If you take more than a handful of medications every day, you have probably wondered whether they all still make sense together. A medication review is a sit-down appointment with your pharmacist where you go through everything you take, prescription and otherwise, to make sure nothing is working against you. At Acme Drug Mart in Meadowlark, Edmonton, we conduct these reviews year-round at no cost to eligible patients.
What is a medication review?
A medication review, sometimes called a MedsCheck, is a structured assessment of every medication, supplement, and over-the-counter product you use. It is not the quick conversation that happens when you pick up a refill. It is a dedicated appointment, typically 20 to 30 minutes in a private consultation room, where your pharmacist examines your full medication picture.
The goal is straightforward: make sure each medication is still necessary, dosed correctly, not interacting with anything else, and actually working for you. Alberta pharmacists are authorized to conduct comprehensive medication reviews under their scope of practice, and Alberta Health Services covers the cost for eligible patients.
Who benefits most from a medication review?
Any patient can request a review, but certain situations make one especially valuable:
- Seniors taking five or more medications: the more medications you take, the higher the risk of harmful interactions or unnecessary duplicates
- Anyone with a new diagnosis: starting treatment for diabetes, high blood pressure, or another chronic condition changes how your existing medications interact
- Post-hospital discharge: hospital stays often result in medication changes that need to be reconciled with what you were taking before admission
- Patients experiencing side effects: persistent fatigue, dizziness, stomach trouble, or other symptoms may be caused by a medication interaction rather than the condition itself
- Anyone who has not had a review in over a year: even stable regimens should be reassessed annually as your body and health evolve
What actually happens during the review
Here is what to expect when you book a medication review at our Edmonton pharmacy:
1. The full medication list
We start by documenting everything you take. Prescription medications, over-the-counter products like ibuprofen or antacids, vitamins, herbal supplements, eye drops, inhalers, creams. If you put it in or on your body for a health reason, we want to know about it. This is the "brown bag" approach: bring all your bottles, boxes, and blister packs so nothing gets missed.
2. Drug interaction check
We cross-reference every product against every other product on your list. Some interactions are well-known, like blood thinners and certain pain relievers. Others are less obvious, like calcium supplements reducing the absorption of thyroid medication, or grapefruit juice affecting cholesterol drugs. We flag anything that needs attention.
3. Dosing optimization
Doses that made sense when you were first prescribed a medication may no longer be appropriate. Weight changes, aging kidneys, new diagnoses, or added medications can all shift what dose works best. We assess whether each dose is still right for you today.
4. Adherence challenges
If you are skipping doses, cutting pills, or taking medications at the wrong time, we want to know. These are not admissions of failure. They are practical problems with practical solutions: simpler schedules, combination products, blister packaging, or switching to a formulation that is easier to take.
5. Cost-saving alternatives
If a brand-name medication has a generic equivalent, or a newer drug in the same class costs less under your insurance plan, we identify the switch. Alberta pharmacists can make therapeutic substitutions and coordinate with your doctor to update the prescription. Many patients in Edmonton save hundreds of dollars a year through a single review.
How a review differs from a refill conversation
When you pick up a prescription, your pharmacist checks that specific medication for obvious issues. That takes a minute or two. A medication review is fundamentally different. It looks at your entire regimen as a system, not one drug in isolation. It is scheduled, unhurried, and private. We document findings and send a summary to your doctor with any recommendations for changes.
Think of it this way: a refill chat is checking the tire pressure on one wheel. A medication review is a full vehicle inspection.
Alberta Health Services covers the cost
Comprehensive medication reviews are a compensated pharmacy service under Alberta Health Services. For eligible patients, there is no out-of-pocket cost. Your pharmacist bills the province directly. You do not need a referral from your doctor, though we send them a copy of the review findings and any recommendations.
How often should you have a review?
For most patients, once a year is the standard recommendation. However, you should book a review sooner if:
- You have been discharged from the hospital or emergency department
- A new medication has been added to your regimen
- You have received a new diagnosis
- You are experiencing unexplained symptoms or side effects
- Your doctor has made significant changes to your treatment plan
The brown bag approach: bring everything
The single most important thing you can do before your review is gather every medication and health product you use. Put them all in a bag and bring them in. Pill bottles, vitamin containers, eye drops, inhalers, patches, creams, supplements you ordered online. We cannot review what we do not know about. Patients are often surprised when we find a product they forgot to mention that is interacting with something else on their list.
Book your medication review in Edmonton
Call us at (780) 443-0202 or walk in to Acme Drug Mart at Unit 103, 15508 87 Ave NW, Meadowlark Place, Edmonton. Bring your medications, your questions, and about 30 minutes. We will go through everything together and make sure your regimen is working for you, not against you.