In Canada, 35% of avoidable emergency department visits could be handled by pharmacists
MONTREAL, May 9, 2024 (Globe Newswire) — Mimicking Alberta’s pharmacist-led clinic model could strengthen access to primary care and reduce waste, according to a new study from the Montreal Economic Institute. This may lead to the avoidance of necessary emergency department visits.
“Pharmacists know more about medicine than anyone in our health-care system,” explains Krystle Wittevrongel, MEI’s senior public policy analyst and project leader for Alberta. “Alberta’s pharmacist-led clinics have helped avoid tens of thousands of unnecessary emergency department visits by prescribing medications and maximizing the potential of drug alternatives.”
Alberta pharmacists have the most prescribing powers in the country, including special training to prescribe Schedule 1 drugs.
Unlike in Ontario and Manitoba, pharmacists in Alberta have the power to substitute prescription drugs and help address issues such as side effects caused by interactions with other treatments.
The study explains that prescription-related issues can help reduce the burden on hospitals. Ten Percentage of emergency department visits.
14,600 to 21,900 people visit Alberta’s first pharmacist-led clinic in Lethbridge patient Annually since opening in 2022.
it is Be expected By the end of 2024, there will be 103 such clinics in the state.
Researchers also link the success of the pharmacist-led clinic model in Alberta to the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice in the province.
Among other things, pharmacists in Alberta can order and interpret laboratory tests, unlike pharmacists in British Columbia, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
A 2019 peer-reviewed study found that pharmacists can address: 35 percent Proportion of avoidable emergency department visits in Canada.
“Alberta is allowing pharmacists to play a greater role in the health-care system, diverting mild cases from emergency rooms and into more appropriate facilities,” Wittebrongel said. “Imagine how fast things could go if pharmacists could take on 35 per cent of the unnecessary burden on Canada’s emergency rooms.”
The MEI study is available here. https://www.iedm.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/lepoint062024_en.pdf.
MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal and Calgary. Through publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, MEI fosters public policy debate and reform based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.
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