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Didsbury Value Drug Mart owner Brad Blatz is "nervous" and "concerned" about the overhaul of Alberta’s pharmacy strategy.

While Margaret Baril, pharmacist at Didsbury Pharmasave, has "always hoped this day would come."

As part of a multi-year overhaul of how pharmacies operate in this province, pharmacists will be paid for drug therapy consultations, managing prescriptions, inoculations and diagnoses – services they’ve always provided for free.

The changes will also reduce the price of new generic drugs to 45 per cent from 75 per cent of the cost of a brand name drug, beginning April 1. Existing generics will cost 56 per cent of the brand name.

According to government, the new pricing represents up to $100 million in potential savings for regular Albertans – but Blatz says the strategy could mean cash cuts for rural pharmacies, that get most of their revenue from prescriptions.

The government has allocated $75 million allowance on drugs to ease the way into the new strategy. That means pharmacists will receive $13.19 per prescription up from $10.19, starting April 1. Another five million is available for rural and remote pharmacies.

An allowance helps somewhat – but there could still be significant losses to pharmacies if they can’t recoup losses through reimbursements, Blatz said.

And government still hasn’t pinned down how they are going to pay pharmacists for services starting July 1.

"We haven’t seen the model on how this will work. We don’t know how much we are going to be reimbursed or whether the government even has a plan at this point," Blatz said.

"If what they propose is practical, then this is excellent and something pharmacy has been advocating for, for a long, long time. But it all hinges on that reimbursement model," he said.

Some pharmacies – like the Hanna Value Drug Mart – unsure of how the Alberta Pharmaceutical Strategy will play out have already closed their doors or are looking to move to provinces where they can make a better profit, Blatz said.

He and his wife don’t have any plans to leave but say if cuts are too deep, it may mean scaling back hours of operation or staff at the local store. Margaret Baril, owner of Didsbury Pharmasave, isn’t as worried and says the changes to how pharmacies are run in the province are much needed.

"They are going to pay professionals for what they do and that’s exciting. Obviously it will mean a reduced income to pharmacies but it’s not as bad as it could have been and it’s encouraging for pharmacists to take on more," she said.

"We didn’t go to school for five years to just dispense drugs."

Baril is one of nearly 200 Alberta pharmacists involved with a pilot project called the Alberta Pharmacy Practice Models Initiative (PPMI) that wraps up March 31.

The program is looking at how pharmacists can shift from simply dispensing drugs to providing expanded care directly to patients.

Baril has been scheduling one-on-one appointments with patients to help plan medication and make sure patients are meeting their health targets. Her only concern of Alberta’s new strategy, is what will happen to her patients between the completion of the pilot and when pharmacists are paid for services in July.

"Am I just done until then? Can I be compensated for helping people during that transition period? I don’t know," she said.