The Crucial Role of Alberta's Pharmacists in Primary Care

EDMONTON, AB, Dec. 8, 2023 /CNW/ - It's no secret that finding a family doctor in Alberta these days is tough, especially if you're not located in a major urban center. In fact, many Albertans don't have a regular doctor, and those in rural locations are often faced with hours of travelling back and forth to a city to see one. Fortunately, Albertans have one constant, reliable, and accessible option when it comes to seeing a primary care provider – their local community pharmacist.

Alberta pharmacists have the authority to prescribe medications for patients, order lab tests or blood work, administer injectable medication, or provide travel vaccines. That means running out of medication should no longer send Albertans running to the phone to book a doctor's appointment or waiting in a busy walk-in clinic. Albertans are encouraged to call their pharmacist, or better yet, just walk into a local pharmacy and ask to speak to one.

For the past 15 years, Alberta pharmacists have been quietly helping Albertans meet their primary care needs in communities all across the province. On an annual basis, pharmacists in Alberta write 2.2 million prescriptions for new medical conditions, to renew and extend therapy, and to make adjustments to optimize patient health outcomes. Last year, over 2 million Albertans received a prescription from a pharmacist instead of another prescriber, helping to alleviate the demand for doctor office visits. Pharmacists also helped plan and optimize care for an additional 500,000 Albertans living with chronic medical conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, COPD, and Mental Health, among others.

Today, Alberta pharmacists are proud of the role they play in the health system and their ability to provide primary care often when patients have nowhere else to go. The evolution of pharmacist delivered care now includes the opening of pharmacist-led clinics, with many of them opening in communities across the province and more to come. Pharmacist-led clinics offer convenient access to primary care, helping to improve the patient's access and experience in the health care system. In many areas of the province, there is no access for primary care, and Albertans everywhere have relied upon their community pharmacist to meet their everyday care needs.

As the province works to reorganize the health care system under four new health system organizations for Acute Care, Primary Care, Continuing Care, and Mental Health and Addiction, Alberta's community pharmacists will continue the work to meet Albertan's primary care needs where they need it and when they need it. 

Alberta's primary care pharmacists look forward to the newly formed Primary Care Organization and to understanding how this new organization will meet the needs of individuals through optimizing the role of primary care providers, including pharmacists across the province.

For two decades, the Alberta Pharmacists' Association (RxA) has been a champion for pharmacists in Alberta. We play an integral role in expanding pharmacists' practice, and we continue to advocate on their behalf towards excellence in patient care.

Related Links
www.rxa.ca 

SOURCE Alberta Pharmacists' Association

Kendall Franklin, Communications and Member Engagement Manager, Alberta Pharmacists' Association (RxA), 780-990-0326, [email protected]