the physician through a change of address notification. The physician’s continued acceptance of funding from POSP following receipt of changes or modifications to these program guidelines will constitute the physician’s acceptance of such changes or modifications.