Pharmacists say they can do more and save the province money

Pharmacists in Newfoundland and Labrador are suggesting they be allowed tobranch out and offer more medical services to patients to help ease the burden on the health care system.

• Pharmacists' new power to treat and prescribe will come with a fee
• N.L. pharmacists allowed to prescribe for, treat minor ailments

Recently, pharmacists were permitted to give flu vaccines and to prescribefor minor ailments, things thatpharmacists in other provinces have been doing for years.

"For years, people go to the pharmacy, theypick up their medication and they probably don't give much thoughtto the expertise, the clinical oversightand so on, that goes into even filling one prescription," saidGlendaPower, executive director of thePharmacy Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL).

"We want to raise awareness about that, but also about the additional services now that pharmacistscan offer to the patients of Newfoundland and Labrador because the face of pharmacy in our province and across the country is changing."

Broader scope saves money

For the month of March,PANLis launching anew radio ad to mark Pharmacist Awareness Month.

It saves on things downstream such ashospitalizationandemergency visits.- Dr. CarloMarra

The ad which says "pharmacists offer more than just pills"focuses on the manyduties a pharmacist can now perform.

While the main goal is to educate the public about what is offered, Power said the professionneedsto work with the province to make sure they "optimizethe scope" of pharmacists.

She addedthat while there has been greatprogress made, it took a long time toget the green light for pharmacists to give flu vaccination shots, and even thenthe government did not fund it.

"If you walk into your doctor's office [or]you go to an Eastern Health clinic, you can get your flu shot free of charge. You go to a pharmacy for the convenienceit's easy in and out [but]you pay a fee," said Power.

"Premier Ball said himself that, that'sillogical and that he would work with PANL to change that, haven't heard from him yet ... but it makes so much sense."

Ball worked for many years as a pharmacist before entering public life.

Dr. CarloMarra, dean ofMemorial University'sSchool of Pharmacy, agrees with Power adding that increased pharmacy services like vaccinations will save the healthcare systemmoney in the long term.

"It makes sense for more people to get vaccinated... to improve the cost effectiveness and the economic returns on the flu vaccine, it only makes sense for pharmacists to be able do that, to extend the rates of vaccination across people who actuallyneed it," he said.

"It saves on things downstream such as hospitalizationandemergency visits."

Faced with dramatically less revenue, Newfoundland and Labrador's Liberal government has asked every department and agency to find savings. The health sector is the largest source of spending in the provincial budget.

Marrasaid if pharmacists played a bigger role it would helpsave some of that money.

He was involved in a studyinBritishColumbia dealing with osteoarthritis thatshowed pharmacists could not only improve health outcomes but doit at a lower cost. Hereferred to another study inAlberta thatshowed the same.

"[The study] looked specifically at comparing the ability of pharmacists to managehigh blood pressure, complete with medication changes, compared to usual care, which typically is doctors, and they did a better job by a large margin," said Marra.

Pharmacist clinic

MUN'sSchool of Pharmacyis now operating a medication therapy services clinic, which is the third of itskind in Canada, according to Marra.

He said the clinicprovides a clinical service but also evaluates thescope of pharmacy in the province.

There are efficiencies to be achieved ... it could be an incentive for the public to take that upif it was included in the funding as it is for physicians.- GlendaPower

It operates on referrals from family doctors for patients who have complex medication needs, and whoareseen exclusively by a pharmacist.

"People who are on a bunch of drugs, who need maybe simplification of their regimens who need help with taking their medications and getting a more safe and effective therapy," said Marra.

"Not only is it a clinic, but it's also a research centre,so we'll be helping bring up the scope of practice, the ability for pharmacists to do things in the province and we'll be doing a bunch of evaluation around pharmacy and pharmaceutical policy."

"There are efficiencies to be achieved and ... it could be an incentive for the public to take that upif it was included in the funding as it is for physicians. It makes no sense that it isn't there and governmentwill not see the benefit that pharmacists aresaying will be happen until they fix that," Power said.