Physician Services Committee
The Physician Services Committee (PSC), a bilateral committee of the OMA and the Ministry of Health, serves as a steering committee, striking additional committees, sub-committees and working groups as needed. Its mandate is to receive and consider reports and recommendations as set out in the Physician Services Agreement and to advise on the changing role of physicians within the health-care system. That includes possible improved models of delivery and compensation for services.
PSC members also develop recommendations that can lead to enhancing the quality and effectiveness of medical care in Ontario.
Hitting important milestones
We’ve pushed ahead on a number of complex issues to ensure your priorities are at the forefront and have reached some key milestones in our work on the Physician Services Committee. As the co-chair of the PSC and head of the OMA’s side of the committee, I am pleased to share some key successes, including nearing the completion of the implementation of the 2021-24 Physician Services Agreement. We’ve overcome challenges and have been successful because we’re not afraid to hold our ground or push firmly on important issues that ensure the PSA is implemented in a way that best supports you, and improves health care in Ontario.
Progress at working groups and committees
One of the PSC's core responsibilities is to implement the current PSA by developing and overseeing working groups and committees. Many of these groups have made significant progress or hit key milestones in their mandates. This work involves complex negotiations and discussions with the government where we advocate in the best interests of our members. Some of these accomplishments include:
Contact us
if you have any questions about the work of the PSC, please reach out to us and we’ll get back to you promptly.
- Physician Payment Committee: The bilateral PPC recently released its first draft of recommended changes to the Schedule of Benefits, which would come into effect on April 1, 2025. It’s important to remember that this report isn’t final. The committee will release two more drafts before finalizing their recommendations this fall. The OMA PPC and staff are continuing to collaborate with constituencies to provide guidance on improving their proposals where evidence or other key information may be missing. This round will implement allocations for both Year 3 of the 2021-2024 PSA, and Year 1 of the 2024-2028 PSA
- Acuity Modifier Advisory Working Group: A risk-adjusted capitation system informed by the CIHI group has been reported and approved by PSC co-chairs. This new modifier improves equity in capitation payments for FHO and FHN physicians by accounting for patient complexity, using repurposed funds from preventive care bonuses that the Ministry of Health wanted to remove entirely. Read our comprehensive FAQ for more information
- Emergency Department Alternate Funding Arrangements Working Group: Phase 2 (data collection) of the POWER III study started January 2024 and is expected to conclude in August 2024. The study is expected to inform the workload aspect of the EDAFA. Stay tuned for more updates following the completion of this phase
- Walk-in Clinic Working Group: This group completed their mandate and published a report outlining their recommendations, emphasizing the importance of understanding how walk-in clinics integrate into a patient’s care path while ensuring their primary care physician remains well-informed
- Joint Forms Committee: This group has hit several key accomplishments in 2024, including:
- Revised the JFC intake form to better reflect the issues and forms able to be submitted for review
- Developed and utilizes guiding principles for all form reviews. This ensures objectivity and standardization in the work it does
- Developed a forms checklist at the request of the Bilateral Physician Burnout Task Force to address physician administrative burden reduction when developing new or revising existing forms
- Removed the requirement for a physician signature on Funding Hearing Devices forms, which was implemented on Jan. 29, 2024
Payments and programs that benefit you
In addition to the ongoing work of the working groups and committees to implement the current PSA, we continue to advocate hard for you when it comes to programs and payment models. Some examples include:
- Alternate Payment Plan Expansion Process: Significant work has been taken to develop a formalized review process flow for stakeholders who are submitting requests for new and expanded APPs, as outlined in the 2021-24 PSA. We will continue to update you as more progress is made
- Secure Messaging Pilot: The Secure Messaging Proof of Concept program is a two-year pilot that aims to offer Ontarian patients the option to message their doctors via an Ontario Health verified secure messaging system of the physician’s choice from a list of 20. This pilot was launched in February 2024. Registration for this program closes on July 31
Pushing forward on health-system initiatives
While I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished so far in 2024, we’re not done yet. We will continue to meet with key partners and collaborators at the PSC table to examine system-wide issues that impact us all. Discussions around emergency room funding, the primary care crisis and the ongoing issues with administrative burden are some of our top priorities. We will also continue to monitor the progress of the various committees and working groups implementing the final pieces of the current PSA. I am excited for what lies ahead, and know that with the support of my fellow physicians on the OMA’s side of the PSC, OMA leadership and support staff, we can continue our work to make the PSC a critical part of improving the health-care landscape for you and all Ontarians.
Dr. Jane Purvis
PSC co-chair
Dr. Purvis is a community rheumatologist in Peterborough, Ont., in practice since 1989 after graduating from the University of Ottawa Medical School and completing rheumatology training at the University of Toronto. She is the past president of the Ontario Rheumatology Association and the current committee lead for the Ontario Rheumatology Association Government Affairs committee. She is very involved in improving patient access to appropriate therapies. She is also very involved with the Ontario Medical Association, on the Physician Services Committee, the OMA Forms Committee, PLG, vice chair of the Issues and Policy Panel, MRAC as well as District 6 secretary, and vice chair for the Section of Rheumatology.
She is passionate about improving health care in Ontario in the short and long term for patients and physicians using a collaborative problem-solving approach.
Her community rheumatology practice utilizes an interdisciplinary model of care with pharmacists and Arthritis Society therapists and is now embracing virtual care.
Ex-officio members
Kimberly Moran has served as OMA’s CEO since December 2023. She is a highly respected health-care leader and accomplished executive with more than 30 years of senior leadership experience in the private and not-for-profit sectors.
Kimberly comes to the OMA from her most recent role as the president and CEO of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, where she was able to unite stakeholders around a common purpose and vision of attracting new and sustainable funding in the health-care system.
She has held roles as special adviser to the dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Toronto, where her work included attracting new funding for research and innovative health-care models, CEO of Children’s Mental Health Ontario, and CEO of UNICEF Canada.
She has advised health-system stakeholders at all levels of government in Canada and internationally. Kimberly is a recognized health-system transformation contributor and collaborator, with previous roles in the Ontario Children’s Health Coalition, which represents children’s hospitals and children’s community health-care providers, and as co-chair of the Children’s COVID-19 Vaccine Table. She was previously on the Premier’s Council on Improving Health Care and Ending Hallway Medicine, a voluntary expert advisory council reporting to the premier and the minister of health.
Kimberly is a chartered professional accountant and chairs the finance committee for the Seneca College Board of Directors.
Dr. Sharon Bal, based in Cambridge, Ont., is the lead physician of the Delta Coronation FHO and staff physician at Cambridge Memorial Hospital, providing on-call coverage to area long-term care homes. Dr. Bal is an assistant clinical professor with the Department of Family Medicine, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University and is the preclerkship coordinator at the Waterloo Regional Campus. Dr. Bal is a recognized physician advocate and champion of health equity for marginalized populations and has held multiple leadership roles. Dr. Bal currently serves as a member of the steering and joint board committees of the Cambridge North Dumfries OHT and is a clinical lead with Ontario Health. Dr. Bal was co-chair of OMA Women from 2018-2022.
Dr. Bal is re-elected for a two-year term as director and is elected for a two-year term as vice-chair.
Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman (she/her) is an allergist and clinical immunologist practicing in the Greater Toronto Area mainly in Mississauga and at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton. Dr. Abdurrahman is an assistant clinical professor adj. of pediatrics and a staff member on the Clinical Immunology and Allergy Subspecialty Residency Training Committee at McMaster University.
This is Dr. Abdurrahman’s second year on the board of directors, and she is also the chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee (GNC). She comes with a strong background in governance with experience being on the OMA Joint Governance Transformation Task Force (GT20), the OMA Council Governance and Steering Committee and serving as the chair and delegate for the OMA Allergy and Clinical Immunology Section. She is also a strong advocate for equity and diversity with various leadership roles in this realm including, but not limited to, being a member of the Black Scientists Taskforce on COVID-19 Vaccination Equity and previously on the OMA Civility, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. She is also a board director of OntarioMD where she was previously a physician peer leader and a member of the OntarioMD Educational Taskforce. Dr. Abdurrahman is completing her second year of a two-year term as director. In February she was acclaimed president-elect for the 2024-2025 term.