Over the past few decades, the role and scope of pharmacists in Canada has broadened to provide a more effective platform upon which to contribute to outcomes-driven medication management. Community pharmacists are among the most accessible health care providers within the community-based health care system and have offered a growing list of professional pharmacy services as a consequence of professional evolution. Since 2007, the government of Ontario has leveraged community pharmacist expertise in medication management by introducing and remunerating community pharmacies for the following professional pharmacist services:

  • MedsCheck programs (Annual, Diabetes, Home, Long-Term Care);
  • Pharmaceutical Opinion program;
  • Pharmacy smoking cessation program; and
  • Administering influenza immunizations

The OPEN Interactive Atlas of Professional Pharmacist Services provides summaries of trends and regional differences in indicators of health or health care delivery by visualizing the delivery of pharmacy services across the province.

Three main indicators were chosen and are represented in the interactive tool as distinct tabs for each service.

  1. Trends: trends in number of monthly claims (including by region, type of service and outcome).
  2. Age and Sex: crude counts and rates by age-group and sex.
  3. Maps: choropleth maps representing regional summaries of standardized rates.

Interactive Atlas of Professional Pharmacist Services