In this episode, we have our first guest from Canada who shares about pharmacist prescribing. Follow Dr. Arden Barry on Twitter for more content and check out this episode where he discusses:
There is variable prescriptive authority for pharmacists across Canada:
Like how pharmacy laws can differ from state-to-state, there is different legislation across the provinces in Canada for pharmacist prescribing. However, most provinces allow for some type of pharmacist prescribing.
Only one province (Alberta) allows pharmacists to prescribe independently.
There is currently an advocacy campaign by the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (which is similar to ASHP) British Columbia Branch aimed to allow pharmacists who practice in hospitals or other health care-related settings to prescribe.
2. Pharmacists should have the authority to prescribe:
Pharmacists are the medication experts and already play a significant role in ensuring patients receive safe and optimal medication therapy.
Pharmacists are capable of accepting the increased accountability and responsibility for prescribing in the delivery of patient-centered care.
Pharmacists bring a unique perspective to prescribing given their knowledge of evidence-based medicine, safety, and drug interactions that is different than other health care professionals (e.g., nurse practitioners, physician assistants).
Many pharmacists already prescribe in some form (e.g. over-the-counter medications).
3. Pharmacists in other parts of the world have the authority to prescribe:
Pharmacists in the United Kingdom have had the ability to prescribe since 2006.
Pharmacists who had completed a prescribing course in New Zealand were granted prescribing authority 2013.
Work is being done in Australia to allow pharmacists to prescribe.
4. There is evidence that pharmacist prescribing improves patient outcomes:
There is a growing body of evidence from Canada that shows that pharmacist prescribing benefits patients.
Pharmacist prescribing has demonstrated improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, improved BP control in patients with hypertension, and lower LDL-C in patients with dyslipidemia.
One Canadian study demonstrated that pharmacist-led care, as compared to nurse-led care, showed improved BP and cholesterol levels in patients with a previous stroke.
A recent study called RxEACH that was published in JACC (2016;67:2846-54) showed lower overall cardiovascular risk (lower LDL-C, BP, and A1c as well as higher smoking cessation) in patients at risk of CVD with a community pharmacy-based intervention vs usual care.
Another recent Canadian study showed that pharmacists were able to effectively and safely treat uncomplicated UTIs in a community pharmacy setting. This study won the Canadian Pharmacists Journal’s Best Paper of the Year in 2018.
Guest – Dr. Arden Barry, BSc, BSc(Pharm), PharmD, ACPR
Clinical Pharmacy and Research Specialist | Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services
Assistant Professor (Partner) | Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Associate Member | Department of Family Practice | Faculty of Medicine
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus
Twitter: @ArdenBarry | @ubcpharmacy
www.pharmsci.ubc.ca | www.facebook.com/ubcpharmacy
Host – Hillary Blackburn, PharmD
www.pharmacyadvisory.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/
@talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook
@HillBlackburn Twitter