The healthcare system in many countries is stretched thin. To help relieve the pressure, governments are starting to allow pharmacists to treat a growing number of minor ailments. MedEssist’s technology platform is helping pharmacies transform into health clinics.
Healthcare IT Today got a brief demonstration of the MedEssist platform from Joella Almeida, CEO and Co-Founder at the Collision Conference. We also asked her about the expanding role of pharmacists in healthcare.
Pharmacies Are Already in the Community
“We are focused on helping independent pharmacies,” explained Almeida. “There’s one on every block in North America. Our platform can help them convert their pharmacies into a more traditional healthcare site.”
According to a 2022 report published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association there are almost 62,000 pharmacies in the US with 38,000 (61.5%) chains versus 23,500 (38.1%) regional franchises or independently owned pharmacies. That same report found that in metropolitan areas, 62.8% of the pharmacies were chains, but in rural areas 76.5% were franchises or independents.
Canada has 11,500 pharmacies with 64% chains, 21% independently owned and 15% embedded into food and mass merchandisers.
Pharmacies are well entrenched in local communities and for many in rural areas, the pharmacy is second only to the local hospital in importance as a health hub.
Leveraging Pharmacies More
In Canada, as the healthcare system continues to strain under increased demand, provincial policymakers across the country have begun to allow pharmacists to prescribe medications directly to patients for minor ailments. This means that patients do not have to first see a physician in order to get a prescription. They can bypass and go directly to their trusted local pharmacist.
For example, in January 2023, the Ontario government authorized pharmacists to treat 13 common ailments and renew prescriptions for most medications without requiring a patient to first visit with a physician. Pharmacists can how offer prescriptions for:
- hay fever (allergic rhinitis)
- oral thrush (candidal stomatitis)
- pink eye (conjunctivitis; bacterial, allergic and viral)
- dermatitis (atopic, eczema, allergic and contact)
- menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea)
- acid reflux (gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD))
- hemorrhoids
- cold sores (herpes labialis)
- impetigo
- insect bites and hives
- tick bites (post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent Lyme disease)
- sprains and strains (musculoskeletal)
- urinary tract infections (UTIs)
“In the first quarter of 2023, Ontario pharmacists treated 86,000 minor ailments,” stated Almeida. “That is a significant diversion of patients away from ERs and physician offices who can focus on patients with more complex and acute needs. With too few resources to meet the demand, the more we can free up physicians, the better.”
MedEssist Makes it Easy
The MedEssist technology platform is like a scaled-down simplified EHR for pharmacists who can use it when treating patients for these minor ailments. The platform also offers digital front-door capabilities so that pharmacies can offer convenient online booking of appointments without having to completely revamp their websites.
“MedEssist was a Google for Startups alumni last quarter,” shared Almeida. “This program gave us access world-class engineering talent which we combined with our team of practicing pharmacists to create a very seamless and usable platform.”
Almeida and the team at MedEssist are working hard to avoid repeating the problems experienced by early EHRs for physicians. They are doing everything they can to ensure their platform integrates into the existing workflow of pharmacists and makes their day easier.
Watch the interview with Joella Almeida to learn:
- Why pharmacists are not a threat to family physicians
- What other jurisdictions are allowing pharmacists to treat minor ailments
- How the MedEssist platform works for a typical minor ailment
Learn more about MedEssist at https://www.medessist.com/
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Disclosure: Colin Hung advises MedEssist through ventureLAB, a non-profit Canadian innovation hub.
