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Live Online Policy Forum

Let Pharmacists Prescribe

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Featuring
Ross Tsuyuki
Ross Tsuyuki

Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Alberta

Alex Adams
Alex J. Adams

Budget and Regulatory Chief, Idaho Office of the Governor, and former Executive Director, Idaho State Board of Pharmacy

Pharmacists have sufficient training to autonomously prescribe medications to prevent or treat many medical conditions. But states generally require patients to obtain a doctor’s prescription before purchasing pharmaceuticals. This restriction drives up health care costs and unnecessarily inconveniences patients, often when they are in distress. Canadian provinces, by contrast, give pharmacists a wide scope for prescribing pharmaceuticals, as Ross Tsuyuki will discuss. Alex Adams will explain recent pharmacist scope of practice reform in Idaho, Colorado, and Montana; Marc Joffe will provide an overview of relevant federal and state policies; and Dr. Jeffrey Singer will offer policy recommendations that could improve the patient experience while reducing health care costs.

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