Evidence-based screening

THE Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has come out of its corner in response to media reports criticising the Amcal “Strokecheck” screening service, saying that screening and “risk assessment activities in community pharmacy must be evidence-based, meet unmet needs in the community, be appropriate for a pharmacy setting and provided by an appropriately-trained pharmacist”.

The Australian Medical Association and the Stroke Foundation are reportedly both warning the public to avoid the “Strokecheck” screening because it has “terrified” some patients incorrectly assessed to have a high risk and may involve unnecessary medical testing and excess Medicare costs.

The process of screening and risk assessment falls within the scope of all pharmacists’ practice in Australia and is a “key component of Australia’s strategy to reduce the burden of preventable disease”, the PSA says.

In addition, there is strong evidence that screening and risk assessment targeted at preventable conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular, chronic kidney disease and osteoporosis, is costeffective and improves population health.

PSA national president Joe Demarte said, “The opportunity is obvious in that it represents another avenue for highly accessible community pharmacies to embed themselves as important contributors to our healthcare system.

“However the responsibility, on the other hand, is to remember that this is a preventive health service and deserves to be treated as such.

“With this in mind, PSA has a new position statement on screening and risk assessment to help pharmacists with this important issue.”

The five PSA position statement principles encompass the need for services to be targetted to conditions with a significant disease burden, to be evidencebased and appropriate for the pharmacy setting, to document informed consent, to include follow up and referral, as well as being conducted by appropriately trained pharmacists using validated screening and risk assessment tools.