PRESIDENT’S NOTE
APPROPRIATENESS AND CHOOSING
wisely
Dear colleagues,
inally, summer has arrived in Saskatchewan! After enduring a long
winter and a cold, wet spring, hopefully some nice, warm weather will
be here for a while.
F
There won’t be much time to enjoy
the weather at the SMA, as we have
a lot to accomplish this summer. One
of the top priorities for the SMA over
the next year is reaching a new feefor-service agreement.
Overhead costs such as staff wages
and lease payments have gone up
significantly the last few years, posing a significant challenge for physicians in private practice. As Saskatchewan grows, the costs of running a
business rise. My group, Saskatoon
East Family Physicians, recently experienced this first-hand when we were
forced to move from our previous
location due to a significant increase
in our rent. We were lucky to find a
great new space at a more reasonable rate, but in many communities
where office space is sparse, physicians are forced to absorb the higher
costs. Also there are large costs associated with the tenant improvements
and moving during such a transition.
The SMA is seeking recognition of
these rising costs. We are also exploring new avenues to promote teambased care to ensure that physicians
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SMA NEWS DIGEST | SUMMER 2014
are working to their optimal scope of
practice while being appropriately
remunerated so that patients have
the access to family physicians they
need.
Our negotiating team, led by Dr. Sridhar, is working hard to ensure feefor-service physicians have an agreement that will meet our needs and
provide the foundation for physician
recruitment and retention. In the interim, we continue to work under the
last agreement, which expired March
31, 2013.
The SMA ha ́