The Value We Provide

Our PCN's purpose is to work together with our family physicians to build a healthier community.  We do this through a variety of ways and currently have nearly 40 programs that we provide to the patients of our physicians or to the physicians directly. 

PCNs are funded by the provinical government, so all our programs and services are free to our patients.

Unfortunately at the present time we cannot accept walk-ins or self-referrals.  Patients can only access our services when referred to the PCN from their family doctor.   If you are unsure if your family doctor is a member, ask them.  If they are, do ask them if it would be appropriate for you to be referred to any of our programs and services. 

If your family doctor is a member of a different PCN, they would provide other programs for patients that may be the same (or may be completely different).  As each PCN provides programs and services specific to the own area needs, we are all different.  What is the same about us all is that we do good work and care about your health.  If your family doctor is not part of a PCN ask them "why not?"

1. Direct Patient Care

The cornerstone of our business is a centralized clinic that houses a truly collaborative team. When a physician feels we can complement the care they are providing, the patient is referred to the PCN and sees the appropriate members of our multidisciplinary health team depending on the support required.  We complete a comprehensive assessment, develop a care plan, provide relevant education, and continue to monitor and follow-up where needed.  Care is provided based on what the patient needs.  Our healthcare professionals see patients one-on-one as well as offering a number of classes.

For some, this may mean seeing only a nurse and dietitian, whereas for another individual, they may attend one of our classes and then follow up with a mental health practitioner,  pharmacist and exercise specialist.

The majority of our time is focused on helping those with diabetes, weight management challenges and mental health issues, however we also do structured medication reviews, provide nutritional counselling, social work support, and 24 blood pressure monitoring.

We offer classes on depression education, anxiety education, relaxation, cognitive behaviour therapy, dialectical behavioural therapy, walking the blues away, pre-diabetes classes, diabetes classes, seven different weight management classes, Craving Change, walking for health, Heart Healthy, and elastic band resistance.

Our fabulous clinicians on staff include registered nurses, psychiatric nurses, social workers, licensed practical nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, exercise specialists, and dietitians and they truly collaborate and work together to provide the best care for the patient.

2. Increase Access

We know access to family doctors and other healthcare professionals is an issue for many people.  Too many people  in our community do not have a family doctor or access to programs that would help them learn how to best look after their own health.

We have a number of programs that try to address this.  One of our largest is that we currently provide a qualified medical office assistant or a licensed practical nurse to 30 of our member physicians.  Our PCN staff work one on one with their doctor, in the doctor's office, to assist and support the work of the doctor to provide the patient with better care during their appointment. 

This program is currently in pilot and we trust that the data will prove that this time of "teamlet" approach is better for the three parties involved: the patient, the staff and the doctor.  If so, we hope to expand this out to all our member doctors.

We also have a number of programs that increase our interaction with medical students, as they are our family doctors of the future.  One of our key programs is to support the great work done by the students who run the SHINE youth clinic program (www.shineclinic.ca). 

We also hire new medical graduates to provide locums for our doctors over the summer.  This provides the new doctors to see what various practices are like and gives our doctors a well earned summer break. 

3. Coordination with Key Stakeholders

Effective primary care involves the input and actions of a lot of people besides family doctors, their staff and PCN's and their staff. 

Alberta Health Services (AHS) provides a lot of direct care for patients in the form of classes, public health, all emergency departments, and a lot more.  Our PCN is currently working with our colleagues at AHS to identify the top issue areas to see what pilots we could try to improve the processes for us all and for the patient in particular.

Specialists are another of our key stakeholders because there is an enormous problem with effectively and efficiently referring patients on from a family doctor to a specialist, when appropriate.  The system is fractured and our family doctors are doing their best to partner with specific specialists to better understand their issues to find ways to address them, again for the benefit of everyone involved.   

4. Physician Administrative Services

Following on with #3, we provide a number of programs to our doctors to help them with the administrative side of their practice.  

Finding, and booking, an appointment with a specialist can be a frustrating, time consuming process for doctors and their staff.

The PCN helps by providing our family doctors have the option of sending their referrals to our 12+ medical office assistants who will request and book any appointment.  This centralized process allows us to establish a relationship with specialists (there are over 800 in the Edmonton area alone), ensures that all requirements are met (the right form is used, the right labs are done in advance and that the referral is appropriate), and because our staff are dedicated to this, follow up on all referrals that are not responded to.

Our lovely staff contacts the patient directly when their appointment is booked and provide all the relevant details and preparation required.

5. Supporting Specialty Interests
There are certain areas of family practice that are considerably more time consuming (specifically we consider these to be obstetrics, palliative care, extended care, minor surgery, psychological counselling) that many family practitioners are opting out of doing and as a consequence there is a shortage of physicians who provides these services.

Therefore our PCN has created a program that specifically targets these areas, along with program innovation, where member physicians can apply for financial support for resources, equipment and/or education to improve and/or increase the delivery of these services.  Applications are evaluated and awards made by a peer review committee. 

Through this program, the PCN supports MOMCare, a group of doctors that provide low-risk obstetrical support, to see patients at the PCN office three days a week, we provide support for a wound care and outreach program in the inner city, and a part time nurse to work with the frail elderly, and more.

6. Doctor Education and Awareness

Our doctors are very, very busy people and it is tough to make sure they are up-to-date and aware of all that is going on at the PCN and in clinical advancements. 

We provide doctors with regular opportunties to interact, receive certified medical education and exposure to new, innovative ideas.

10. More information about us

Learn additional information about our PCN.