YOUR SMA
SMA`s dynamic new president talks
CHOOSING WISELY AND THE UNIQUE
VALUE OF PHYSICIANS
By Maria Derzko
S
askatoon family physician, Dr. Dalibor Slavik, was
elected 48th president of the Saskatchewan Medical Association at the May 2014 Representative Assembly in Regina.
This vibrant doctor lives life with passion and a sense of
adventure, scuba diving around the world, skydiving, and
most recently sailing off the coast of New Zealand with his
daughter, and long-time colleague and his daughter.
Dr. Slavik pours this same energy and enthusiasm into his
professional life caring for his patients at Saskatoon East
Family Physicians and working actively for the betterment
of his colleagues and the profession.
With a thirst for variety, Dr. Slavik keeps busy doing minor
surgeries, assisting for open heart surgery, and working at a
minor emergency clinic in addition to his regular office consultations and leadership work with the SMA. To date he has
served on four SMA committees, as well as on the Representative Assembly, the SMA Board and the Board Executive.
His drive and experience place him well to take over from
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SMA NEWS DIGEST | SUMMER 2014
past president Dr. Clare Kozroski and tackle what promises
to be a challenging year, with the anticipated conclusion
of fee-for-service (FFS) negotiations, the CEO search, and
launch of Choosing Wisely Canada.
Resolving the fee-for-service negotiations is of particular
importance to the incoming president.
“On behalf of the province’s fee-for-service physicians, I intend to collaborate with Dr. Sridhar and the MCRC committee in communicating to the Ministry of Health, as well as
the government, the urgency of finalizing this contract,” he
says.
“The fee-for-service physicians of this province are seeing
their income being whittled away by increasing lease costs,
overhead expenses and staff remuneration,” he continues.
“Furthermore, physicians are not being remunerated for
interactions with patients that are conducted by electronic
means,” he adds, something that is expected by many patients and already being done by most physicians. He is
optimistic that the new fee structure will address these and
other issues in a timely manner.