Physician Practice Improvement

What is practice improvement?

Part of good medical practice is a commitment to lifelong learning.

At CPSA, we are committed to empowering physicians in their journey of professional growth and personal development. We know many factors contribute to physician health and productivity, and paying attention to these factors is an important part of providing patients with quality care.

Our goal is to support physicians by ensuring they have the support, tools and resources needed to perform their best. By fostering a culture of learning and optimized patient care, we all benefit and the health and wellbeing of all Albertans—patients and physicians—is elevated.

The evolution of practice improvement

The Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada (FMRAC) supports a physician’s continuous quality improvement, based around the CanMEDS roles (medical expert, communicator, collaborator, leader, health advocate, scholar and professional).

FMRAC’s system for practice improvement (pictured to the left) was developed with the understanding that each physician has a unique practice and therefore unique learning needs.

Enhancing how we support physicians in providing quality patient care

CPSA’s Physician Practice Improvement Program (PPIP) supports physicians in accessing resources and knowledge to incorporate continuous quality improvement into their practice, thereby fostering a quality culture for Alberta physicians. Recognizing that personal factors and system stressors can influence performance, this program also focuses on a physician’s personal development.

We hope this approach will empower physicians to “shift the curve” and continually strive for small changes that can make a difference, both personally and professionally, in pursuit of providing the best care for Albertans.

PPIP was launched by CPSA on Jan. 1, 2021, to fulfill its legislated mandate of ensuring competence within the profession. All of CPSA’s regulated members must participate in PPIP.

Involvement in competence activities is mandated under part 3, section 50 of the Health Professions Act. Participation in any Continuing Competence program is completely confidential under sections 52 of the Health Professions Act.

PPIP cycle: improvement over a 5-year period

To meet the requirements of PPIP, physicians will need to incorporate each of the following three activities into their practice at least once over a five-year cycle:

A practice-driven quality improvement (QI) activity using objective data
A CPSA Standards of Practice quality improvement activity
A personal development activity

Physicians must report their participation in these activities in the PPIP section of CPSA’s Renewal Information Form (RIF). You may be asked to verify your involvement, so be sure to retain your action plans and any documentation about your activities for a period of six years.

Please be aware that PPIP activities will generally qualify for CPD credits—contact your national college for more information.

PPIP video series

Watch this brief video for an overview of PPIP

Want to dig a little deeper? Find out more about the why, what and how of PPIP

Find out more about PPIP, its requirements and how we can help you on your practice improvement journey

Practice-Driven QI

Identify opportunities to improve with objective data

CPSA's Standards of Practice QI

Assess your practice through CPSA's standards

Personal Development

A chance to reflect on personal growth and wellness

Practice improvement resources

Programs and organizations listed are possible avenues to completion of a PPIP activity. Please note that the list of resources is not exhaustive and if you are aware of additional resources, please let us know.