Seventy per cent of New Brunswickers would visit a pharmacist to order a lab test for regular monitoring of a health condition, according to a new Abacus Data survey.
The Pharmacy Act, passed in 2014, allows pharmacists to order and interpret lab tests such as blood and urine tests, but other legislation limits them from using these resources.
“New Brunswickers want pharmacists to have the tools they need to help them manage chronic conditions. Pharmacists could relieve some of the pressure on the healthcare system by helping patients better manage their diabetes or high blood pressure,” says Paul Blanchard, Executive Director of the New Brunswick Pharmacists Association (NBPA).
The same survey, released today to mark Pharmacist Awareness Month, found that 85 per cent of New Brunswickers strongly or mostly agreed that allowing pharmacists to do more will improve health outcomes for patients. Eighty-five per cent said allowing pharmacists to do more would reduce health care costs.
“New Brunswick is facing a health care crisis. Our emergency rooms and doctors’ offices are bursting at the seams with patients who could get appropriate care from another healthcare professional,” says Blanchard. “As the province’s most accessible health care providers, pharmacists are ready, willing and able to help New Brunswickers having problems accessing care.”
One recent study found that pharmacists treating high blood pressure could prevent 15,439 cardiovascular events and save $445 million in New Brunswick. To do that, pharmacists must first be able to order and access lab tests.
The NBPA recently called on the Province of New Brunswick to reinvest some of its savings from the new pan-Canadian agreement (signed between the provinces and the country’s generic drug makers) in pharmacy services to alleviate some of the stresses in the province’s health care system and increase access to health care for New Brunswickers.
The survey found that most residents trust pharmacists either "a great deal" or "completely" on a range of services, including vaccination, advice on medicines, management of chronic health conditions, lifestyle changes and management of common ailments. New Brunswick pharmacists can assess and prescribe medication for 32 common minor ailments such as cold sores or uncomplicated urinary tract infections. Those services are covered by Medicare at doctors’ offices and emergency rooms, but patients have to pay for those services at pharmacies. Seventy-nine per cent of New Brunswickers agree that when a healthcare service is publicly-funded, all healthcare professionals who can deliver that service should be able to bill Medicare.
Abacus Data also found that pharmacists remain one of the most trusted health care providers in New Brunswick with 96 per cent of New Brunswickers having a positive view of those in the profession.
The survey, in partnership with the Canadian Pharmacists Association, on perceptions and attitudes about pharmacists was conducted by Abacus Data who contacted 4,023 Canadians over the age of 18, which included 500 New Brunswickers.
The New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association is the voice of pharmacists in the province and is committed to providing leadership for the profession and improving the health of New Brunswickers.