Personalized Medicine and The Pharmacist

In order to promote policy change, we need to educate the public about how an expanded pharmacist role can ultimately reduce health care spending while improving patient outcomes. This is no simple task as many people feel their pharmacy is just a place they shop at but with that said, pharmacists are the #1 most trusted professional as voted by Canadians. Let’s take advantage of this trust.

Specialization is one means by which pharmacists can justify the cause for an expanded scope of practice. The role of Pharmacogenomics and tailoring drug therapy to the individual patient will  improve patient health, reduce the physician workload, expand and utilize the knowledge of pharmacists who are trained but do not perform such tasks in the current structure of the healthcare system and reduce unsustainable health care spending.

Tied with this is  public outreach and advocacy. A joint initiative rather than a competition between health care professionals is what is needed. By working together and establishing ways to improve each practitioner’s role within health care, we can prevent animosity and improve patient care. We must prove benefits to each practitioner that would be affected by an increase in pharmacist scope. If we can do this, it will be a positive step in securing our careers and satisfaction as health care professionals moving forward.