Finding a friendly pharmacist - Drug Topics magazine survey reveals that independent pharmacists serve their customers better

American Demographics, Jan, 1998 by Shelly Reese

Chain drugstores want to beef up sales of non-prescription products, but they may be missing opportunities to provide better service to their prescription customers. Pharmacists at independent stores out-rate those in supermarkets, chain stores, and mass merchants on several service criteria, according to a new study by Drug Topics magazine. On the other hand, people who fill prescriptions at a supermarket may be a lot less interested in service than in price and other factors.

More than eight in ten U.S. adults say a pharmacist in an independent store took the time to explain new medications to them, compared with 65 percent who buy prescriptions at supermarkets and mass merchandisers, and 64 percent who use chain stores. Independent pharmacy customers are also more likely to describe their pharmacists as knowledgeable, friendly, cooperative, trustworthy, and less hurried than shoppers at the other retail outlets.

Despite high ratings for pharmacists in independent stores, only one in five relies on these for their prescriptions. Almost half buy prescriptions at chain stores, 18 percent use supermarkets, and 15 percent use pharmacies at mass merchants. That's largely because the proliferation of non-independent pharmacies makes them convenient, and most large chains easily handle insurance prescription plans.

The latter seems to be the primary motivation for choosing a place to have prescriptions filled. Thirty-two percent of adults say health-plan requirements are their most important reason for picking a pharmacy, compared with 23 percent who cite convenience and price as their determinant. Convenient hours are most important to 12 percent, followed closely by 11 percent who say a helpful pharmacist is how they select a pharmacy.

People who usually fill their prescriptions at independent pharmacies are significantly more likely than average to say a helpful pharmacist brings them through the door, at 30 percent. The shares for chain stores, supermarkets, and mass merchandisers are 9 percent, 3 percent, and 2 percent, respectively.

For more information, contact Medical Economics, publisher of Drug Topics; telephone (201) 358-7500.