There is a growing need to adapt healthcare delivery models to match the evolving healthcare landscape, where patients are living longer with intricate needs. An underutilization of pharmacists despite their increasing role in patient care poses a pressing healthcare challenge in both Canada and the UK. That necessitates a practical approach that harnesses the expertise of pharmacists and integrates cutting-edge technologies.
In a compelling opinion article, Hector Bremner, CEO of Avricore Health (TSX-V:AVCR, OTC:AVCRF), sheds light on a new point-of-care testing system, HealthTab, and highlights its potential to empower pharmacists, enhance patient engagement, and reduce strain on traditional healthcare systems. Bremner expands on the opportune moment for this transformative approach to healthcare delivery, leveraging expanded roles for pharmacists and advancements in healthcare technology to ensure accessible and efficient healthcare for all.
According to the Canadian Pharmacists Association, your local pharmacist is doing more for patients today; however, they are still underutilized. Also 6.5 million Canadians are currently without a family doctor and 50% of all Canadians are finding it difficult to access care.
And it’s not just Canada facing this challenge, as nearly 25% of Britain’s population could be without a family doctor in the years ahead, and today, that country’s hospitals are struggling to meet the growing demands being placed on the system.
So, what’s driving these trends, and how can they be addressed?
First, not only are we living longer, we’re living with more complex care needs driven by a high prevalence of chronic disease. For example, in the UK and Canada over one-third of the populations have diabetes or pre-diabetes. In America, over two-thirds of all deaths are caused by one or more of these five chronic diseases: heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes.
This is why Avricore Health (TSX-V:AVCR, OTC:AVCRF) is leading the charge to bring HealthTab, a turnkey point-of-care testing solution that combines best-in-class point-of-care technologies with a secure, cloud-based platform, to your local pharmacy.
Today, we are in nearly 700 pharmacies across Canada, thanks to partnerships with two of the nation’s largest pharmacy retailers, Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall Pharmacies. We are also expanding into the UK with a recently announced feasibility study with Barts Heart Centre and HEART UK.
With just a few drops of blood from a finger prick, HealthTab generates lab-accurate results on the spot via the Abbott Afinion 2 and data is reported in real time via our proprietary cloud-based platform. The test menu includes up to 23 key biomarkers for screening and managing chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease (e.g., HbA1c, Lipid Profile, eGFR). HealthTab has also recently added capabilities for bacterial and viral tests, such as strep and COVID-19 thanks to the Abbott ID Now.
The HealthTab network model is unlike anything in pharmacy today. It gives knowledgeable and trusted pharmacists a greater role in primary care delivery while empowering patients to take more control of their health. It also reduces public healthcare costs and waiting times, plus it provides many new revenue streams for pharmacies, such as direct access testing, disease prevention & management programs, sponsored health programs, decentralized clinical trials, real-world data (RWD) sets, and third-party app integration through API.
Supporting all this is the move by healthcare regulators to expand the scope of practice of the pharmacist. Until recently, despite extensive training, the pharmacist was largely limited to only providing advice related to medications, and even then, that advice had rigid guardrails attached. This meant patients could only see their family doctor or go to a walk-in clinic to ask basic questions to common minor ailments or receive routine care related to a chronic disease they’ve been diagnosed with.
A bottleneck was then created, as only about 20% of US medical graduates choose general practice, and approximately 30% in Canada. At London’s Imperial College, only 13% of students said they planned on entering primary care. On top of this, the general demographical trend of retirements outpacing replacements and the financial incentive to enter specialty medicine are compounding the challenge.
Therefore, after their stellar performance at delivering care, testing and vaccinations, pharmacists proved they were a logical solution to increasing access to care. And, given their retail nature, they are an ideal place to deliver low-barrier services, such as point-of-care screening, as they can quickly reach large numbers of under-served patients.
Also, many rural communities don’t even have a regular doctor near them, creating “healthcare deserts”; however, about two-thirds of Canadians can walk to a pharmacy from their home, 48% of Americans live near one, and in Britain, 96% can get to a pharmacy by walking or transit within 20 minutes!
With expanded scope for these trusted pharmacy professionals, convenient locations and advancements in healthcare technology, like HealthTab, the time for a new way to deliver care that patients need is here.
Find out more at www.avricore.com