Featured News
All NewsCPSA programs for physicians
As part of our responsibility to protect the public, CPSA works with physicians to ensure patients are getting the high level of quality care they need and deserve.
We do this by working collaboratively with the profession and by offering a variety of programs and resources to help physicians in their practice.
"Our Continuing Competence program continues to evolve based on input from our partners, emerging evidence and best practices in regulation."
- Dr. Dawn Hartfield, CPSA Assistant Registrar
Physician Assessment & Feedback |
Physician Practice Improvement |
Physician Prescribing Practices |
Professionalism
CPSA’s Standards of Practice, the Code of Conduct and the Code of Ethics & Professionalism will guide your behaviours in practice and are enforceable under the Health Professions Act (HPA).
Standards of Practice |
Advice to the Profession |
Code of Conduct |
Code of Ethics |
Complaints
As a physician, you have the training, skills and intention to provide safe patient care, but at some point or another in your medical career, you may receive a complaint. This is not always a bad thing—in fact, it can often result in positive practice changes.
Physician resources
We have developed a resource bank to help you find resources to support you in your practice. Click on All Resources and filter by "Physicians" to explore the resource bank or use the search to find other relevant resources.
All ResourcesIf my health condition requires assessment and monitoring, how much will it cost? Who is responsible for the costs?
Any costs associated with fitness-to-practice assessments and required monitoring are set by the third-party service providers, CPSA is not involved in the determination of fees. The Alberta Medical Association has a guideline for uninsured services fees.
As per the Continuing Competence standard of practice (clause 16), these costs are the responsibility of the regulated member.
When do I need to report a health condition?
Do you currently have a physical, cognitive, mental or emotional condition that is negatively impacting your work, or that is reasonably likely to impact your work in the future? If so, you have a duty to report your condition to CPSA.
Who can be a service provider for physicians with health conditions?
If we become aware of a physician’s health condition, the physician may be referred to a third-party service provider for an independent medical assessment and health monitoring, if required.
Organizations with at least one regulated member on staff, or individual physicians who meet CPSA’s established and outlined criteria and competencies to provide independent medical examinations or health and/or biological monitoring services, with experience conducting guideline-driven, independent medical exams or biological monitoring, can submit their interest to CPSA’s Health & Practice Conditions Monitoring program to be a service provider.
Why is CPSA making changes to its Physician Health Monitoring Program (PHMP) starting September 2023?
In addition to ensuring compliance with recent updates to legislation, these changes align with best available and prevailing approaches to physician health programs in North America and best practices in safety-sensitive industries. Moving PHMP functions to providers independent of CPSA supports regulated members feeling more comfortable self-reporting and more inclined to seek support when they need it.
Privacy has always been an important part of PHMP, and this new process will further safeguard the confidentiality of a regulated member’s personal and health information.
Will the changes to CPSA’s Physician Health Monitoring Program starting in 2023 put Albertans at risk?
No. CPSA will continue to protect patients and support safe, high-quality care. PHMP will continue to mitigate and monitor the impact a regulated member’s health condition has on the quality of care they provide to Albertans. CPSA will continue to govern regulated members in a manner that serves the public interest.