PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Barbour, Luke AU - Venkataraman, Maya AU - Bland, Alexandra AU - de Waal, Anna AU - Fischer, Jordie AU - Hari, Kishore AU - Grzybowski, Stefan TI - Payment model impact on the resilience of rural communities AID - 10.46747/cfp.701112719 DP - 2024 Nov 01 TA - Canadian Family Physician PG - 719--724 VI - 70 IP - 11-12 4099 - http://www.cfp.ca/content/70/11-12/719.short 4100 - http://www.cfp.ca/content/70/11-12/719.full SO - Can Fam Physician2024 Nov 01; 70 AB - Objective To explore rural physician perspectives on how remuneration impacted their experiences of contributing to community resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design Exploratory, qualitative subanalysis.Setting Twenty-two rural communities in 4 Canadian provinces.Participants Family physicians, other health care professionals, and patients in rural communities in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.Methods Semistructured, virtual interviews conducted between November 2021 and February 2022 were included in the subanalysis. Interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically.Main findings Participants expressed working under an alternative payment plan (APP) model facilitated greater engagement in their communities and said they were generally fairly compensated for nonclinical duties. Increased time allotted to each patient re-centred care priorities to meet the long-term needs of the community. Finally, APP physicians stated their systems of care supported their own wellness throughout the pandemic.Conclusion Findings suggest physicians working in an APP model felt they had increased ability to engage with the community and contribute to its resilience. The flexibility of APPs may allow for more physician involvement in community sustainability that is not directly related to patient care.