Hundreds of pharmacies are permanently closing their doors as consumer trends change and businesses succumb to financial pressures.
Before 2018, more pharmacies were opening than closing in the United States. Then, mergers between large pharmacy chains and pharmacy benefit managers influenced patients to switch from independent locations to PBM-preferred pharmacy networks, according to a recent study.
One in 3 pharmacies closed between 2010 and 2021, and large retailers — CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid — plan to shutter hundreds more.
Financial burdens are spurring these closures. Many pharmacies, particularly those that are independent, are facing lower reimbursement rates for prescription fills. Both independent and retail locations are also losing profit from products near the front of the store, from gum to makeup to household cleaning products, as competitors such as Amazon offer greater convenience.
A 2024 J.D. Power survey of pharmacy consumers found increasing interest in online and mail-order pharmacies. Satisfaction scores for brick-and-mortar drugstores fell 10 points on a 1,000-point scale in one year, too, because of long wait times and difficulties in ordering prescriptions.
More pharmacy deserts will appear in rural areas, according to Jess de Jesus, PharmD, president and chief pharmacy officer of Cambridge, Mass.-based Beth Israel Lahey Health. Dr. de Jesus told Becker's that access to acute medicines, such as antibiotics, will decline.
As brick-and-mortar locations disappear, a Wolters Kluwer Health survey revealed 59% of Americans are worried about obtaining medications close to home.
These closures are causing a detrimental effect on communities' health. In 46% of U.S. counties (1,447 out of 3,141), there are no drugstores within 10 miles, and counties high on the social vulnerability index with few primary care practitioners were between 30% and 40% more likely to have deserts than other counties.
"If patients can't access medications like antibiotics in a timely way, it could lead to severe healthcare complications," Dr. de Jesus said. "This could be harmful for patients who don't have transportation options or live in areas with limited healthcare services to begin with."