BY ADELLE LARMOUR

Sault Ste. Marie pharmacist, Marisa De Rubeis, has been honoured as “Pharmacist of the Year” by the Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA).

De Rubeis was recognized for her contributions to fellow health-care professionals, the profession itself and to her community.

Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, De Rubeis works at the Group Health Centre, an ambulatory care health organization that serves more than 60,000 clients.

One of four female siblings, she was influenced to join the profession by her older sister and father, both of whom are also pharmacists.

De Rubeis is no stranger to the Group Health Centre, where she began working at the age of 15. Over time, she trained as a lab technician and now works there in a professional capacity since completing her doctorate in 2005.

Described as a young, energetic pharmacist and a great ambassador for the profession, the 29-year-old has been a tireless proponent of what a pharmacist can do in collaboration with other professionals to provide patient care, said OPA CEO Dennis Darby.

“She is an incredible advocate of how a pharmacist can be part of a primary care team to help provide patient care in a way that is consistent with where we are trying to go with the profession,” he said.

In addition to her daily work, De Rubeis is employed by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and lectures to medical students at Sault Area Hospital and the Group Health Centre.

She also promotes health care within the community through presentations to both health-care professionals and the general public. De Rubeis has Certified Asthma and Respiratory Educator qualifications (CAE and CRE) and often provides information sessions on asthma, as well as other topics like vitamins, over-the-counter medicines, heart medications and diabetes.

EMRExtra

De Rubeis has made a significant contribution to EMRxtra, a $3.5 million initiative inspired by Algoma District Medical Group family physician Dr. Lewis O’Brien and pharmacist Ron Deluco. De Rubeis was one of the lead pharmacists on the project’s steering committee. A first-of-its-kind study, it aimed to reduce medication errors, increase collaboration between pharmacists and physicians, and improve patient care in Sault Ste. Marie by giving pharmacists access to clinical information about patients electronically. The project was supported by the OPA and Canada Health Infoway, a federal not-for-profit agency.

The Group Health Centre’s use of electronic medical records enabled pharmacists to gain access to between 300 and 400 records of consenting cardiac patients within the community. Twenty-three of the 24 local pharmacies participated in the study.

“Traditionally and even currently, pharmacists have practiced outside of that circle of care,” De Rubeis said. “We never had access to those records, so we don’t always have the full picture.”

De Rubeis said it was more of an uptake and adoption study to see how pharmacists and physicians adapted it into their regular workflow.

“There are a lot of pharmacists out there who want to participate in that circle of care and help improve chronic disease management,” she said, adding that it streamlined work flow and reduced phone calls and faxes.

Deemed a showpiece for the way health care should be delivered in the country, the study closed in February 2008. De Rubeis said members of the study team received a lot of phone calls from interested pharmacists across Canada, indicating its future potential as a viable model for health care delivery. The committee is now looking to extend the project another four months to identify all of the barriers to implementation and to acquire more patients.

De Rubeis is also a strong proponent of improving medication management for patients and helping them understand their conditions, what the medications do and why they are taking them.

“If I can educate patients, then they’ll be better able to manage their own condition,” she said.

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