Alternative Payments Program

Alternative Forms of Physician Payment

Alternative payments is the term used to describe the funding of physician services through means other than the fee-for-service method.

Alternatives to fee-for-service funding are increasingly being sought by physicians and health care provider agencies. The budget for alternative funding has increased steadily over the last decade and now represents about twenty percent of the overall Available Amount for physician services.

Alternative funding is a shift from the conventional method of physician funding in Canada, although alternative funding is common in other countries such as Britain, Sweden, Holland and the U.S.

The objective of the Alternative Payments Program is to secure sufficient access to care in situations where fee-for-service arrangements may not guarantee physicians the financial support or stability to be able to provide needed care. Examples include teaching hospitals, community and hospital-based psychiatric services and physician services in rural areas.

PDF Format

Some documents on this Web site are in PDF format and require a PDF reader. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 7.0 or the most recent version of another PDF reader, you can download Adobe Acrobat Reader by clicking on the 'Get Acrobat Reader' icon.