Patients in control spark new roles for pharmacists

In the midst of ongoing global issues and health concerns, a dramatic shift in the role of and importance of pharmacists has become apparent in the aftermath of COVID-19. Consumers are taking more responsibility around their own health, and they’re looking to pharmacy teams to guide them. In a recent survey of more than 2,000 Canadians conducted by IQVIA Canada (a leading provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and clinical research services), 39% of respondents said that they were actively seeking more information on how to take care of their health now, than before COVID-19 began. “Ongoing difficulties in accessing physicians, and an ever-increasing patient backlog has resulted in consumers increasingly visiting their pharmacies as a source of advice,” says IQVIA’s Mark Omoto, General Manager, Thought Leadership & Marketing. “As we look towards the future and hopefully to a time where COVID-19 becomes more endemic, we still expect to see an entrenchment of consumers taking ownership of their health and that pharmacy has an opportunity to increase its patient-centric approach.” Read: How pharmacists can help patients manage celiac disease Given an increasing trend towards self-care throughout the pandemic, Omoto says it’s not surprising that Health and Wellness OTC categories have seen the largest growth, while cough, cold and travel medications have experienced decline. But with reports of a potential “twindemic” of flu and COVID-19 cropping up now in certain areas of the country such as Quebec, the expectation is that consumer demand for cough and cold treatments may soon start coming back, says Gerry Harrington, senior advisor at Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada. He says he’s keeping a close eye on provincial governments these days as they go into budget season and look to reinvest in healthcare systems “roughed up” by the pandemic. He points to provinces such as Quebec and New Brunswick which are calling out self-care in particular for the first time and putting forward pharmacy as a key part of that front-line of health care. “Quebec is clearly seeing the lesson of the pandemic being about moving healthcare out of institutions and closer to the people,” he says. “To see them go all in on that kind of approach is really interesting.” Minor ailments gaining traction The fact that some provinces are increasing pharmacists’ scope of practice to allow the management and prescribing of treatments for minor ailments also indicates that consumers will have more healthcare practitioner options beyond their family physician, say industry watchers. “I think the pandemic has really highlighted the role of the pharmacist as a primary care provider, as well as amplified the urgency for timely access to quality care in the community,” says Anastasia Shiamptanis, registrar and CEO at the New Brunswick College of Pharmacists. “I think there is a recognition now that pharmacy professionals are flexible and provide assessment and advice on a number of conditions and a number of different options, whether that be OTCs or prescription medication.” She points to New Brunswick’s new multi-year healthcare plan, Stabilizing Healthcare: An Urgent Call to Action, which names pharmacists as part of the solution in providing healthcare within the different environments that the pandemic has enabled. “So clearly that signals moving away from just that acute pandemic response to looking at how pharmacists are going to continue to provide care in the future,” she says. “We really do see pharmacy professionals as being that front-line contact for patients within the different pillars of our healthcare plan.” Read: Is apixaban preferred over rivaroxaban in AF? Along with Shiamptanis, pharmacist Nardine Nakhla, clinical lecturer at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy (and Pharmacy Practice + Business’ Minor ailment therapeutics columnist) has been an active voice in advocating for the expansion of pharmacy scope to include minor ailments. In fact, the two co-authored a paper on the process taken to draft the minor ailment regulations in Ontario. (The province is the ninth and most recent in the country to create regulations that when passed into law, will authorize pharmacists to prescribe for minor ailments.) “Pharmacists are Canada’s third-largest group of health professionals and they have this extensive knowledge and skillset in the areas of minor ailments and nonprescription therapeutics that’s really helped facilitate care for patients and opened up pathways that perhaps were not there before,” says Nakhla. She points to Manitoba and Quebec, along with other jurisdictions, who have really expanded their list of minor ailments that pharmacists can prescribe for throughout the pandemic. “I think this really speaks to the expertise of pharmacists,” she says. One possible hiccup that concerns Nakhla, however, is the fact that patients are accessing their physicians via virtual visits more and more. “Before [physicians] were saying they don’t have time for minor ailments and take this load off us, but now that there’s virtual care, they’re saying we can provide this care virtually now.” The accessibility of pharmacists still provides a clear advantage for patients, she adds. “If we are truly practising patient-centred care, that would mean allowing them to get quality care in a timely fashion and often that is through the pharmacist.” Nakhla believes giving pharmacists the ability to treat for minor ailments will just give them a “few more tools in their toolbox” to optimize patient care. “That’s the narrative that we need to keep pushing [in areas where this practice scope isn’t available] so that it gets approved and folks don’t feel like we’re stepping on anyone else’s toes.” Of course, in knowing that pharmacists are already doing so much in terms of testing, vaccinating, OTC counselling and now minor ailments, it’s also imperative they have a solid support structure in the workplace, says Shiamptanis. With greater responsibility and practice scope there will also be greater support for pharmacists needed, she says. “As much as extra pharmacy services will help patients, we have to be mindful of what the challenges are and what are ways we can support pharmacists in tackling them.” Read: Meet Lisa Dolovich: Dean of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto

Patients in control spark new roles for pharmacists

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