COVER: THE INNOVATORS
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any pharmacists would prefer not to spend time figuring out third party drug coverage for patients. But at Specialty Rx Solutions and SRx Pharmacies, helping patients get reimbursed for prescription medications is part of the comprehensive services targeted at improving outcomes for patients with chronic diseases. The new and growing national pharmacy chain was launched about five years ago when Adesh A. Vora looked at various specialty areas of patient care and realized there were many gaps in providing exceptional pharmaceutical care. “Marginalized patients and those who are chronically ill are often non-compliant with their drug treatments and require more attention and care,” he says. “Retail pharmacy can be a very demanding workplace for pharmacists where volume has become the priority over patient care,” he adds. “But we feel we have created a model that allows us the time needed to support those patients in need with better outcomes. Pharmaceutical companies are now interested in partnering with us to deliver unique new drugs that require that extra attention to details.” By now, Vora, who is president and CEO of the new chain, has opened pharmacies in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan under the name SRx Pharmacy. In Ontario, there are now six SpecialtyRx Solutions Pharmacies with more slated to open soon.
“Our objective is to make sure our patients on prescription medications receive all the support they need for a successful treatment outcome.”
SPECIALTY PHARMACIES FOCUS ON PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC DISEASES BY SONYA FELIX • PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLIN WAY Calgary SRx Pharmacy Team (ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT) Sonal Raythatha, clinical Pharmacist; Brittany Larmand, pharmacy technician; Betty Lau, pharmacy technician; Robyn Fulton, clinical Pharmacist and Stephanie Gysel, clinical Pharmacist, pharmacy Manager
Heading east, he recently opened a Spécialite Rx Solutions in Quebec and plans to expand further east in the near future. Filling care gaps With the focus on chronic disease management, pharmacy staff identify gaps in care and do what they can to fill those gaps, says Stephanie
Gysel, pharmacy manager of SRx Pharmacy in Calgary, which opened in 2016. Pharmacists and registered pharmacy technicians, who perform the final check on prescriptions and engage in sterile and non-sterile compounding, practice to their full scope to provide the best possible patient care. “Every single patient at our
pharmacy, whether filling a prescription for a specialty medication or simply an antibiotic, gets the same high level of care,” says Gysel. “We only get paid for the services we can charge the province, but we feel it is the right thing to do.” The model Vora devised for helping Canadians with chronic diseases stresses collaboration with other healthcare professionals. His executive team includes a nurse practitioner and a registered nurse. “If we do not work in better collaboration with doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers, combine the synergies of various healthcare providers, we collectively as a team are failing the patient,” he explains. The company’s collaborative goals include increasing efficiencies, reducing errors and discrepancies in the current healthcare system, and providing access to a topnotch panel of consultants. At the Calgary SRx Pharmacy, the pharmacy team works collaboratively
[Vol.6 No.6] JULY/AUGUST 2019
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