Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Medication related issues (such as unwanted side effects, drug interactions, too high or low of a dose, unnecessary drug, wrong drug, and improper way of using drugs) continue to be costly problems in our health care system. To help combat this, pharmacists are taking on bigger roles in prescribing drugs, giving injections, and thoroughly reviewing patients' medications. These services are called medication management. From September 2010 to January 2012, the British Columbia (BC) Ministry of Health and the BC Pharmacy Association launched a pilot project, the BC Medication Management Project (BCMMP), to improve patient care and sustainability of the health care system. This pilot project included 11,000 patients with 107,310 medical conditions and 139,869 medications. Our research aims to look at the impact of BCMMP on patient care, health care use and costs. These findings will help to assess the benefits of enhanced pharmacy services on patients' health and sustainability of health care services. Also, it will determine the benefits of expanding pharmacists' roles in health care delivery.