An interactive tool developed by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and professors from the University of Southern California (USC) can now map areas of the country with pharmacy shortages — and for the first time, the mapping tool can be used by the general public, as well as by media, policymakers, county health officials and community advocates.
The Pharmacy Access Initiative tool was created by Dima Mazen Qato, an associate professor at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, with funding from NCPA.
Joining Qato on the project were Associate Professor Robert Vos and Ph.D. candidate Jeffrey Rozelle from the Spatial Sciences Institute, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
In a Nov. 4 news announcement, NCPA said, “The mapping tool reveals that approximately one in eight U.S. neighborhoods — representing millions of Americans — persistently lack convenient access to pharmacy services. In rural areas and underserved urban communities, the problem is far more severe, with some states and counties experiencing shortage rates approaching 50%.”
The tool identified a pharmacy shortage when travel distance to the nearest pharmacy is more than 10 miles in rural areas; more than two miles in suburban areas; more than one mile in urban areas; and more than a half-mile in low-income neighborhoods with low vehicle-ownership rates.
“Pharmacies are a critical access point for the prevention and treatment of acute and chronic illness, yet many are closing and not accessible to communities that need them,” said Qato. “For decades, the World Health Organization has considered geographic access to pharmacies as a key determinant of access to essential medicines.”
“Independent community pharmacies are the health care safety net in thousands of communities across America, yet they’re being systematically squeezed out by payment policies that don’t reflect the critical role they play,” said Douglas Hoey, CEO of the NCPA. “We need leaders at every level to use this data to protect these lifeline pharmacies before more neighborhoods are in crisis. When you lose your local pharmacy, you lose more than a place to fill prescriptions — you lose a trusted health adviser, a medication safety expert and often the most accessible health care provider in the community.”
