Written by Sonya Felix on January 26, 2012 for CanadianHealthcareNetwork.ca

A $250,000 contribution from Shoppers Drug Mart will help fund new Blueprint for Pharmacy research to evaluate the impact of healthcare policies on pharmacy practices.

Although the research project is still in the early stages of being scoped out, it is expected to produce data that will demonstrate the economic value of pharmacy services to the Canadian healthcare system, says Conrad Amenta, project director, Blueprint for Pharmacy National Coordinating Office at the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA).

This research will provide further evidence of the impact that patient-centred pharmacy services have on improving health outcomes for Canadians

In announcing the donation, Domenic Pilla, president and CEO of Shoppers, stated: “The expansion of pharmacy practice and implementation of government-funded pharmacy services, such as medication reviews, is a significant step forward for pharmacy. This research will provide further evidence of the impact that patient-centred pharmacy services have on improving health outcomes for Canadians, while at the same time easing the burden on our health care system.”

The Blueprint for Pharmacy is a collaboration of pharmacy stakeholders led by the CPhA and the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (CACDS), and supported by pharmacy organizations across Canada working together to bring about significant and meaningful change to the profession and practice of pharmacy. In 2008, the group released Vision for Pharmacy: Optimal drug therapy outcomes for Canadians through patient-centred care. The Implementation Plan for the Blueprint for Pharmacy was developed the following year.

“An enormous effort by all stakeholders, including Shoppers Drug Mart, has seen so much being accomplished to date,” Dr. Dennis Gorecki, chairman of the Blueprint for Pharmacy Steering Committee, said in a statement.

“The Blueprint for Pharmacy is, however, now at the critical implementation stage which requires essential funding to ensure the successful completion of many important projects that will help drive the evolution of pharmacy practice. We are most grateful to Shoppers Drug Mart for their leadership and for stepping up to provide continued funding to help complete these projects and we hope that this donation will motivate other pharmacy stakeholders to also support this important initiative.”

The new research project will have a pan-Canadian perspective, says Amenta, adding that there are three goals:

• To help provincial and national advocacy groups negotiate with provincial governments for the funding of pharmacy services;
• To make the case to the Canadian public for their pharmacist as a trusted healthcare provider; and
• To help pharmacy chains develop business models that incorporate expanded scopes of practice.

“An emphasis will be placed on promoting the results through knowledge translation and communications efforts to ensure uptake,” he says. “Support for this work is broad, with multiple donors and an array of national and provincial stakeholder groups lending their significant expertise. The timeline is still being scoped out, but I can say that there is an urgency to this work. This data will be timely.”

Original Source: CanadianHealthcareNetwork.ca