ReadLinks

Mental Health and Well-Being During COVID-19

May 4 – 10 is Mental Health Week!

With so much going on, it’s important to pay attention to your mental health and take the necessary steps to ensure your well-being.

Addition of Antiretroviral Therapies in PharmaNet

Effective May 4, 2020, the dispensing pharmacies for the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDs Drug Treatment Program (BC-CfE) will begin entering antiretroviral (ARV) prescriptions in PharmaNet.

May 05, 2020

Reminder of the Importance of Patient Identification and Counselling, Including for Deliveries

The College would like to remind pharmacists of the importance of positively identifying patients and ensuring that patients understand the medication they are taking and how to take it appropriately to optimize therapy, promote adherence and ensure safety.

Apr 21, 2020

Registrar's Message: We're in this Together

We are living in unprecedented times. As our health system continues to restructure itself in response to COVID-19, I want to take this opportunity to recognize all of BC’s pharmacy professionals for your unwavering commitment to the people of British Columbia.

Apr 16, 2020

Articles

Guest Post: Invisible Barriers - Providing an Inclusive Experience for 2SLGBTQ+ Patients

The population of Canadians who openly identify as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community is on the rise. According to the Province of British Columbia, 1 in 5 BC teenagers identify as something other than heterosexual. However, 2SLGBTQ+ peoples still experience significant barriers with regards to health care access. In light of this, the health care community has been seeking to standardize inclusive policies and practices.

Guest Post: Have Your Say on Epilepsy Research

EpLink is requesting input from BC pharmacists to help shape a national epilepsy research agenda

Guest Post: UBC CPPD Pharmacy Update 2020 Conference

This year UBC’s Continuing Pharmacy Professional Development (CPPD) celebrates its 31st annual Update Conference.

This CPPD Conference will allow pharmacy professionals and all health care providers to enhance and update their knowledge and skills. In doing so, attendees will be able to improve patient care, medication management, and public safety.

PODSA Modernization: Bylaw Amendments Coming Soon

Amendments to modernize the College’s bylaws under the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act come into effect on January 16, 2020.

PRP Insights: Updating a Patient’s Allergies, Adverse Drug Reactions and Intolerances in a Hospital Setting

During hospital Pharmacy Practice Reviews, Compliance Officers have observed registrants processing medication orders prior to ensuring that the patient profile was up-to-date. As pharmacists rely on the information in the patient record to assess the appropriateness and safety of medications, maintaining an up-to-date and accurate patient profile is critical for the safe delivery of drug therapy.

What We Heard: 2019 Customer Satisfaction Survey

From October 25 – November 22, 2019, the College hosted its second-annual Customer Satisfaction Survey to collect feedback on our performance from our external stakeholders.

Here's what we heard.

The College's Next Strategic Plan

With 2020 and the launch of our next Strategic Plan approaching, the College has been hard at work drafting its strategic goals for the next five years of pharmacy practice in British Columbia.

Providing Care for OAT Patients Over the Holidays

With the holidays approaching and many pharmacies adopting shortened holiday hours, it is important for pharmacists to ensure that they are able to accommodate the dosing schedules of patients receiving Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT).

New Safety Measures for Codeine Liquid Preparations in Effect on January 2, 2020

Starting January 2, 2020, prescriptions for certain codeine containing liquid preparations will require a Controlled Prescription Program duplicate prescription form. As with all Controlled Prescription Program drugs, these preparations must also be stored in a time-delay safe.

BC Take Home Naloxone (THN) program update: evaluation of the expansion into community pharmacies

Since 2012, a total of 181,800 kits have been reported as distributed by Take Home Naloxone (THN) sites in British Columbia (BC). Of those, more than 50,000 kits have been used to reverse an overdose.

PRP Insights - Residential Care

Pharmacy care for residential care patients is essential to our health care system and the well-being of our aging population. As the senior population size, medical complexities and number of transitions between levels of care increase, so does the probability of medication incidents and the potential for ill effects.

As a relatively new component of the Practice Review Program, Compliance Officers would like to share some of their early findings in areas where non-compliance has been observed for residential care services.