Leveraging Pharmacists’ Training to Meet Patient Needs in Canada

Dispensing, drug supply
management and compounding

• Dispensing
  Pharmacists carefully review and assess whether prescriptions are safe and appropriate for each person. They consider factors like allergies, reason for treatment, effectiveness of the drug, food and drug interactions, cost and ease of use. They also provide advice to patients about their medications and health conditions, including topics like managing side effects, living with chronic conditions, and preventing illness.
• Managing drug supply
  Pharmacists promote the appropriate use of medications to help protect our drug supply. In the event of a drug shortage or product recall, pharmacists work behind the scenes to make sure patients don’t miss out on necessary treatments. This can involve finding an alternative supply of the drug or suggesting and prescribing substitutes when needed.
• Compounding
  Sometimes drugs available on the market aren’t suitable for a person and require a personalized approach. In this case, some pharmacists can create customized medications by mixing or altering ingredients to meet an individual’s specific needs, a process called compounding.

Assessment and
prescribing

• Assessment
  Pharmacists are educated to assess symptoms and perform condition-specific examinations, enabling them to independently assess, prescribe and manage common conditions*.
• Monitoring chronic conditions
  Pharmacists have the education and training to recommend and prescribe devices to help patients manage things like blood sugar and blood pressure.
• Complex medication assessment and care plans
  Pharmacists can assess for drug therapy problems by reviewing a patient’s medical history, overall prescription and non-prescription medications, herbal and natural health products, vitamins and other treatments. Personalized recommendations and custom care plans can also be created to optimize a person’s health priorities and well-being.
• Collaboration and referral
  When additional care is needed, pharmacists work closely with other health professionals or refer patients for further support (e.g., when urgent or specialized care is needed).
• Prescribing
  Pharmacists have the knowledge and skills to safely and effectively start, maintain and modify prescriptions, including controlled drugs and substances. They can prescribe for any condition once there is an assessment or diagnosis—whether conducted by another health professional or, in the case of common conditions, by the pharmacist. This includes:
  • Initiating and adapting prescriptions
    Pharmacists can start new medications and can make changes to prescriptions, like changing the dose, type or schedule of a medication to better suit the patient. If appropriate, they might switch a medication to a safer or more effective alternative, a process called therapeutic substitution.
  • Extending or renewing prescriptions
    Pharmacists can extend or renew prescriptions to help ensure patients don’t go without their drugs. They can assess a patient and recommend continued treatment.
  • Deprescribing
    Pharmacists can help patients safely decrease the dose or discontinue drugs that are no longer needed or appropriate for them.

* For clarity, “common conditions” refers to those frequently encountered in primary care settings and generally managed using well-established clinical guidelines. This includes a range of acute and chronic conditions such as respiratory, dermatologic, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal conditions.

Some pharmacists may acquire additional competencies beyond this baseline through experience or post-graduate training, enabling them to assess and prescribe in more advanced or specialized areas.

Testing, screening
and monitoring

• Lab testing
  Pharmacists have the knowledge and skills to order and interpret lab tests and results. They can explain what they mean, making sure patients get the right care based on their health needs. For example, using kidney function tests to recommend medication changes or highlight an issue to another health-care provider.
• Point-of-care and diagnostic testing
  Pharmacists are capable of performing convenient, in-pharmacy tests to check on things like blood sugar, cholesterol or lung function, as well as screen for strep throat and sexually transmitted infections.
• Data monitoring
  Pharmacists know how to track and interpret health data from medical devices like blood pressure and blood sugar monitors and health apps so they can provide tailored advice.
• Adjusting medications based on lab tests
  Using lab results, pharmacists help adjust medications that require close monitoring for conditions like bipolar, blood and seizure disorders (e.g., lithium, warfarin, phenytoin).

Patient education, health promotion
and preventative care

• Patient education
  In addition to providing medication-specific consultations when dispensing drugs, pharmacists educate and advise patients about their overall health conditions. They have knowledge to offer advice on beneficial lifestyle changes, encourage self-care to help manage health challenges and can recommend interventions to prevent disease.
• Interprofessional collaboration
  Pharmacists offer clinical consultations, evidence-based education and drug information services to other health-care professionals, enhancing team-based care.
• System navigation
  They guide patients through the health-care system, including making referrals to other providers when needed.
• Medical devices
  Pharmacists teach patients how to use medical devices and supplies at home, like inhalers or blood sugar monitors, to ensure people get the most benefit from their treatment.
• Harm reduction
  Pharmacists play an important public health role in minimizing harm associated with using drugs by educating patients and caregivers, including persons who use opioids or are at risk of opioid use disorder.

Drug administration and
vaccine services

• Drug administration
  Pharmacists can help patients learn to administer medications that use different routes into the body (e.g., topical, nasal, intraocular).
• Inhaled medications
  Pharmacists can help patients learn how to correctly take their inhaled medications, such as those needed for respiratory illnesses like asthma or COPD.
• Injections
  Pharmacists have the skills and training to administer all types of injections used to get a drug into the body. For example under the skin or into the muscle (e.g., insulin, vitamin B12).
• Vaccinations
  Pharmacists can advise on, prescribe and administer routine childhood vaccines, vaccines for diseases like influenza, pneumonia and shingles, as well as those that may be required for travel.