Towfiqu BarbhuiyaCanadians are no strangers to long wait times in the emergency room (ER) and months until appointments with family doctor appointments. A study conducted by the Angus-Reid Institute reported that 50 per cent of the Canadian population either do not have a family physician or cannot get access to their physician on time. Research is showing that pharmacists show promise in filling that gap.
Yazid Al Hamarneh, an assistant professor in the faculty of medicine and dentistry, discussed how community pharmacy care clinics help complement other forms of care.
Pharmacy care clinics are located within pharmacies themselves. When a patient arrives, a care concierge will check them in and lead them to the examination room for assessment.
Community pharmacy care clinics increase availability and accessibility to care
Community pharmacy care clinics aren’t just for those without a family physician. According to Al Hamarneh, those who had a family doctor visited the pharmacy clinic more frequently for common ailments such as urinary or respiratory tract infections, and pink eye.
Some of the most common reasons patients visited the pharmacy care clinic were common ailments and chronic disease management. The latter was more frequent among those who did not have a family physician because treatment “requires a longer relationship,” said Al Hamarneh.
Continuity of care is especially important in managing chronic diseases. Al Hamarneh described this as an ongoing health-care provider-patient relationship, which can be fostered by pharmacy care clinics. This way, the patient’s chronic disease can be continuously monitored. Patients benefit from their health-care provider already being familiar with their situation and needs.
For those with chronic ailments, patients benefit from receiving quick symptom relief instead of waiting weeks to see a family physician. Rural Albertan communities also benefit from pharmacy care clinics. Especially because pharmacies are services that are readily available, when family physicians are not.
“We have a perfect storm right now, because in Alberta, pharmacists have the broadest scope of practice in the world,” Al Hamarneh noted. Pharmacists in Alberta can order lab tests and act on them. They can also conduct point of care testing, such as blood collection and measuring blood pressure.
Community pharmacy care clinics benefit the health-care system
The clinics serve as an additional outlet for the health-care system. Al Hamarneh expressed that our health-care system is “overstretched, and underfunded.” Funding new services can be costly if they prove to be ineffective. Pharmacists are, in contrast, well-established and well-trained health-care providers who “provide care already funded by the system.”
Additionally, working in the pharmacy clinics will provide increased job-satisfaction among pharmacists. To earn a Doctor of Pharmacy, pharmacists are trained in a wide range of aspects rather than simply distributing prescriptions.
Al Hamarneh’s study shows that care given via community pharmacy clinics is effective regarding patient satisfaction. “It improves patients’ outcomes clinically, and it saves money,” he said. Economic analysis demonstrated an association between these clinics and cost savings — helping alleviate pressure off the broader health-care system.
Currently, Al Hamarneh continues examining the impact of pharmacy care clinics. This includes asking questions about whether the clinic impacted ER visits and hospitalization, among other factors.
The core of pharmacy care clinics is to provide another avenue for patients. “We’re not competing with anybody,” Al Hamarneh said. “We are complementing what is available in the health-care system.”
