Full-scope pharmacist care for hypertension could save P.E.I. $81M
Making full use of pharmacists’ skills to care for Islanders with hypertension could save P.E.I. more than $80 million, a new study shows.
The peer-reviewed study, “Cost-effectiveness of pharmacist care for managing hypertension in Canada”, appears in the Canadian Pharmacists Journal.
It says projected cost savings for Canada’s health-care system would be more than $15.7 billion if full-scope pharmacist care was administered to the full eligible population.
With today marking World Hypertension Day, the study looked at alternatives to usual hypertension care, including full scope pharmacist care — making full use of pharmacists’ scope of skills, including prescribing — for Canadians, including the roughly 28,000 Islanders who live with hypertension.
“Pharmacists are highly accessible primary health-care providers and ideally positioned to address the care gap in hypertension management,” said Erin MacKenzie, executive director of the P.E.I. Pharmacists Association.
“With the infrastructure for these services already in place, we need to ensure pharmacists are able to make use of their full scope of skills in Prince Edward Island.
In all analyses, the rates for cardiovascular disease and kidney failure are lowest with the full scope of pharmacist care and highest under the usual care regime.
The results also highlight the relatively low costs of the program, particularly relative to the costs of treating cardiovascular disease or kidney failure.
The study estimates that, over 30 years, for every five people receiving full scope pharmacist care, one cardiovascular event (stroke, heart attack, angina or heart failure) could be avoided and four years of life would be saved.