Do digital pharmacy experiences offer viable alternatives as retail locations disappear?

Your friendly local pharmacist is getting harder and harder to find. Retail pharmacy locations are disappearing, thousands at a time, as owners such as CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid close down stores that have become unprofitable and unsustainable. 

Together, the three pharmacy giants have recently announced plans to close almost 2800 stores – that’s 1 in every 7 locations – due to a combination of an oversaturated market, a sharp rise in shoplifting, and the influence of online competitors in both the retail and pharmacy sides of the house. 

Unsurprisingly, consumers aren’t happy with the changes. In many communities, retail pharmacies are the only places to access essential health supplies and pharmaceutical products. They also represent the last vestiges of the “good old fashioned way” of doing healthcare: walking into a store at your convenience, seeing familiar and trusted faces who recognize you, too, and getting answers to important questions while looking an expert straight in the eye. 

New data from Wolters Kluwer has found that 59% of Americans are worried about obtaining their medications close to home amidst the rampant closures, with only a fraction (16%) preferring to use existing online channels as an alternative to brick-and-mortar stores.  

Interestingly, it’s Gen-Z who are least happy with the lack of round-the-corner options, with 71% of younger people expressing concern about being able to pick up their medications close to home. The cohort is relatively split among its preferences for in-person vs. online pharmacy use, with 39% preferring the corner store to the smartphone. 

With rising drug prices, ongoing shortages, and diminished access to local services making patients nervous about their care, it’s clear that the pharmacy giants running the show need to get to work to come up with better solutions.  

The natural next step is digital. But pharmacy leaders are going to need to tread carefully to meet patient expectations without falling into the same traps that have led to poorly personalized, overly frustrating experiences in other areas of healthcare. 

While consumers are willing to accept certain digital tools as part of their medication management routines, they aren’t totally sold on all of the industry’s ideas. 

For example, while the Wolters Kluwer survey found three-quarters of consumers in favor of switching out bulky medication information printouts for QR codes, less than half (48%) want to deal with a chatbot when trying to get their meds for the month. 

Similarly, while 71% find SMS reminders helpful for knowing when their prescriptions need a refill or are ready to pick up, just 58% want to download an app to help them with medication adherence and support. 

With opinions split on even these tried-and-tested digital tools, it might not come as a shock that a much smaller proportion of consumers (39%) are open to wildly creative options, such as “drugs by drone” delivery, which is being explored by some big names, including Amazon, Walmart, and even Mayo Clinic.  

So what are the right next steps for pharmacies with an imperative to support access to medications while safeguarding their bottom line? The answer lies in developing digital experiences that meet or exceed the value provided by in-person pharmacy care. 

Convenience, affordability, and personalization are going to be the most important factors going forward, especially in traditionally underserved communities, including both rural and urban areas, that have few other options for care. 

Telepharmacy will likely play a large role, but companies will need to balance the use of AI and other technologies with a human touch, such as ensuring that experienced staff are always available to assist when the computer isn’t cutting it.   

They will also need to engage trustworthy logistics partners with an expansive range to deliver medications in a timely and reliable manner, even in remote or challenging communities, without further hiking the prices of already-expensive products.  

And they will need to continually check in with their consumer base to see what’s working and what needs to be revised as the digital pharmacy starts to become a larger feature in the lives of the 131 million people who depend on one or more prescription medications every day. 

It might not be easy to convince consumers that there are major benefits in shifting from in-person pharmacy services to digital experiences, especially against a background of ongoing affordability and access challenges. The pharmacy industry will have to do its best to adopt lessons learned from other areas of healthcare’s digital transformation, keeping the focus on the consumer to bring effective and efficient changes to the way patients acquire their drugs.  

Jennifer Bresnick is a journalist and freelance content creator with a decade of experience in the health IT industry.  Her work has focused on leveraging innovative technology tools to create value, improve health equity, and achieve the promises of the learning health system.  She can be reached at jennifer@inklesscreative.com.