For Immediate Release — Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wilson Health Information finds that most pharmacy customers are offered counseling services from their pharmacist and finds that Aurora and Fry’s pharmacists outperform in this initiative.
NEW HOPE, PA – May 14, 2008 Wilson Health Information, a leading consumer insight firm, finds that approximately 65% of all pharmacy customers said they were offered the opportunity to speak with the pharmacist when they purchased their last medication and only 19% said they actually did speak to the pharmacist. However, a number of factors impact the percentage who were offered such as the method used to fill prescriptions and the type of medication purchased (i.e., new versus refill or non-prescription medication). New survey results find that there is a direct correlation between pharmacy satisfaction and having been offered the opportunity to speak to a pharmacist, even if the pharmacist does not always speak to the patient who is picking up a refilled prescription or purchasing a non-prescription/OTC medication.
Third generation pharmacist, Jim Wilson, President of Wilson Health Information points out that “independent pharmacy customers rate their pharmacies highest in overall pharmacy customer satisfaction nationally in the 2008 WilsonRx® Pharmacy Satisfaction Survey, and, not surprisingly, most offers to speak to a pharmacist are made by the pharmacists of independents”. Customers of Aurora Pharmacy and Fry's have the highest likelihood of being offered to speak to the pharmacist compared to all other pharmacies measured nationally.
Consumer Reports magazine, in a recent survey, found that the percentage of people asking pharmacists for advice on prescription drugs dropped from 2002 to only 38 percent of the time people ask pharmacists for advice, calling it a pretty significant shift in the consumer-pharmacist relationship and a worrisome trend. Jim Wilson says “While our Wilson Health Information surveys show concurrence with the importance of a healthy consumer-pharmacist relationship, they attempt to establish the nature of these relationships at a more fundamental level”. For example, pharmacy customers who interact with the pharmacy are significantly more likely to be offered the opportunity to speak with their pharmacist, as illustrated by the following methods used to fill prescriptions:
- Called pharmacy and picked up at store – 78% offered
- Ordered online & picked up at store – 75%
- Doctor prescribed electronically and picked up at store – 74%
- Used automated system and picked up at store – 70%
- Doctor called in prescription and picked up at store – 69%
“Clearly visiting the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions allows for an additional opportunity for the patient/customer to ask questions and learn more about their medication.” However, the likelihood of being offered the opportunity is lowest among pharmacy customers who use mail order pharmacies report that only 38% of mail order pharmacy users reporting that they were offered the opportunity to speak to the pharmacist.
When the Wilson Health Information 2008 survey was analyzed for pharmacist interaction relative to prescription and OTC purchase patterns, it was demonstrated that among those who purchased a new prescription, 73% were offered the opportunity to speak to the pharmacist, versus 62% who picked up a refilled prescription and 47% among those who purchased an OTC product. “The availability of the pharmacist is a key determinant of customer satisfaction, however, it is not always expected by the customer, nor is it often sought out. When a new prescription is being filled for the first time, the percentage of customers who are offered the opportunity as well as those who actually speak to the pharmacist increases significantly, thus improving the odds of proper drug utilization, compliance, improved health and better quality of life of the population at large and consequently a lower burden on the overtaxed healthcare system” said Wilson.
Further complicating the matter is that many consumers do not recognize the value of the services offered by the pharmacist such as the proper way to take their medication, how to store the medication, how they can tell if the medication is working or not, what the potential side effects or interactions with other drugs may be and how to handle them. Savvy consumers take advantage of a close relationship with their pharmacist who is ranked second only to their doctor in terms of usage and trust in the information provided about medications. Pharmacists can help consumers save money by recommending alternate treatments, generic substitutions or other money saving methods. “Most pharmacy customers are highly satisfied that their pharmacy accepts their insurance without a problem and with the fact that their pharmacy helps with insurance problems and many pharmacies are beginning to offer 90 day prescription refills at the retail store, new generic drug pricing programs and that many pharmacies will match prescription prices from other competitors”, said Wilson.
In terms of prescription pricing variances, the Consumer Reports survey cites that generic drugs can cost up to 50 percent less than their brand-name equivalents. While this is true in specific cases, it must be pointed out that in a much more comprehensive analysis of prescription pricing from the WilsonRx survey, the average out of pocket cost for a prescription co-pay is between $48 and $61compared to the store discounted price of $60, very few consumers (less than 5%) reported paying full retail price for their prescriptions with an average out of pocket cost of $90. Brand name prescription out of pocket cost was $59 and the average generic prescription cost was $52, a difference of only $7. Further, the average out of pocket cost has increased in 2008 vs. 2007 by $10 per generic prescription and $5 per brand name prescription. Low fixed cost generic prescription offers by pharmacies could help combat rising overall prices for the consumer and improve interaction between pharmacist and patient.
“We need to be careful in balancing the population impact and perception of excessive drug prices such as those reported by Consumer Reports of up to $551 for a three month supply. These prices, while they are a real burden for some patients, only apply to a small percentage without insurance (6% to 22% depending on the pharmacy store type). Third party prescription coverage in the case of insured patients generally dictates the price of the prescription”, said Wilson. “In addition, we found that approximately 88 percent of pharmacy customers are either satisfied or highly satisfied that their pharmacy matches prescription drug prices from other pharmacies”, said Wilson.
Wilson Health Information, LLC, is an independent, healthcare consumer research company. The WilsonRx® healthcare survey is the largest of its kind and in 2008 received responses from 34,454 pharmacy customers throughout the Continental United States. National, regional and market licenses and reports are available for sale. For more information, visit www.wilsonrx.com, or call Jim Wilson at 215-862-4581.
MAY NOT BE USED FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM WILSON HEALTH INFORMATION.
