Wait. What?! You’re a pharmacist working in primary care?

“Wait. What?! You’re a pharmacist working in primary care? What do you even do if you don’t dispense medications?”Despite having worked in primary care for over a decade, I still encounter patients (and providers) who don’t know that pharmacists work in primary care teams and provide invaluable services centred around optimizing the safe and effective use of medications.What do I do? Here’s a small sampling of what I did as a primary care pharmacist in the past few weeks:Completed comprehensive medication reviews for complex patients to identify and resolve drug therapy problems (enhances medication safety and efficacy to reduce healthcare costs).Conducted chronic disease management visits to optimize medications for patients living with diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia (leverages pharmacist expertise to manage common chronic conditions, freeing up other providers' time and increasing patient access to timely care).Answered drug information questions from providers to help in the selection of the best possible treatment for patients (prevents drug therapy problems by being involved upstream in the prescribing process).Reviewed lab results and drug levels to adjust medication doses for safety and efficacy (again, leverages pharmacist expertise to do what we do best).Conducted minor ailment assessments (e.g., uncomplicated UTI) and managed patients independently or referred for red flags if needed (increases patient access to care and alleviates the work load on other providers on the team).Helped patients and providers navigate drug shortages and assisted with completing forms (e.g., EAP, private insurance) to help patients access the drug therapies they need (shares the administrative burden prevalent in primary care).All of this was done while integrated in a team environment, with shared access to patient information, and working collaboratively with physicians, nurse practitioners and other interdisciplinary healthcare providers.The team-based primary care pharmacist role is unique and essential. As stakeholders are planning the future of primary care in Ontario, I would love to see more discussion around optimizing the use of pharmacists in this setting. As I've noted here, the opportunities are endless.Jay Reaume is a clinical pharmacist at the Elliot Lake Family Health Team in Elliot Lake, Ont.

Wait. What?! You’re a pharmacist working in primary care?

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