Pharmacies teaming up with AHS to provide better care for high-risk patients
RxEACH program helps pharmacists identify patients at risk of developing cardiovascular disease
Albertans at risk of cardiovascular diseases have some new resources to turn to.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) is working with local pharmacies to identify risk and help with treatment.
"Most people at risk for heart attack and stroke have no symptoms, and don’t realize they’re at risk until they have an event like a heart attack," says AHS's Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn, "Pharmacists can identify high risk patients who might otherwise fall through the cracks."
Forty-five pharmacies across Alberta are participating in the Alberta Vascular Risk Reduction Community Pharmacy Project (RxEACH), enrolling people that are at high risk.
"For us, what we're going to be doing is looking at you as a whole. We're going to look at the patient and say, 'What are your risk factors? What could we be more preventative with?" said Sheilah Kostecki, a pharmacist at the Safeway in Glamorgan. "We'll look up the medication still, and do interactions, you look for things like dosages that are not correct."
RxEACH goal
The goal is to sign up 1,200 patients and 500 of those are already in the system.
Lucy Love has had type 2 diabetes for 15 years. She says working with her pharmacist has made her life easier.
"No matter how complicated your case is — like my case — she always seems to come up with something a little bit newer, like a little tweak," she said.
The patients are divided into two groups — one gets the new pharmacist-based care and the other gets usual care from a doctor over a three-month period. People in the pharmacist-care group get a comprehensive assessment then both groups are assessed after three months to evaluate the reduction in risk.
Researchers will then determine which system works better.
The project is geared towards people with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high body weight, low physical activity, or want to quit smoking. AHS says anyone who falls into one of these categories should consider talking to a pharmacist to see if the program might work for them.
For more information on how to participate and for a list of participating pharmacies, visit the AHS website.