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Table 1 Parameters table

From: Costs and savings associated with a pharmacists prescribing for minor ailments program in Saskatchewan

 Item (base case)

Base estimate

Reference

Pharmacy prescribing

 Number of pharmacy consultations in 2014

10,739

SK health department consultation data

 Pharmacists minor ailment consultation fee (Can$)

18

SK health department consultation data

 Average cost per prescription for minor ailment (Can$)

30.20a

SK health department consultation data

 Prescription payments by the Saskatchewan (SK) government (%)

0.46

National health expenditure database 2013

 Average cost of OTCs (Can$)

12

Expert opinion

 Number of pharmacists trained

1484

CPDPPb

 Training costs per pharmacists (Can$)

210

CPDPP

 Training costs per pharmacists (Can$)-online

156.7

CPDPP

 Annual training cost (Can$)

61,212

Calculated

 The wait-time and duration of a pharmacy consultation (hour)

0.28

[24]

 Average distance to pharmacy (km)

1.6

[39]

 Cost per km drive (Can$)

0.123

Calculated

 The value of an individual’s time per hour(Can$)

24.96

Statistics Canada [25]

 The value of an individual’s time per working day (Can$)

199.68

Statistics Canada [25]

Alternative scenarios

 PPMA program users who would have gone to bought OTC

43%

SK minor conditions survey

 PPMA program users who would have gone to the GP

35%

SK minor conditions survey

 PPMA program users who would have gone to the ER

03%

SK minor conditions survey

 Cost of GP visit (Can$)

66.4

[22]

 Cost of ER visit (Can$)

138

[23]

 The wait time and duration of a GP consultation (hour)

1.75

Expert opinion

 The wait time and duration of a ER visit (hour)

4.6

[38]

 Average distance to GP (km)

3.2

[39]

 Average distance to ER (km)

24.8

[39]

  1. Markup fee a pharmacy mark-up refers to any additional amount a pharmacist may charge for a drug, above the original drug cost. The mark-up is applied to help pay for the costs of running the pharmacy, this fee calculated based on percentage of drug price which varies between 10 and 30% as following: 30% for drug cost up to $6.30; 15% for drug cost between $6.31 and $15.80; 10% for drug cost of $15.81 to $200.00, and a maximum mark-up of $20.00 for drug cost over $200.00 [58]
  2. Dispensing fees this fee covers services such as: talking about your treatment with you, maintaining and checking your medication records and providing drug information to your doctors. The maximum dispensing fee is $11.40 (effective September 1, 2015) [59]
  3. aAverage cost per prescription = Average price per medication + Markup per medication (%) + dispensing fees ($11.40)
  4. bContinuing professional development for pharmacy professionals