Value of pharmacy
The Ontario Pharmacists' Association has long advocated that pharmacists represent a key in the solution for the challenges facing the province's health system. With approximately two million visits made by Ontarians every day to community pharmacies, pharmacists are considered to be the most accessible of all health care providers. Pharmacists continue to help meet the needs of Ontarians through a myriad of services, including the assessment of minor ailments and provision of OTC recommendations when necessary, the regular offering of health, wellness and disease education, the furnishing of professional recommendations to prescribers through medication therapy management, and the avoidance of adverse drug events, to name a few.
In an effort to determine both the tangible and intangible values of the services our members provide now and under a new scope of practice, OPA engaged the services of the highly reputable health economics firm, nD Insight Corporation, to undertake this analysis. The study evaluated services that provide:
- Increased access to health care services for all Ontarians
- Improved quality of care and quality of life
- More efficient utilization of resources (GPs, Emergency Departments, etc.)
- Increased personal productivity (through reduced work absenteeism)
- Millions of dollars in both short- and long-term savings.
The scope of this evaluation included five specific service categories under the umbrella of Medication Therapy Management:
- Health, Wellness and Disease Education Programs - a function of chronic disease prevention and management.
- Refills of Chronic Care Medications - a subset of adherence programs.
- Therapeutic Modification - covering the adaptation and adjustment of prescriptions for therapeutic optimization.
- Prescription Intervention - an activity whereby the pharmacist uses professional judgment NOT to dispense a clinically inappropriate prescription. 5. Minor Ailments Program - the act of independent prescribing by the pharmacists from a defined list of Schedule I, II, or III drugs and for a specified list of minor ailments
Key findings were unveiled to membership at the September 10, 2009 OPA Annual General Meeting. As a benefit of membership, we are pleased to provide you with full access to the Final Report, its Executive Summary as well as all collateral reports that form the basis of this landmark analysis.
Executive summary and final report
Methodology and economic model
- These documents present how this evaluation was performed for the selected five categories, and includes a MS Excel file illustrating the detailed calculations that form the basis of the Final Report.
Framework and workflows
- Based on the scope of the project, an analytical framework was established to pursue in-depth current state analysis and to inform model development.
- The framework consists of two key elements:
- High-level workflows of processes to obtain prescribed medications under current and future scope of pharmacists’ professional services
- Value trees for the five identified service categories
References to final report and collateral documents
For questions or more information on the Value of Pharmacy Report, please send us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .