In 2012-13, FMRAC undertook a governance review. The inaugural meeting of the new working Board took place in February 2014, with the Directors of the organization being the 13 registrars of the provincial and territorial medical regulatory authorities. These changes may be found in the By-Law section on our website.
The organization dealt with these other issues during this period:
- Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations – new regulations (formerly Marihuana Medical Access Regulations)
- continuance under the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations act
- Policy on Disclosure of Professional
- ongoing revisions to the FMRAC Standards for Medical Registration in Canada, leading to the creation of model standards to reflect the implementation challenges across the country
FMRAC Today
At its meeting on 28 October 2015, the Board decided to keep its current priorities for the coming year
- Physician-assisted Dying – The Board approved the FMRAC Physician-assisted Dying Guidance Document in June 2015. In 2016, the work will continue to address the need for consistency across jurisdictions in the lead-up (and follow-up) to the new legislation.
- Physician Practice Improvement System – It is expected that the framework (revised after an extensive medical stakeholder consultation) will receive Board approval in February 2016.
- Physician Health – The two issues are a framework for policy development on physicians with blood-borne infections; and the identification of performance risks (and protective factors) associated with aging.
- Prescribing of drugs of abuse and diversion – This will be the theme for the 2016 FMRAC Annual Meeting and Conference on 11-12 June at the Rimrock Hotel in Banff, AB. The focus will be on the role of regulation, looking at the assessment of prescribing and tighter regulation of physicians where prescribing is not aligned with best practices.
- FMRAC Integrated Risk Management System (FIRMS) — The standards will be approved in February or June 2016, with the pilot to start before the end of 2016. The standards address governance, the core mandate of MRAs (registration; complaints; QA of medical practice; and facilities review / accreditation). The implementation / peer collaboration model will be developed before the launch.