Alberta physicians learn where their college fees go

The chief financial officer of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), Tracu Simons, has shared how money from members’ annual renewal fees is spent. “We take pride in being good stewards of our resources and want to be transparent about how your annual fee is allocated within CPSA,” Simons wrote in an article on the CPSA’s website, where its budget is also available for perusal. The largest chunk of funds is allocated to the complaints and hearings director office, which gets a fifth of the net program fees collected from Alberta physicians. “Since each complaint is unique, having adequate resources provides a variety of resolution options, ranging anywhere from dismissal to informal resolution to investigation,” Simons wrote. “Funding also gives us the means to explore new approaches to our complaints process, to make it more efficient and inclusive for everyone involved.” Read: Forms, forms, everywhere a form Continuing competence deals with quality improvement programs and gets 13% of the money from members’ annual fees. This is spent on programs such as prescribing resources and the Physician Practice Improvement Program, where physicians must complete three quality improvement activities over a five years cycle to be able to renew CPSA membership. The information management and privacy department is funded through 11% of the annual fees. It runs the CPSA’s online portal and supports other departments. Physician health monitoring is funded by 7% of the fees. The remainder goes to administration (13%), registration (7%), office of the registrar (6%), governance (5%), communications and government relations (4%), human resources (2%) and other costs. The CPSA Council sets the budget for spending each year. An external accounting firm conducts an audit of CPSA’s finances every year. The annual renewal fees are the CPSA’s main source of revenue, garnering the college $26.8 million in 2021. The college spent $32.4 million on its operations in 2021. Alberta physicians in independent practice had annual renewal fee reduction in 2022 from $2,150 to $1,792. CPSA transferred money from a building fund reserve into operations in order to provide the fee reduction. Read: Retiring, quitting, leaving and . . . returning: A look at the stats on Alberta's physicians

Alberta physicians learn where their college fees go

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics