RRNP Survey FAQs

1. Why is this review of the RRNP being done?

The RRNP has been in place since 2007 and no review of the program has been completed since its launch. 

In the latest AMA agreement, an additional $12M for the program was secured and the parties agreed to undertake a joint (Alberta Health and Alberta Medical Association) review to better understand what works and what should be improved in order to meet the objective of enhanced recruitment and retention of physician services in rural, remote and northern Alberta.

2. What has been AMA’s involvement in the review?

The AMA together with Alberta Health has been participating in every aspect of the review, including scope definition, vendor selection, and weekly meetings.

3. Will my responses be kept confidential? How?

Yes, your responses will be kept confidential. No identifiable information is being collected through the survey and/or provided to Alberta Health or the AMA, including IP addresses.

Data will be aggregated for reporting purposes.

Some text-based responses may be pulled out for quotation, but we will ensure it is referenced in a non-identifiable manner.

The raw data will not be shared with Alberta Health or Alberta Medical Association.

4. How will the consultant use the information?

The consultant will analyze the survey data and include summary results in the final report and related reports or presentations.  No collected data will be used for the consultant’s own purposes.

5. Who developed this survey?

The survey was developed by the selected consultant for the RRNP review, Deetken Insight.  Both Alberta Health and the AMA. including physicians from the Section of Rural Medicine and the Indigenous Health Committee, were involved in contributions, reviews and testing.

6. How was the consultant selected for this work? Was AMA involved?

AMA has been involved through the entire process, including in identification of scope for the work. AMA was involved in the ranking and ultimate recommendation of the consultant.  Deetken Insight was the successful consultant. They have extensive experience in the health system including rural and remote healthcare.

7. Is this survey data the only information being used for this review?

There are three components to the consultant’s work, one of which is the survey.

The second component is direct interviews.  To date, over 60 interviews with physicians, municipalities, Indigenous communities and other health system stakeholders, including interviews with over 30 physicians, who were selected and put forward as effective resources by the AMA.

The third component is administrative data analysis, reviewing fee for service (FFS) from 2002/2023 and RRNP data from 2007/2008. FFS data was provided five years prior to the implementation of RRNP to assess its impact of physician recruitment and retention of physicians in rural, remote, and/or northern communities.

8. Will we be able to see the results of the survey?

Results of the review, incorporating summary survey results, will be available to Alberta Health and the AMA.

9. I have more questions.  Who can I contact?

You can reach out to the consultant directly at rrnpreview@deetken.com.