Alberta College Approves Amended Virtual Care Standards of Practice

On June 24, Neighbourhood Pharmacies learned that the Alberta College of Pharmacy Council had approved revised Standards of Practice for Virtual Care. We are pleased to announce that, information by our consultation and feedback from our Members, the amendments provide pharmacies and their teams the agency to use their professional judgement and work collaboratively with patients to determine the most effective method of providing care.  The revised standards also support pharmacy care and services that may be delivered to patients out of province, as was also recommended in our submission.  We applaud the College's forward-thinking approach to allow regulated pharmacy professionals and pharmacies in Alberta to embrace new avenue to deliver safe and effective care to patients in their communities.  We are delighted with the outcomes resulting from our collective and aligned advocacy on this issue, which we know is being closely watched by other jurisdictions as a potential precedent for the delivery of virtual care through community pharmacy.