In today’s message you will find:
Help Us Support You Better
We’re working on expanding our resources to support physicians with the“business of medicine,” so you can focus more of your time on your patients.
With this purpose in mind, Doctors Manitoba has hired consulting firm MNP LLP to complete a needs assessment. This will help us learn about the specific supports physicians need to simplify the responsibilities associated with running a practice, including such things as establishing and maintaining a clinic, incorporating a practice, billing advice, improving patient convenience, navigating regulatory requirements, helping with payroll and HR, and getting better pricing on supplies.
MNP will conduct up to 40 interviews with specialists and family physicians from across Manitoba.
If you are interested in being interviewed to help us understand the need for new services, click this link to sign up. Our consultants will select a cross-section of members to ensure a representative mix of practice types and locations. Physicians selected to participate will receive an honorarium of $165/hour.
Additionally, MNP will assess how other organizations meet physician needs, to help ensure new resources and supports from Doctors Manitoba are well aligned with and complement what is already available.
Our hope is additional services will make it a little bit easier for physicians to focus on their clinical practice, reducing administrative and other burdens with better support and resources. This is one part of improving physician retention, and this project is supported by funding we negotiated from Manitoba Health.
Support Rainbow Resource Centre and Win!
You could win $10,000 cash or a flight for two anywhere WestJet flies!
We’re raising funds to support the causes of our 2024 Humanitarian of the Year, Dr. Dick Smith. While Dr. Smith died last year, his contributions made a lasting impact, and the causes he supported need our help.
We are holding a Rainbow Raffle this week! Guests at our Annual Awards Gala will have a chance to enter at the event this Saturday, but we’ve opened up the draw early so everyone has a chance to show their support, and a chance to win one of two great grand prizes.
Tickets for this elite raffle are $100 each or three for $250.
You can enter by clicking this link.
The deadline to enter is Saturday at 9 p.m. The draw will occur at the gala shortly after. You do not need to be present to win.
Introducing our New Board Directors!
We are pleased to introduce new members joining our Board of Directors this Spring!
Elections were held in the Southern and Interlake-Eastern Medical Districts. The successful candidates include:
Dr. Eric Lane in Southern
Dr. Dr. Shauna Brinkman in Interlake Eastern.
Joining them on the Board will be new representatives for UMG, PARIM and MMSA, as terms begin for these organizations over the next several weeks:
Dr. Betty-Jean Hancock, UMG
Dr. Matthew Bzura, PARIM
Tristan Rohatynsky, MMSA
A big thank you to the outgoing Board Directors for your dedication and contributions to Doctors Manitoba and the medical profession:
Dr. Yvette Emerson has served as the Interlake Medical District Director for the maximum term of six years.
Dr. Selena Papetti has served as the Eastern Medical District Director, also for the maximum term of six years.
Dr. Erin Gordey has served as the Central Medical District Director for four years.
Dr. Anthony Battad has served as the St. Boniface Medical District Director for the past year.
Dr. Kurt Skakum has served as the UMG’s Representative on the Board of Directors for the last two years.
Dr. Matthew Thiessen has served as the PARIM Representative on the Board of Directors for 2023 – 24, and will be completing his term at the end of June.
- Taylor Nimchonok has served as the MMSA Representative on the Board of Directors for 2023 – 24, and will soon be completing her term as Vice Stick External for MMSA.
Tomorrow, at our Annual Awards Gala, our leadership will officially change.
Dr. Randy Guzman will be officially welcomed as President for 2024 – 25. Dr. Michael Boroditsky will move to Past President and Board Chair.
Dr. Candace Bradshaw will complete her year as Past President and Chair of the Board and time on our Board. We thank her deeply for her passion, dedication and savviness during her time on our Board and while leading our profession.
Meanwhile, at our AGM yesterday, our next President-Elect was confirmed to be Dr. Nichelle Desilets, who has served as the Representative for the Assiniboine Medical District.
Walk with us June 2
Be a part of the action with Doctors Manitoba at the Winnipeg Pride Parade and Rally on Sunday, June 2. Join us as we “Transcend Together” in the theme of this year’s festival, embracing inclusivity, highlighting the diverse spectrum of identities within the queer community and fostering solidarity among all members. Showing physicians support for this community is especially important this year, as 2SLGBTQ+ rights and access to medical care is being threatened in other jurisdictions.
The parade will begin at 11 a.m. and the route will go down Portage Avenue, and end at The Forks. We invite you, your friends and family to walk the parade route to celebrate and support the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Sign up here!
Pride Lunch & Learn Events
The Rainbow Resource Centre is offering Lunch & Learn virtual events throughout June. Subjects include Allyship 101, Queer History in Manitoba, The Stonewall Uprising & Modern-Day Pride Movements, and Dispelling & Challenging Anti-2SLGBTQ+ Stereotypes.Learn more here.
Be There Fore It!
Let’s get out on the greens together! Mark your calendar for the 2nd Annual Doctors Manitoba Getting Healthy Golf Tournament on Tuesday, September 3 at Southwood Golf & Country Club. The format is friendly for less-experienced golfers, with a shotgun start and best-ball scramble, while more experienced golfers will enjoy the challenge of a premier championship course. Presented by MD Financial and Scotiabank with support from Bokhaut CPA.
Find out more and register at doctorsmanitoba.ca/golf24
PAR Peer Support & Counselling Survey
In the last 12 months, have you accessed counselling or individual or group peer support from Physicians at Risk (PAR)? If so, we’d love to hear your thoughts about your experience to help ensure our services meet the needs of Doctors Manitoba members and their families.
The survey takes less than three minutes to complete and your responses are anonymous.
The survey ends on May 19, 2024.
Ensure Appropriate Patient Enrollment in FM+
Patient enrollment is a decision made by both the patient and the clinic. Manitoba Health has asked us to remind family physicians and clinics to approach enrollment appropriately.
When a patient is enrolled, the Most Responsible Provider (MRP), along with the clinic (known as the Home Clinic), are responsible for providing ongoing, continuous, comprehensive care. All relevant labs and information related to the patient will be sent to the patient’s Home Clinic for action and follow up. Further, an enrollment conversation should include asking if the patient already has a family physician and should confirm they no longer wish to receive care from their existing provider. The Home Clinic team can provide resources to address these discussions.
Patients on your panel are eligible for FM+ tariffs immediately following enrollment. FM+ provides prospective payment, therefore, there is no enrollment history requirement. There are no circumstances in which physicians should be “backdating” a patient’s enrollment. This could inadvertently interfere with a colleague’s CDM, CCM, or FM+ payments.
We have been made aware of some isolated instances of inappropriately backdating enrollment for patients added to a panel, causing issues for the physicians for whom the patient was previously enrolled under. We are working with Manitoba Health to resolve these issues quickly. No action is required, but if you have experienced any issues and have concerns, please contact your Home Clinic Liaison or email our team at practiceadvice@doctorsmanitoba.ca.
Clinics who have been inadvertently following this practice will be contacted to ensure an understanding of proper enrollment etiquette.
Health System Updates
Nurses Reach Tentative Agreement
The Manitoba Nurses Union has reached a new tentative agreement with the province. We know the nursing shortage is a top concern for many physicians, so we have been monitoring these developments closely.
Doctors Manitoba is hopeful the new Agreement, if approved, will help improve retention and recruitment for nurses, leading to better stability with fewer disruptions to surgeries and other services that rely on nursing resources.
The details of the new deal are not yet public, though some details emerged this week in news coverage. MNU is recommending the deal to its members. The ratification vote will occur late next week, with results expected late Friday, May 17.
Of course, we will also be analyzing the terms of the new Agreement to inform our early work, already underway, on preparing to negotiate the next Physician Services Agreement.
Access Improvement Model: Unintended Consequences
Quality improvement work consists not of a single measure but of a family of measures. While outcomes measures (directly tied to your AIM statement) are typically the most obvious, balance measures can be important to track over time as you seek to make improvements within your clinical environment.
While often difficult to identify early on in quality improvement work, balance measures may become more obvious after your team delves into the root cause(s) of your identified problem. Defined as the “unintended consequences of your improvement efforts”, there is a possibility that other aspects of your team’s processes are unexpectedly impacted as you implement change ideas based on the root cause(s). As such, it is important to take notice of balance measures when deciding on which changes are best for your clinic in the long-term.
Part of the Access Improvement Model (AIM) training curriculum involves guiding teams through the process of identifying a family of measures in an effort to improve patient access. We are always looking to engage with new primary care clinics and with our schedule fully booked for Spring ’24, openings as early as Summer ’24 are available!
If you would like to explore AIM in greater detail, please visit the AIM website and be sure to reach out to us at aim@sharedhealthmb.ca.
New CT Scanner coming to Swan Valley
A new computed tomography (CT) scanner at the Swan Valley Health Centre will soon bring key diagnostic services closer to home for residents of the Swan Valley region.
The province provided more than $2 million in capital funding for the purchase and installation of the new CT scanner, as well as renovations of a space at the health-care facility. This was matched by a contribution of more than $1 million from the Town of Swan River and surrounding communities. The province will also provide funding for the operating costs of the CT scanner, approximately $400,000 per year.
Magnetic seed localization technology arrives
Manitoba will begin using an innovative technology called magnetic seed localization to improve the care and comfort of most people who are having surgery to treat breast cancer, making it the first province to use the technology provincewide.
The province has invested $2.1 million this year to develop a program that uses small metal seeds to locate cancer tissue more accurately during surgery. The seeds are about the size of a grain of rice and, once magnetized, allow surgeons to easily find them. This process cuts down on discomfort and because the seeds can be implanted weeks ahead of surgery, allow more breast cancer surgeries to occur outside Winnipeg.
Read the full release.
Upcoming Events
You can always review upcoming events on our events calendar page.
Doctors Manitoba Book Club
Join us for our Doctors Manitoba Book Club on June 4 at 7 p.m. We’re reading Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Register Here.
CFPC Physician Wellness Retreat
The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) Physician Wellness Retreat May 23 – 26 aims to provide family physicians an environment in which they can learn and apply principles of physician wellness. Keynote speakers include Dr. Jillian Horton and Dr. Catherine Hansen.
Register here.
CMA AGM May 29
This year’s Annual General Meeting for the CMA is special for Manitobans, as CMA President-Elect Dr. Joss Reimer will officially become president. Register to hear from her and other CMA leaders. The CMA AGM will be held virtually on Wednesday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Meeting information, including the agenda, is available at cma.ca/agm2024.
2024 Canadian Conference on Physician Leadership — May 24 – 25 in Montréal
Lead the change our healthcare system desperately needs! Attend the CCPL2024 in Montréal, where you’ll gain invaluable insights and skills to drive transformation.
View the conference program here. Register now.
Cancer Day for Primary Care
The 16th biennial Cancer Day for Primary Care, a collaboration between the Community Oncology Program at CancerCare Manitoba and the University of Manitoba, is back May 31 as a hybrid event, offering both virtual and in-person attendance options at Theater B, 727 McDermot Ave, University of Manitoba. What sets this event apart is the opportunity for attendees to submit their own cases for discussion by our expert panel. Join us for a dynamic and informative program. Learn more and register.
HPV and Cancer — Interdisciplinary Rounds
Speakers for the June 5 event focused on prevention, treatment and future direction include Dr. Vanessa Poliquin, Dr. Ciaran Lane and Dr. Sarah Kean. Register now.
IPAC Mentorship Gathering
Registration is open for the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada’s Annual Mentorship Gathering and AGM July 12 – 14 in Halifax. The gathering is an opportunity for Indigenous medical students, residents, and physicians, both members and potential members, to come together to share stories of their academic journeys, grow their networks, and enjoy cultural activities.