Pharmacy Satisfaction Is Declining

According to a WilsonRx survey that was published in the same Retail Clinician magazine (Winter 2007), “customers express a decline in overall satisfaction with their pharmacy in 2006, probably due to difficulties with Medicare Part D and rising copays.” The highly satisfied percentage dropped from 58% to 53%. I still think many industries would be happy with a 3% dissatisfied population. (see www.pharmacysatisfaction.com for more information)

I find it difficult to believe that people would blame the pharmacy for rising copayments or the complexities of Medicare Part D. But, everyone looks for a scapegoat for their problems. I think a more interesting question or survey would be how people judge satisfaction with their pharmacy. Is it wait time? Is it friendliness of the staff? Is it access to the pharmacist? Is it price when they pay cash? Is it willingness to call their physician or insurance company to resolve issues?

I was pleasantly surprised recently when I was at a Walgreens and saw the pharmacist come out from behind the counter to great an older patient, ask them about their wife, and spend time trying to see what she could do to help the couple. Usually, you think of the bigger chains as being so focused on production that you interface with the pharmacy technicians.