For those living in urban areas, it’s easy to take for granted the luxury of visiting a doctor and picking up a prescription from your local pharmacy. But the further away from the city you are, the harder it becomes to get the same medical attention.
According to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, those living in urban areas were only 4.4 miles away (about 10 minutes) from a hospital. With that, urban areas had nearly 84 primary care doctors per 100,000 people. Not to mention, a pharmacy on almost every corner. But that’s not the case for rural communities.
The same Pew Research Center survey found that rural residents live 10.5 miles (about 17 minutes) from their local hospital. Only 68 primary care doctors are available per 100,000 people living in rural areas. And a recent poll found that one out of every four people living in rural areas couldn’t get the healthcare they needed — a quarter of those said it was due to the location being too far or difficult to get to.
However, approximately 9 out of 10 Americans live within 5 miles of an independent community pharmacy — making them accessible to nearly everyone. Often, independent pharmacies serve as one of the only healthcare providers available to rural residents and play a critical role in providing more than just a prescription to their patients.
Despite the importance of independent community pharmacies, the University of Iowa’s Rural Policy Research Institute found that 1,231 of the nation’s 7,624 independent pharmacies closed between 2003 and 2018. Their research concluded that this left more than 600 communities without any pharmacy at all. Why is this happening?
Independent pharmacies are being driven out of business by large retail chains. Large chains have their own drugstore connections, insurance partners, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which gives those companies market power that community pharmacies just can’t match.
That’s why pharmacies across the country are turning to telehealth to serve more patients. But even then, these pharmacies are still at the mercy of the prescribing physician. This system needs to change.
In this blog, we look at the importance of using collaborative telemedicine with a direct line to a nationwide provider network to become a local Healthcare Hub for rural communities. We believe that with pharmacists acting as the first point of care, there is a greater chance for all patients to access the healthcare they deserve.
The adoption of telemedicine allows patients to receive remote medical care in real-time. Overall, it provides a convenient way for pharmacies to deliver effective, efficient care right within their own community.
But what if those same platforms connected you to a nationwide network of medical providers? Then pharmacists could act as the primary point of care; scheduling evaluations and treatments for their patients, sharing patient data through a collective EHR, and even order labs independently in the platform..
By adopting a collaborative telemedicine service, pharmacies can become the healthcare hub for their community and deliver rapid, remote, and affordable prescriptions to their patients whenever they need them.
Here are 3 reasons why independent pharmacies need to adopt a collaborative telemedicine approach to make accessible healthcare possible for their community.
Thousands of people fail to get the medications they need, when they need it. But it isn’t always their fault.
One factor at large is due to healthcare unavailability, especially in rural communities. According to an article published in the Western Journal of Medication, 20% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas. Sadly, only 9% of the nation’s physicians practice there.
To make matters worse, the U.S. federal government projects a shortage of over 20,000 primary care physicians in rural areas by 2025.
Luckily, with the help of collaborative telemedicine platforms, independent pharmacies can fill this gap.
With 9 out of every 10 Americans living within 5 miles of an independent pharmacy, pharmacies are best positioned to be at the first point of care to serve their community — beyond filling a prescription.
When using a collaborative telemedicine platform, pharmacies can control the entire patient journey. All patient records are stored in a secure EHR for convenient access, allowing pharmacies to be at the center of it all.
A 2017 study titled “Addressing Rural Health Challenges Head On” published in Missouri Medicine found that rural patients typically travel farther for their medical needs and are more likely reluctant to take time off from work to receive the necessary treatment. When this happens, the study found the following to be true:
As a result, rural patients often delay seeking care, which can lead to a more complex illness and a sicker patient. For those in the self-employed farming community, who may live hours away from needed health care services, the challenges of caring for livestock and crops must be factored in, creating stresses unique to rural populations.
With the lack of doctors in certain rural areas, some patients find themselves driving for hours just to see a specialist to renew or prescribe their needed medication. This ends up being costly not only when it comes to transportation, but when it comes to their time as well.
However, providing collaborative telemedicine at your independent pharmacy allows primary medical care to be accessible to your community. Overall, it enables your pharmacy to manage a national network of independent medical providers ready to create and renew prescriptions for patients at your request. Patients can then schedule telehealth visits with a medical provider at their convenience through their pharmacy.
The end result? Having a collaborative telemedicine platform saves your patients time and money by eliminating the drive to a doctor’s office.
1,231 of the nation’s 7,624 independent pharmacies closed between 2003 and 2018. With independent pharmacies often being the only available healthcare for those living in rural areas, your community needs you. Scaling your business through a telemedicine platform empowers you to grow and generate more revenue, so you can stay and serve your patients.
With a collaborative telemedicine system, your pharmacy can:
These features help your pharmacy increase the number of patients seen, reduce prescription errors, speed up prescription turnaround, and allows you to control every step of the patent journey — ultimately making it possible to generate more revenue through increasing patient retention.
Independent pharmacies are vital to rural communities receiving the healthcare that they deserve. By using a collaborative telemedicine platform, your pharmacy can become the healthcare hub of your community by being the medical provider your patients need, saving your patients time and money, and scaling your business.
Learn how your independent pharmacy become the healthcare hub of your community by clicking here to learn more.