Medical Matters: Highlighting the importance of annual renewal

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February marks some special observances in Canada, including honouring the legacy and accomplishments of Black people and their communities during Black History Month, celebrating love and family with Valentine’s Day and Family Day, and who can forget the time-honoured tradition of basing our upcoming weather predictions on the shadow of a rodent with Groundhog Day. At CPSA, February also marks the official end of our annual renewal cycle for physicians and physician assistants.

The annual renewal process is a cornerstone of our regulatory framework, designed not only to ensure compliance with legislated mandates but to reinforce regulated members’ ongoing commitment to professional growth and ethical practice. While I understand that many see filling out their renewal information form (RIF) as just another year-end task, it’s an important mechanism to safeguard the integrity of the medical profession and with it, foster a culture of lifelong learning and excellence.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all our regulated members for completing their annual RIF, Professional Corporation Information Form (PCIF) and subsequent renewal payments. Your attention to this important process doesn’t go unnoticed.

Just as we ask you to reflect on and disclose where you’re at in your continuous quality improvement cycle with the Physician Practice Improvement Program (PPIP), we too look at the renewal process and ways in which we can improve for next year. This year, we heard some excellent feedback and will be taking these comments into consideration as we begin planning next year’s renewal process.

One of the pieces of feedback we heard early on was that the Canada Post address validation tool we selected this past cycle did not meet the needs of many of our regulated members. I want to thank you for your understanding and patience as you worked through your RIF. We appreciate your determination in getting this important form completed despite the challenges, and your cooperation with our dedicated Customer Experience team as they worked tirelessly through inquiries.

If you were unable to enter your correct practice location and instead entered an alternate or inaccurate address when filling out your 2024 RIF, it is very important to provide us with your correct practice location as soon as possible. This address appears on your public profile on CPSA’s Physician Directory and we want to ensure we send important communications to the correct address. You can check if your address is correct by searching your name on the CPSA Physician Directory. If the address is incorrect, please send an email with your correct practice location address, your name and registration number to addressupdate@cpsa.ca as soon as possible. A CPSA team member will confirm when your address has been updated.

Annual renewal is just one of the many initiatives that keeps our Registration team busy. Next month’s Messenger will focus on some of the other important program changes happening within CPSA’s Registration department. Some of the pieces to watch out for include information about CPSA’s upcoming expanded sponsorship model, an update on our accelerated practice readiness route and more.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to providing high-quality care to Albertans. We look forward to seeing what the year ahead will bring for all of us in health care.

Scott