Why exactly are we giving up? New study finds cancelled N.B. pharmacy clinic pilot was really working for patients—and pharmacists

The second phase of a study examining the impact of New Brunswick's cancelled Pharmacist Care Clinic pilot shows that the program made a difference, although its impact was limited by restrictions to participating pharmacists' scope of practice.In the pilot, which ran from August 2023 to January 2025, six pharmacies across the province were given the authority to act as primary care clinics, providing medication management and disease management for patients with chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and COPD. They were also enabled to provide point-of-care screening and prescribing for Group A Strep. Over the full period of the pilot pharmacists conducted 27,000 patient appointments.Researchers from University of New Brunswick conducted a two part study of the program based on over 3,000 appointments made by 2,600 patients during a set period of the pilot. The first aspect of the study looked at utilization of clinic services and patient satisfaction while the second phase focused on health outcomes, how the clinics impacted the use of healthcare resources, as well as perceptions of clients, clinic staff and key stakeholders.The first study arm found very high satisfaction among pharmacy clinic patients, with 100% of patients saying they would recommend the service to friends and family. Patients were also pleased with the speed of access to care, with most reporting they were able to see a pharmacist within one to two days of seeking an appointment. In the second study arm, it was found that nine out of 10 (88.9%) patients who sought pharmacy care for chronic conditions had no primary care care provider. Overall, just 66.2% of all pharmacy clinic patients had a regular primary care provider.In an interview with the CBC, study co-author Chris Folkins said that “People felt that it was taking care of their needs and potentially preventing them from having to seek more challenging means of care, like visiting the ER."Pharmacist prescriptions accounted for 51.7% of services provided at the clinics. Next most common was pharmacist-initiated drug therapy changes (15.4%). Pharmacists participating in the clinics reported high personal satisfaction and fulfillment.One area where pharmacy care hit a roadblock, however, was in the fact that the pharmacists involved did not have authority to order lab work for patients in order to monitor the effectiveness of prescribed treatments. This meant pharmacists at the six participating locations having to refer to a physician or other practitioner to request blood test and other labs, which slowed the efficiency of the alternative care sites in some cases.The pilot was cancelled by the New Brunswick government in February 2025, and for the time being there are no plans to reinstate the pharmacy care clinics, although similar clinics are successfully operating throughout Nova Scotia and Alberta and to a more limited extent in other provinces. All pharmacists in the province are still, however, authorized to provide—and reimbursed for—minor ailment prescribing and assessment as well as for renewing and adjusting prescriptions.

Why exactly are we giving up? New study finds cancelled N.B. pharmacy clinic pilot was really working for patients—and pharmacists

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics