Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 40, an Act to Amend the Medical Profession Act, be read for the second time.
This bill amends the Medical Profession Act to allow a medical practitioner regulated in another province or territory to provide virtual care to patients in the Northwest Territories from a location outside the Northwest Territories. This may happen in the following ways:
- An out-of-territory practitioner may apply for registration in the virtual care register and be issued a virtual care permit;
- An out-of-territory practitioner may practice under a limited exception where they have received a referral from the NWT;
- An out-of-territory practitioner may practice under an agreement between the Minister and either the government or the regulatory of their home jurisdiction.
The bill makes the associated necessary changes to the act to facilitate these new methods of practice. The bill also adds a regulation-making authority to authorize the establishment or adoption of standards, practice, code of ethics, continuing competency programs, and scope of practice frameworks and guidelines. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.