Pharmacy Deserts on the Rise: Causes & Solutions to Access
online pharmacy customer service
If you’ve ever experienced a food desert—for example, driving a stretch of highway with few-and-far-between restaurants, or (far more critically) living in an area with extremely limited food options and a general lack of fresh food access—you know how frustrating they can be.
Actually, ‘frustrating’ may not be the word.
Food deserts can be extremely dangerous. Pharmacy deserts are a less-recognized but, potentially, equally dangerous phenomenon.
Pharmacy deserts can be defined as areas in which residents lack close, convenient access to a pharmacy. This can be a serious barrier to wellness for those who live or travel through these areas.
What do we know about pharmacy deserts? How many people are affected? And what, if anything, can we do to increase access to medication and pharmaceutical expertise for those most in need of this type of care?
Here’s what you need to know.
What, Exactly, Is a Pharmacy Desert?
Or, in other words: How far away from a pharmacy does one have to be to be considered within a desert?
Generally speaking, if residents of a neighborhood must travel more than one mile (in urban settings) or more than ten miles (in rural areas) to reach a pharmacy, they’re residents of a pharmacy desert.
These conditions are disproportionately found within low-income neighborhoods.
This can make it more challenging than necessary for people who may already be dealing with significant stressors to get the essential services and medications they need to feel their best.
Nearly 46% of counties in the United States—all 3,000+ of them!—have at least one pharmacy desert. This means that, within the nation, there are millions of people who are affected by these deserts.
Now, there are many reasons that pharmacy deserts exist.
For one, pharmacies are closing en masse due to rising operational costs and universal economic challenges. (This is, again, particularly the case for smaller independent pharmacies serving disadvantaged communities).
Did you know? According to surveys conducted by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), almost one third of independent pharmacies risk closure in the near future.
There are many reasons for this, but low reimbursement rates from insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers—more on them later—are making it extremely tough for small or non-chain pharmacies to survive.
Why Are Pharmacy Deserts on the Rise?
On one level, it’s simple: More pharmacies are closing, which necessarily translates to less access.
On another level, the factors fueling pharmacy deserts are quite complex.
Here are just a few specifics:
As we noted above, financial instability within the pharmacy industry is leading to many, many pharmacy bankruptcies and subsequent closures.
Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are professionals who act as intermediaries between pharmacies, drug manufacturers, and insurance companies.
They control insurance reimbursements and can make big decisions (like favoring some pharmacy networks over others).
This can have a huge impact on pharmacies and the communities they serve.
There are also socioeconomic barriers that may create experiential pharmacy deserts in places where, by a strict and objective standard, a desert may not exist—e.g., a neighborhood in which there is technically a local pharmacy, but many residents lack access to reliable transportation so they can go visit it; or, conversely, where a local pharmacy does exist but is so strained and under-resourced that residents would have to find an alternative anyway.
The Many Impacts of Pharmacy Deserts on Health and Well-Being
Pharmacy deserts have real, measurable, and serious consequences for public health.
We see it in the research: Studies show us that people who live in pharmacy deserts go to the emergency room more often and experience more preventable hospitalizations than people who have convenient access to pharmacies.
Why?
Pharmacies offer people a direct line to approachable health experts and preventative care.
Both of these resources make it simpler to identify health issues and treat them before they become extremely dangerous.
These consequences affect both individuals and entire communities. For example:
- Pharmacy deserts lead to increased healthcare costs because of those more frequent emergency room visits.
- Pharmacy deserts lead to lower medication adherence rates—especially for vulnerable populations, or those managing chronic conditions—which tends to lead to markedly worse healthcare outcomes.
- Because of those and other factors, pharmacy deserts lead to a lower quality of life (more stress! more symptoms!) and even a lower life expectancy in affected areas.
Let’s take a closer look at one of the main reasons pharmacy deserts tend to form.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers: A Key Driver of Pharmacy Deserts
Pharmacy benefit managers—PBMs—are intermediaries between health insurance companies and pharmacies. They’re becoming a more common fixture in the industry.
Today, they manage prescription drug benefits for the vast majority of Americans. (PBMs control prescription benefits for over 260 million Americans.)
PBMs are the professionals who determine reimbursement rates for pharmacies, or, essentially, how much pharmacies get paid for dispensing drugs. This contributes significantly to a pharmacy’s profit margin and ability to stay in business.
Unfortunately, many PBMs prioritize ideal reimbursement rates for larger chain pharmacies, instead of preferring the smaller independent ones.
In addition to this, there are some PBMs who prioritize their own individual profit over the funds they use to reimburse to pharmacies.
This results in closures of the types of pharmacies more often found in low-income, rural areas.
Socioeconomic Impact: Pharmacy Deserts and Low-Income Neighborhoods
Pharmacy deserts impact communities of color and low-income neighborhoods at disproportionately high rates.
One analysis found over 80% of Black and Hispanic residents in the country live in areas where pharmacy deserts are more common.
Because of the higher healthcare costs, lower medication adherence, and worsening healthcare outcomes that correlate with pharmacy deserts, these communities tend to be stressed, strained, and less healthy than is favorable or fair.
Individuals living in pharmacy deserts have higher rates of preventable health issues, such as diabetes complications and cardiovascular events.
But that’s not all. Specific health impacts associated with living in a pharmacy desert can include:
More ER visits and preventable hospitalizations.
When patients don’t have easy access to a pharmacy or practical healthcare resources, patients may decide to go to the ER (or wait until they require hospitalization) to fix issues that probably would have been manageable with consistent medication.
More complications arising from chronic diseases. Conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma can be simple to live with if a patient has high-quality medications and they take their meds consistently.
In a pharmacy desert, that may not be possible—which can lead to not only worsening conditions but conditions that start manifesting other symptoms and subsequent issues.
More strain on existing community health services. Particularly in rural areas, pharmacies are critical public health hubs that offer not only medication but basic health screenings and vaccines.
When these pharmacies no longer exist, other community fixtures need to tackle these essential offerings, possibly without adequate resources to do so.
This is only the beginning.
When patients receive a prescription medication from their healthcare team, their doctor may provide comprehensive information about how to take that medication (and interactions, medication management strategies, and potential side effects to look out for).
They also may not. That patient may be on their own.
That is where an expert pharmacist comes in. When dispensing critical medications, pharmacists can dispense helpful guidance, too.
Without pharmacies, that support vanishes—which, in turn, supports reduced health outcomes.
Innovative Solutions to Address Pharmacy Deserts
This is a big problem. Fortunately, there’s already been a good amount of work done to combat it.
Technology-based services, mobile health units, and online and international and Canada’s pharmacy websites aim to increase the accessibility of critical medications and support the informational needs of those who live in pharmacy deserts.
Telepharmacy Services and Pharmacy Deserts
Telepharmacy services represent one way that people in underserved areas can connect with licensed pharmacists.
By booking a telepharmacy appointment, patients can get the guidance they need to understand and take their prescriptions.
Patients can request medication refills, ship medications, and ask any questions needed of their pharmacists through a phone or video call.
Of course, this option does require reliable, high-speed internet access to avoid dropped calls—and it may not do much to allay the high cost of high-quality prescription medications.
Online Pharmacies and Pharmacy Deserts
Did you know that you can buy authentic prescription medications safely (and affordably!) online?
Of course, you do need to be careful about where you place your purchases.
If you’re able to find a certified online pharmacy website that provides reliably low prices on thousands of prescription medications, though, it doesn’t matter if you live in a pharmacy desert or not—you’ll be able to ship your required meds directly to your front door.
Online and mail-order pharmacies can be a great way for many patients, including those who live in rural areas or who have chronic conditions, to get the care they need without worrying about traveling to a brick-and-mortar pharmacy.
Community Health Clinics and Pharmacy Deserts
While underserved neighborhoods may not have an expansive hospital or several pharmacies, some may have community health clinics.
These clinics can offer patients a way to seek healthcare, request consultations, undergo screenings, and even get some pharmacy services all in one place.
The depth of services may not be comparable to a full-fledged pharmacy, but as a “health hub” of sorts, these community health clinics can be incredibly important as a first line of care for underserved communities.
Unfortunately, funding for these types of clinics can be limited, which makes them an important part of the solution to pharmacy deserts—likely not the full solution itself.
Online Pharmacies: A Reliable Solution for Pharmacy Deserts
Online pharmacies can be a very convenient solution for people living in pharmacy deserts.
Online and international pharmacy, including Canadian online pharmacy websites, can be all that and a way for people in the United States, no matter where they live, to benefit from the low prices on prescriptions often available in other countries.
Accessible from anywhere with internet access, Canadian internet pharmacies and some international ones make it easy to access a broad range of medications—everything from prescription inhalers to cancer medication and beyond—while enjoying the convenience of online shopping.
Even better: It’s not complicated to enjoy the privacy and low savings of international and online pharmacies.
Once your licensed healthcare provider issues you with a valid, updated prescription for the medications you need, send that prescription to the online and international pharmacy of your choice.
From there, buying your required medication can be as simple as navigating to the medication page, selecting your dosage from a drop-down menu, clicking “add to cart,” and then completing a safe and secure payment process.
Choosing a Trusted Online Pharmacy
Here’s the thing: Not all online and international pharmacy websites are created equal.
While there are safe, accredited pharmacies out there that will help you find and afford high-quality meds, there are also websites that won’t give you that level of service.
Fortunately, there’s a quick and easy way to make sure you’re selecting an online pharmacy website you can trust.
Look for CIPA-certified (Canadian International Pharmacy Association) pharmacies, which adhere to high standards of quality and patient care.
Another good way to determine if your chosen pharmacy is worth purchasing from is to take a look at verified customer reviews. (Check out these online pharmacy reviews from the hundreds of satisfied customers of NorthWestPharmacy.com!)
Interested in finding a reliable way to take control of your health without the hassle of traveling to a physical pharmacy?
Good news—NorthWestPharmacy.com is here to help.
Visit our site to explore medications and healthcare products at competitive prices.
Have questions?
Our friendly, knowledgeable customer service team and licensed pharmacists are ready to assist with anything you need. We’re here to support your health journey every step of the way!
