In addition, we now have regulated pharmacy technicians in several provinces. They do a final check on dispensed prescriptions, freeing up pharmacists to focus on patient education, adherence, and medication-monitoring services.
We have provided the clerk with a one-page summary of the range of expanded scope of practice for pharmacists across Canada, which members should have now in front of them.
Although specific scopes of practice differ across the jurisdictions, the trends have all been the same. Increasingly, governments are recognizing that pharmacists can deliver accessible, high-quality care to Canadians at a lower cost to the health-care system. Research shows that pharmacist services improve patient adherence and outcomes, and reduce hospitalization.
In addition to regulatory changes to scope of practice, provincial governments are also paying pharmacists to provide new services, such as flu shots, treatments for minor ailments, diabetes management, smoking cessation, and meeting with patients to do comprehensive medication reviews and develop annual care plans.
In fact, last summer Canada's premiers at a meeting of the Council of the Federation directed the health care innovation working group to examine opportunities within the team-based model framework to increase the important role that paramedics and pharmacists play in the provision of front-line services. We are pleased that Health Canada, through the FPT committee for health workforce, has recently engaged in this work.
In terms of recommendations and next steps, the pharmacist profession welcomes these developments. However, there are three core areas in which we feel the federal government could play a stronger role.
First, provincial governments have enabled an expanded role for pharmacists not only through legislative changes but also by paying for new medication management services. The same has not happened federally. Although the majority of health care in Canada is delivered by the provinces, the federal government does have populations for which it is responsible for provision of health services. These include groups such as aboriginals, veterans, refugees, and the RCMP. In fact, Health Canada is the fifth-largest health care provider in the country. However, unlike provincial governments, the federal government does not cover the cost of extended pharmacist services. This situation is placing these federal populations at a disadvantage. They are not able to receive the same level or accessibility of services that most other Canadians are receiving. As a result, our first recommendation to the committee is to instruct Health Canada to review the services it insures for its federal populations, particularly pharmacist-provided medication management services so that, at a minimum, coverage policies are aligned with the corresponding provinces' programs.
Second, as we undergo primary care reform and expanded scopes of practice, all health care professionals need support for change, in particular, having the patient care documentation and collaboration skills to practise as part of a team. Our ADAPT skills training program is an excellent example of a best-in-class course to support pharmacists to transform the way in which they practise. But we need more of these types of programs to support intraprofessional and interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, physicians, nurses, and other health care providers.
Our third recommendation is about the federal government's leadership to support pan-Canadian health human resources—HHR—planning and innovation to achieve better health, better care, and better value.
As we've described, the pharmacist profession is very much in flux. In addition to changes in professional practice, there have been unprecedented changes to the pharmacy business model. With lower generic drug prices in all jurisdictions, the pharmacy business model has been squeezed. Pharmacists are in a situation of being asked to do more with less. As well, we went from an acute shortage of pharmacists a decade ago to a surplus in some cities now. With so much change afoot, it is becoming increasingly difficult to plan and manage the pharmacy labour supply.
The sustainability of the health care system requires that cost-effective models of practice be explored and human resources be deployed effectively. Therefore, we recommend that the federal government assume a greater role in human health resources planning, health care needs assessment, and support for interprofessional collaboration. Specifically for pharmacy, we need to do more research on the supply, workplace challenges, and labour market needs for both pharmacists and regulated pharmacy technicians across Canada. We need to track and forecast pharmacy human resources so that our profession can contribute its drug therapy expertise to ensure that Canadians' medication use is as safe and effective as possible.
Thank you.