Understanding dual practice

Read time: 2 minutes

The Government of Alberta (GOA) has introduced legislative and regulatory changes to enable dual practice in Alberta. While government establishes the legislative framework, CPSA’s role is to regulate the profession in the public interest. That means ensuring regulated members understand and meet their professional obligations, regardless of how health services are funded.  

Certain health services, like cancer surgeries and life-threatening conditions, must remain entirely within the publicly funded system to protect patient safety and ensure access. Dual practice is limited to surgical procedures accredited as safe for non-hospital surgical facilities. Physicians must apply to and be approved by GOA to be eligible for dual practice.  

As Alberta’s health system evolves, CPSA’s role remains the same: protecting patients by setting and enforcing professional expectations for regulated members. As these changes come into effect, CPSA is developing a new standard of practice, and reviewing related standards and guidance to support regulated members practising within the new framework.  

What is dual practice?  

The dual practice legislation recognizes three physician participation models under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP):  

• Participating physicians provide publicly funded insured health services only.   

• Flexibly participating physicians provide both publicly funded insured health services and privately funded non-Plan services.   

• Non-participating physicians provide privately funded non-Plan services only.   

Regardless of how health services are funded, regulated members remain accountable for meeting the same professional and ethical expectations. These changes do not require physicians to change how they currently practise—they merely create an additional practice option.  

CPSA’s role 

CPSA’s role is to ensure regulated members continue to meet their professional and ethical obligations within this legislative framework. The draft standard of practice will focus on principles that apply regardless of how care is funded, including putting patients’ interests first, maintaining independent clinical judgment, supporting continuity of care and ensuring transparency in patient interactions.  

What does this mean for regulated members?   

For physicians who choose to participate in dual practice, the government has established several requirements intended to support transparency, continuity of care and oversight. These requirements include:  

• Documentation and continuity of care: patient records for privately funded services must be maintained electronically and uploaded to Alberta’s electronic health record to support continuity of care across the health system. 

• Transparency with patients: patients must receive clear information about privately funded services, including costs and available publicly funded alternatives, before receiving care. 

• Reporting and oversight: participating physicians may be required to provide records or reports to government to support oversight of the dual practice framework. 

What’s next?  

If you do not intend to participate in dual practice, no immediate action is required. However, we encourage all regulated members to engage in the consultation process for the draft standard of practice when it becomes available, as the proposed standard will help establish the professional expectations that apply to physicians participating in dual practice.  

Regulated members will have an opportunity to review and provide feedback on the draft standard during the consultation process before it is considered by Council. Watch for consultation details and future updates in The Messenger and on the CPSA website.  

In addition to releasing a draft Dual Practice standard of practice for consultation, CPSA will also review related standards and Advice to the Profession documents in the coming months to ensure they align with the new legislative framework.  

Questions?   

Please reach out to support@cpsa.ca if you have any questions or would like more information.