2023-09-25 04:00:00
Five pharmacies under the Pharmaprix banner are launching a pilot project of clinics on Monday, like at the doctor’s, to raise awareness of the health services that pharmacists can provide to Quebecers and relieve congestion in emergency rooms.
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Two pharmacies in Montreal, two in Gatineau and one in Quebec now have these clinics.
Follow-ups for chronic illnesses, treatments for a urinary tract infection, allergic rhinitis or conjunctivitis, for example, do not require a visit to the doctor or emergency room. Pharmacists throughout Quebec can provide this care, since the addition two years ago of numerous procedures permitted and reimbursed by the government.
But more than half of Quebecers are unaware of the care available in pharmacies, according to a recent Léger survey commissioned by Pharmaprix.
Stimulant
“We always dreamed, when we were studying [en pharmacie] to have a consultation office,” rejoices pharmacist-owner Mathieu Pellerin in Pointe-aux-Trembles.
He hired more pharmacists so that one person per day would be entirely dedicated to the clinic. During the week, he will be able to see 50 patients per day who have made an appointment.
“It’s stimulating […] [,] it’s concrete clinical practice and we can intervene with our patients,” he says. But these services, although available everywhere, are often cut short or put aside by pharmacists due to lack of time.
A pharmacist cannot make a diagnosis, he warns, but he can evaluate the effectiveness of a medication and adjust its dosage, for example.
Mr. Pellerin gives the example of a patient who receives medication in the emergency room after a hypertension attack. The emergency physician will not know if the prescribed dose is working, but the pharmacist can monitor and adjust if necessary, which avoids returning this patient to the health system.
“It’s to maximize what the pharmacist can do,” says Jean Thiffault, vice-president of strategic development and professional services at Pharmaprix.
Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin
“The pandemic has changed the role and perception of the pharmacist with vaccination and here we are going a step further,” he explains.
Mr. Thiffault hopes that Quebecers develop the habit of going to pharmacists for these minor health care items. The Pharmaprix banner already has these clinics in other provinces, such as Alberta and Nova Scotia.
A model for the future
“It’s a model for the future, which moves away from that focused on distribution,” believes professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Montreal, Francis Richard.
“Others are already doing it, without the marketing in the form of a clinic,” he adds, about his own Jean Coutu pharmacy, for example, where the time slots quickly find takers.
“We train our students to provide this care, but they do not always have the opportunity to do it to the maximum of their abilities in the field,” emphasizes Mr. Richard.
Examples of clinical pharmacy services
– Prescribe tests to monitor drug therapy
– Initiate drug therapy to treat shingles and influenza
– Initiate drug therapy to treat minor conditions, if it has already been prescribed in recent years.
Conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, minor acne, hemorrhoids, yeast vaginitis or urinary tract infection, for example
– Initiate drug therapy to treat other situations or prevent health problems
Smoking cessation, vaccination, travel-related health or nausea and vomiting, for example
– Modify drug therapy
– Extend a prescription
Source: Order of Pharmacists of Quebec
THE FIVE PHARMACIES PARTICIPATING IN THE PHARMAPRIX PILOT PROJECT:
- El Shaima Saliem, Van Horne Street, in Montreal;
- Mathieu Pellerin, Sherbrooke Street East, in Montreal;
- Georges Farah, ball. Greber, in Gatineau;
- Janik Létourneau, main Street in the Aylmer sector, in Gatineau;
- Julie Jean, boul. henri-bourassa, in Quebec.
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