Nurse practitioner primary care program funding finalized: Health minister [Video]

The Alberta government says it will pay nurse practitioners 80 per cent of what family doctors are paid – if they want to practice comprehensive primary care.

A payment model for the new Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program has been finalized.

The program, announced in November, will allow nurse practitioners (NPs) to operate their own publicly-funded practices, whether in stand-alone clinics or in existing primary care clinics.

“It will certainly expand access for individuals who want to find a primary-care provider, given the fact that we will now have nurse practitioners who can have their own panel of patients,” Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said Wednesday.

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LaGrange said NPs will have to apply and be accepted into the program.

To qualify, a practitioner must commit to caring for at least 900 patients and offer after-hours services …