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How do we address Anne’s complexity while balancing her frailty & targets of therapy?
Case
Anne is 82 years’ old. She visits her physician to discuss her health concerns of low energy, confusion, and feeling shaky and dizzy. Anne has been slowing down and uses a walker now. Her husband manages the housework and finances while home care provides Anne with bath assist and medication management. Anne has Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and urinary incontinence. Her medications include metformin, gliclazide, sitagliptin, hydrochlorothiazide, ramipril, rosuvastatin, lansoprazole and mirabegron. Her blood pressure in office was 110/60 lying dropping to 82/52 standing and her recent A1C was 6.5.
Issue
Older adults are a heterogeneous population and chronologic age is not synonymous with biologic age. Many older adults are functionally independent, managing their chronic conditions and thriving in their communities, but others like Anne, may be facing threats to their independence and are at high risk of adverse events like falls, going to ER, admission to hospital or requiring an alternate level of care. Optimization of seniors’ care, including therapeutic decision-making, must weigh the potential benefit versus harm in the context of overall health – not just based on chronologic age alone; and the significance of this in older adults like Anne, may be greater given their health is already tenuous (i.e., frailty).
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Calls for Applications: AMA & ZMSA openings
AMA representatives are needed to sit on the following committees:
Application deadline: September 30
- Health Issues Council
- South Zone Medical Staff Association (SZMSA) – Zone Advisory Forum (ZAF)
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Get extended health & dental coverage from the AMA
Now is your opportunity to enroll in our popular AMA Health Benefits Trust Fund. Our annual open enrollment period runs until October 31.
The fund provides extended health and dental care not covered by the provincial health insurance plan. Depending on your needs, the fund can cover you and your immediate family and, optionally, your full-time employees as well.
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PFSP webinar: Understanding & processing our grief when a colleague dies
Watch as Dr. Jane Loehr (Calgary family physician, PFSP Assessment Physician) and Fleur Yumol (MSc., MSW, RSW, Unify Consulting Managing Director) discuss the personal impact of the tragic loss of a colleague and how your own personal grief might manifest, as well as provide tools to move through the grief.
This is a discussion to help to normalize what the physician community has been feeling as a result of the recent tragedy that took place in Red Deer.
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We're celebrating service milestones!
Please join us as we recognize three employees for their 25 years of service and continued contributions to the AMA:
Marisa Bonuccelli, Consultant, Allocation and Fees
Linda Ertman, Negotiations Project Analyst
Vic Taylor, AED, Corporate Affairs
We are proud to congratulate these employees on their significant years of service to the AMA and our members.
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Need to speak with an MFM physician?
By using the new Regional On Call Application (ROCA/Switchboard) system, physicians and midwives now have quicker access to maternal fetal medicine (MFM) specialists for urgent consultations.
The on call MFM can be contacted on their personal pager or cell phone. Please see the ROCA schedule on AHS Insite or contact the Royal Alexandra Hospital switchboard at 780.735.4111 to speak to the MFM physician on call.
Please note:
- This applies to consults during weekdays as well as after-hours and weekends.
- The MFM Group pager has been discontinued.
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Changes to eReferral Consult Request Reasons for Referral: Oncology - Lung Cancer
As of August 31, referring providers will see some changes to Oncology – Lung Cancer eReferral Consult Request reasons for referral in all Zones, including:
Superior Vena Cava Obstruction, Metastases brain and Metastases bone (symptomatic):
- Consult Request reasons for referral have been deactivated.
- Providers will no longer be able to submit eReferral Consult Requests for these Oncology – Lung Cancer reasons for referral.
- Important note: Superior Vena Cava Obstruction, Metastases brain and Metastases bone (symptomatic) reasons for referral are still available for Oncology – Breast Cancer eReferral Consult Requests.
The following eReferral Oncology – Lung Cancer Consult Request reasons for referral are being renamed:
- Mesothelioma to Malignant pleural mesothelioma
- Thymoma/Thymic Cancer to Thymoma
If you need additional eReferral training support, please contact the eHealth Netcare Support Services team at 1.855.643.8649 or email ehealthsupport@cgi.com.
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Sponsored advertisement
Salary vs. dividends: How to pay yourself from your corporation
Are you an incorporated physician? If so, one of your challenges may be deciding whether to be compensated by salary, dividends or a combination of both. And you must choose because you can’t simply withdraw cash from the business the way you can from a bank account.
How should you decide? What are the reasons for each? Every physician’s financial situation is different and calls for different advice. There are many personal factors that can go into choosing salary or dividends as the better option for you. Find out more from MD Financial Management.
MD Financial Management provides financial products and services, the MD Family of Funds and investment counselling services through the MD Group of Companies. For a detailed list of these companies, visit md.ca. MD Financial Management is a proud sponsor of the AMA Youth Run Club.
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Help with diagnosis of a work-related injury
Expedited orthopedic surgeon consultations are only a referral away
With a network of orthopedic surgeon partners, WCB-Alberta offers expedited consultation through its Diagnostic and Treatment Consultation service.
What you can expect:
- An orthopedic surgeon will examine your patient and provide you with their findings, expert recommendations and/or respond to any questions on your referral. The surgeon does not take on a treating role; decisions regarding care for your patient remain under your direction.
- A consultation letter will be sent to you within two business days of the exam. You may request to be contacted to discuss findings.
- Your patient’s WCB claim owner can provide assistance in arranging the recommended treatment.
How to make a referral:
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One-day Medical Office Chaperone Course
Help comfort and reassure patients by training your staff to be medical office chaperones.
Course date: November 13
Format: In-person, small group setting
Details: Offered by MacEwan University in association with the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta. During this this one-day, interactive workshop, participants will learn how to provide chaperone support to patients and physicians, what constitutes a proper versus improper intimate examination and how to observe and document interactions correctly.
Space is limited.
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Your colleagues make a difference
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For our Shine A Light initiative, we profiled Dr. Joni McNeely, Gleichen family physician.
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Student Spotlight: University of Calgary medical student Alex Corrigan lead to the launch of the Students for Healthcare Providers initiative.
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Top stories from our last issue
MD Scope Classifieds
In the September 3, 2020 MD Scope Classifieds you'll find listings for:
- Physicians wanted
- Space available
- For sale
- Services
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