Virtual doctor appointments for patients through pharmacies in Sault Ste. Marie are not going to fade away.
In fact, one Sault pharmacist says some good news is on the horizon for the troubled Ontario health-care system as pharmacists will be allowed to prescribe medications for some minor medical conditions in the New Year.
Frank Perna, pharmacist and part owner of Queenstown I.D.A. Drug Mart, spoke to SooToday on Tuesday regarding concerns over a letter to the editor from a local pharmacist published on Dec. 1.
Though the letter to the editor stated that “the Ontario government is cutting pay to doctors offering their services online by 80 per cent, despite those services being the same as in-person physicians” and that “there will be a $12 fee per visit to the clinic,” Perna said that there will be no such fee at four Sault I.D.A. pharmacies located at Queenstown I.D.A. Drug Mart, The Shoppes on TransCanada, Market Mall I.D.A. Pharmacy and Urban Square Drug Mart.
Perna said that while it is true that the province is cutting pay to doctors offering their services online by 80 per cent, he emphasized that local I.D.A. pharmacies will not be charging patients $12 per virtual doctor appointment.
The letter to the editor expressed concerns that the $12 fee might close the Eastend Walk-in Clinic, driving even more patients to the already crowded Sault Area Hospital emergency department.
“Our number one mandate at the clinic is to take the burden off the emergency room at the hospital,” Perna said.
“It’s not all gloom and doom.”
“We still have our clinics that are open. We still have our nurses on site, and appointments are free of charge. There’s no charge on anything that we’re doing as long as you have a valid health card,” Perna said.
“We pay for the doctor's service. The patient won’t pay $12 per visit. We’re taking the brunt of that. That fee won’t be transferred to the patient. They’re still going to be able to use our clinic just like they had before.”
“Come January; pharmacists will be able to prescribe some medications. People will never be left without medications,” Perna said.
A list of minor ailments for which pharmacists will be able to prescribe medications for beginning Jan. 1, 2023, includes:
- Allergic rhinitis
- Candidal stomatitis (oral thrush)
- Conjunctivitis (bacterial, allergic and viral)
- Dermatitis (atopic, eczema, allergic and contact)
- Dysmenorrhea
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Hemorrhoids
- Herpes labialis (cold sores)
- Impetigo
- Insect bites and urticaria (hives)
- Tick bites, post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent Lyme disease
- Musculoskeletal sprains and strains
- Urinary tract infections (uncomplicated)
“The dynamics in southern Ontario are different than the dynamics up here,” Perna said, referring to the reduction in pay for doctors’ virtual appointments.
“In southern Ontario, they were popping up on every street corner, so I think that’s what the government was trying to stop a little bit, but they don’t realize that we don’t have as many clinics here.”
“We’ll still be here. The nurses will still be here,” Perna said.
“We have about 20 doctors who rotate through the schedule, so there’s about five a day making multiple appointments,” said Amelia Chapman, a registered practical nurse who serves as clinical operations manager at Queenstown I.D.A. Drug Mart.
“These doctors will do follow-ups, so if they order testing for ultrasound and other diagnostic imaging or blood work, they will do a follow-up, so we have the ability to be able to pre-book someone with the same doctor to do a follow-up,” Chapman said.
Doctors available through Sault I.D.A. virtual appointments are associated with the Toronto-based Enhanced Care Clinic.
Patients may call Queenstown I.D.A. Drug Mart between 9 and 10:30 a.m. for a same-day telemedicine appointment, and I.D.A . also has the ability to pre-register patients for a next-day appointment or into the following week if necessary.
After making an appointment, those with laptops at home can see and hear a doctor on screen from their homes, while those without a laptop may have an appointment at Queenstown I.D.A. Drug Mart.
Pharmacists can not prescribe medication such as sleeping pills but they can extend medications such as high blood pressure pills for a week until a doctor can fill prescription needs.
“It makes absolutely zero sense to withhold a medication that somebody’s been on for 10 years and tell them to go to emerg. It would be burdening the health care system for absolutely nothing, and it’s our scope of practice now to extend those types of medication,” Perna said.
“It’s important to stress that patients are not going to be left out in the cold. We’ll extend their medications, we’ll help with whatever they need, and between the nurses and the doctors, there will be a solution.”
Virtual doctor appointments are valuable as there are still many Saultites without a family doctor, Perna said.
“I don't know what other pharmacists are doing, that’s their business, but here we're trying to lessen the burden on the patient.”