Face to Face: Preparing for change

Dennis Darby, chief executive officer for the Ontario Pharmacists’ Association, explained that under Bill 179 Ontario pharmacists would soon be able to extend, adapt or adjust existing medications for patients, administer immunizations and treat minor skin injuries, such as contact dermatitis. Pharmacists in Alberta and British Columbia already provide some or all of these services.

The goal of the bill is to create patient-centered care and harness the under-utilized skills of pharmacists. The main concern for employers is who will pay for the additional services. Darby explained that the current challenge is determining exactly what those services are and the cost of them. Once that is known, employers will be able to explore how, or if, compensation for such services will be provided by plans or by the public sector.

David West with Mercer Canada discussed the lack of transparency in generic drug pricing. He explained that the passing of Bill 102 in 2006, known as the Transparent Drug System for Patients Act, has had the unintended consequence of shifting costs from the public to the private sector. He suggested that employers “should consider alternative benefit plan managers with better cost management, a preferred provider network of pharmacies or plan design changes that include negotiated discounts back to the plan for use of name brand drugs.”

Dr. Sam Ozersky, chief executive officer of Mensante Corporation, explored some common misunderstandings around mental health drug claims. He stressed that rising drug costs are not necessarily a bad thing provided they are correctly treating a patient’s condition. After all, money spent on medication early on has the potential to prevent short- and long-term disability costs later.

The final session was a panel discussion that focused on the need for all pharmacy benefits stakeholders to work together to meet the needs of employees. Paul Foley, director of Pharmacy Private Health, strongly believes that increased government pricing regulation is not the way to provide transparency in the pharmacy system. Suzanne Lepage, a private health plan strategist, added that stakeholders should not look to the government to provide answers.

“Our business is so complex and the government may not be able to fully appreciate that. We are the ones that can make the best decisions for our industry; we just have to work together,” she said.

Dave Jones, vice-president, market development, group benefits with Sun Life Financial suggested the focus must be on employees. “But work is needed to understand each other’s perspective on what helping the customer means, so we can all optimize our business.”

Bill Redden, senior director of pharmacy services with Lawtons/Sobeys Pharmacy Group agreed. “We’re working together and our outcomes are important, but we also need to remember to focus on the patient’s outcomes too.”

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