Costs and savings associated with a pharmacists prescribing for minor ailments program in Saskatchewan

Abstract

BackgroundHealth care systems around the world have started to develop pharmacists prescribing for minor ailments (PPMA) programs. These programs aim to improve the efficiency of care, reduce physician visits, and increase the accessibility to prescription medication (Rx). This study performed an economic impact analysis of the pharmacists prescribing for minor ailments program in Saskatchewan.MethodsWe measured costs for the program and the alternative scenario (i.e. no PPMA program) from a public payer and societal perspective, using primary data on pharmacists prescribing consultations in Saskatchewan. Furthermore, we calculated public payer and societal savings, and return on investment ratios for the program, as well as projecting the costs and benefits over the next 5 years.ResultsOverall, we found that from a societal perspective, the Saskatchewan PPMA program saved the province approximately $546,832 in 2014, while according to the public payer perspective, the program was only marginally cost-saving in 2014. After 5 years of implementation, from a societal perspective, cumulative cost savings were projected to be $3,482,660, and the return on investment ratio was estimated to be 2.53.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that this type of program may prove cost-saving and lead to improved access to the health care system in Canada, especially if savings to society are considered. This type of PPMA program may prove economically feasible and beneficial in many countries considering expanding pharmacists scope of practice.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12962-017-0066-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Extending the scope of community pharmacists’ practice to patients requiring urgent care – An evaluation of a training programme using the Theoretical Domains Framework

“…Community pharmacy already provides a range of commissioned clinical services that contribute to improved patient outcomes, are effective (in terms of process measures), cost‐effective (when comparing the cost of community pharmacy with other providers) (Murray, ; Watson et al., ; Wright, ) and offer direct savings in terms of other health services avoided (such as GP and emergency department visits) (Ramalho de Oliveira, Brummel, & Miller, ). Recent estimates that community pharmacy could safely treat more than 10% of general practice and 5% of emergency department consultations (Fielding et al., ), at a substantially lower cost (Baqir, Learoyd, Sim, & Todd, ; Watson et al., ), and growing evidence that pharmacies can feasibly and appropriately improve access to treatment in particular for low‐income groups (Rafferty, Yaghoubi, Taylor, & Farag, ), suggest that community pharmacies have a place in the healthcare system for providing primary healthcare for certain common, self‐limiting or uncomplicated conditions efficiently and at scale (Bell, Dziekan, Pollack, & Mahachai, ; Curley et al., ; Watson et al., ), although uptake of services remains low and suggests that lack of awareness among patients may restrict the impact on health systems of community pharmacy services (Eades, Ferguson, & O'Carroll, ; Saramunee et al., ).…”

Economic Outcomes of Pharmacist Prescribing Total Parenteral Nutrition at Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia

“…The total annual estimated cost avoidance of pharmacist prescribing TPN services for neonates was (5,109.33 USD) and with a discount of Table 2). The total annual estimated cost avoidance of pharmacist providing TPN services for pediatrics was (11,817.09 USD) and with a discount of 10-20%, it was (10,635.38-9453.67 USD). The total annual estimated cost avoidance of pharmacist providing TPN services per hospital for pediatrics was (24,225.05 USD) and with a discount of 10-20%, it was (21,802.55-19,380.04 USD), whereas monthly estimated cost avoid-ance was (1,053.26 USD) and with a discount of 10-20%, it was (947.93-842.61 USD) ( Table 3).…”

“…A previous study reported lower costs than that of this study. 11 This might be because TPN services were newly established with pharmacist as the prescriber. The estimated cost avoidance of pharmacist prescribing TPN was underestimated because most of the cost avoidance was recorded for the personal cost, which is related to salary only.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] However, the economic impact of the pharmacist prescribing TPN rarely investigated in practice 5,10 Few studies have investigated the role of the pharmacist in prescribing TPN with their impact and benefits. 6,7,11 To the best of our knowledge, there is no study about the cost avoidance by pharmacist prescribing and providing TPN services which has been published in Saudi Arabia, or the Gulf, or in the Middle Eastern countries. 11 Moreover, very few the international investigation discussed the topic.…”

“…6,7,11 To the best of our knowledge, there is no study about the cost avoidance by pharmacist prescribing and providing TPN services which has been published in Saudi Arabia, or the Gulf, or in the Middle Eastern countries. 11 Moreover, very few the international investigation discussed the topic. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to estimate economic outcomes and cost avoidance of pharmacist prescribing TPN in the KSA.…”