Member Services & Engagement
Our PCN’s membership consists of family doctors located within our catchment area. These members are the foundation of our PCN and the focus of the MSE team.
MSE keeps members informed of and involved with our PCN and the programs and services that support them and their patients.
Highlights from 2024-25
Our MSE team provides…
Speaking your language
One in four Calgarians (24.6 per cent) speak a language other than English at home, according to Statistics Canada data, and one in three have a mother tongue other than English.
But clear communication is critical to health care. So, for several years, our PCN has offered the doctors in our membership and our patient-facing teams over-the-phone translation services via LanguageLine Solutions’ professionally trained linguists at no cost to them.
By the numbers:
- Our membership and teams made 1,858 calls to translation services in 2024-25, a 50.7 per cent increase over 2023-24.
- In total, they spent 574 hours speaking with the services’ linguists to help communicate with patients in the last fiscal year.
- All our patient-facing teams have access, and 94 of our member clinics have signed up to use the service.
The on-demand interpreting is available in 240-plus languages, all day, every day of the year.
While a friend or family member can help with translation, a systematic literature review of 36 articles about the impact of medical interpreters on the quality of health care indicated trained professional interpreters:
- Positively affect patients’ satisfaction, quality of care, and outcomes
- Have the fewest interpreter errors and optimal communication
Our MSE team raises awareness of the service and coordinates access. We are pleased to see the growth in use and contribution to patient care.
increase in calls to translation services by our membership and teams
New websites, intranet for our audiences
In collaboration with our web developer and IT team, our MSE team finished development and introduced our revamped website for the public, new member-facing website, and new intranet for our teams in the spring and fall of 2024.
For many people, our public website (cwcpcn.com) is their first introduction to our PCN: Who we are, how we help, and what opportunities we provide. But the march of time led to it and our old websites for our membership and our teams becoming dated, both technologically and visually.
We modernized our public website and member-facing website by moving to a new, up-to-date online platform and:
- Improving the onsite search function and mobile experience for users
- Putting the information visitors most often look for (based on data) front and centre on both websites
- Refreshing the visual design and streamlining and rewriting content to make it more accessible
For our teams, our new intranet includes a personalized sidebar and:
- Integrates with the tools and software we use daily
- Provides a more user-friendly space that helps our team members easily access popular topics and quickly find what they need
- Means we can make updates and improvements without relying on third-party assistance
Thank you to all the team members and stakeholders — our membership, our patient advisor, and our Medical Director — who consulted on these projects.
Events, professional development, and member engagement
Our PCN’s continuing medical education and professional development program supports our members with free educational opportunities so they can run effective and compliant practices. We also made many of these opportunities available to doctors with other local PCNs.
We also consulted with the doctors in our membership throughout the year via five polls, four focus groups, two engagement events, two working groups, and nearly 12,000 interactions with our Physician Liaisons.
Educational opportunities
Webinar/course attendees
Physicians engaged through consultations, interviews, focus groups, and working groups
Physician attendees for engagement events
Clearly communicating
Making information easily digestible for people was the focus of two projects in 2024-25 as we continued to improve accessibility.
A focus on storytelling
Storytelling is likely as old as human language and our first form of education. So, in 2024, we began our 24 for 2024 storytelling series with the aim of sharing 24 stories to foster a culture of appreciation and positive storytelling.
Exceeding our goal with 39 stories, 24 for 2024 highlighted the impactful work of our teams, celebrated successes, and framed healthcare narratives through a positive lens.
Beyond recognition, the campaign increased awareness of our programs and services while exploring new approaches to internal and external communication. Topics included how our teams:
- Worked together to improve efficiency, privacy, and communications
- Supported doctors and their patients with our programs and services and by promoting new provincial initiatives
- Worked with charities and contributed to the non-profits that help our community
The year 2024 is over, but we are not done sharing stories. If you have a story to share that involves our PCN, please email our Communications team so that your experience can help others who may be in a similar situation.
Plain language project
In 2024, our Member Services & Engagement team launched a plain language project to improve people’s understanding of our programs, services, and internal operations.
Plain language is a valuable tool that uses understandable language, graphic elements, and intentional information layout to make communication resources accessible for all audiences.
This work not only improves accessibility, but it also ensures communication materials are inclusive and considerate of the diverse needs of our community. So far, this project has included the development of internal guides and re-writing of public-facing web pages.
This project continued into 2025, with team members completing additional courses in the plain language field to bring the knowledge back to our team.