PHARMACY COUNCIL INAUGURAL MEETING PROVIDES PHARMACISTS WITH LONG-SOUGHT “SEAT AT THE TABLE” IN HEALTH CARE DECISION-MAKING Pharmacists’ professional care services prioritized



Wednesday, December 13, 2006, was a landmark day in the history of pharmacists in Ontario, as the Pharmacy Council held its inaugural meeting at the new downtown Toronto headquarters of the Ontario Pharmacists’ Association.

Successfully concluding nearly 18 years of efforts, Ontario pharmacists have finally taken their long-sought “seat at the table” in health care decision-making in the province. For the first time, the new Council provides a formal role for pharmacists to participate in the development of pharmaceutical and health policy. The Council will advise the government on matters concerning the delivery of pharmaceutical services including education, conduct, compensation and policy.

“The task facing us is no less than to shape the future of the pharmacy profession in Ontario,” OPA Chief Executive Officer Marc Kealey, co-chair of the Council, told members in his welcoming remarks.

Council members include four practicing community pharmacists from different regions of Ontario, a pharmacy technician, and representatives of hospital pharmacies, the pharmacy industry, pharmacist educators and patients.

“These points of view, and the collective understanding they yield, will be vitally important as we move forward in Ontario from the traditional business model under which pharmacy has functioned for many years, to the creation of new business models and practice environments to support the advancement of the profession and its integration into health care to support and deliver front-line patient care,” said Kealey.

The Council is prioritizing the establishment and implementation of policies and mechanisms through which pharmacists will provide an expanded range of front-line professional care services to patients. This will assist in resolving ongoing issues in the implementation of the Transparent Drug System for Patients Act, Kealey said.

The Council’s mandate includes assisting in the definition and implementation of pharmacists’ professional care services and identifying the necessary infrastructure and supports. It will identify opportunities for pharmacists to provide professional care services and recommend a compensation model, roles and responsibilities, training and accreditation needs and other supports. The services will be provided through community pharmacies, in hospital outpatient settings and within the primary care sector.

“With respect to the implementation of a workable regime of professional care services, we have an obligation to understand the infrastructure that will be put in place to support the delivery of services, and to move forward quickly on provisions to educate the public about these services, ensure that these services are integrated into evolving healthcare models, and to create a vision of how these services will develop and grow in number and accessibility,” Kealey said.

“We need to be able to evaluate the role of remunerated professional services within new and evolving business models in order to accurately assess the implications of this revenue stream as a factor of a new practice environment. The onus is clearly on this Council to make recommendations to the Executive Officer on how to proceed with minimal delay, and to contribute to certainty and resolution on these crucial questions.”

Individual pharmacists canbe involved with the Council by conveying information, ideas and solutions through outreach to Council members, as well as through OPA. The Council’s mandate includes instruction to consider matters referred to it jointly by OPA and the Ministry of Health.

[1] Ontario Pharmacy Council at its inaugural meeting on December 13, 2006

[2] Pharmacy Council Co-chair: Marc Kealey, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists’ Association

[3] Pharmacy Council Co-chair: Helen Stevenson, Executive Lead, Drug System Secretariat, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care