Researchers tell N.B. government pharmacists could save healthcare system $445M over 30 years

Representatives from the Epidemiology Co-ordinating and Research Centre in Alberta and Hypertension Canada told a group of New Brunswick cabinet ministers how the provincial government could save $445 million off its healthcare budget over the next three decades. The researchers say by allowing pharmacists to diagnose and manage patients with high blood pressure, it would significantly reduce the number of patients with more serious chronic ailments like stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. They recommend New Brunswick adopt Alberta's scope of practice, for which permits pharmacists to dispense hypertension medications without a doctor's prescription.