Shoppers Drug Mart's new physician portal marks first of its kind in Canada
TORONTO — Shoppers Drug Mart has announced the launch of the Shoppers Health Care Portal, a website designed to provide Canadian healthcare professionals with access to drug reimbursement information and clinical tools with the goal of improving patient care.
The first of its kind in Canada, the Shoppers Health Care Portal is a Web-based application available to physicians, nurse practitioners and registered nurses. The portal will give registered users access to drug coverage reimbursement and clinical eligibility criteria for more than 200 special authorization medications, as well as patient assistant program information.
"As a patient-focused organization, Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix is dedicated to making health information and services available to the communities we serve," stated Dorian Lo, EVP pharmacy and health care. "The Shoppers Health Care Portal will help to provide physicians and extended healthcare teams with key reimbursement information and requirements needed to ensure their patients receive the most appropriate medications for their condition."
In addition to drug coverage information, registered users also will have access to the British Medical Journal's Clinical Assessment Tool Best Practice, which provides information on more than 10,000 conditions, Lexi-CALC medical calculators, the Lexi-Interact drug interaction database, printable patient handouts by condition, links to allied health resources and more.
"Drug reimbursement guidelines can be complicated and can require lengthy interpretation and advocacy for patients who require medications that are subject to restrictions," added John Esdaile, scientific director of the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada and professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia. "The introduction of this portal provides improved access to the information and resources needed to determine the clinical and reimbursement requirements that should result in a greater number of Canadians receiving optimal treatment at an affordable cost."
"There are significant gaps in treatment and care for people living with arthritis," stated Cheryl Koehn, founder and president of Arthritis Consumer Experts and Joint Health. "One of these gaps lies in the lack of clarity and information provided to the patient required for appropriate reimbursement for prescription medications related to the treatment of the disease. The launch of this portal will give physicians the information they need at their fingertips to help their patients with medication reimbursement, which will ultimately lead to improved patient care and health outcomes."