Guadamuz Jenny S, Alexander G Caleb, Kanter Genevieve P, Qato Dima Mazen
Jenny S. Guadamuz, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California.
G. Caleb Alexander, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Health Aff (Millwood). 2024 Dec;43(12):1703-1711. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2024.00192.
In recent years, federal and state policy makers have expressed concern about retail pharmacy closures throughout the US. However, there is a dearth of timely information on the extent of such closures. We linked data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs on all US retail pharmacies to county-level data from the National Center for Health Statistics and ZIP Code Tabulation Area data from the American Community Survey to determine the number and percentage of pharmacy closures during the period 2010-21; identify pharmacy, neighborhood, and market characteristics associated with pharmacy closure; and estimate the risk for closure for independent pharmacies relative to chain pharmacies. We found that of the 88,930 retail pharmacies operating during 2010-20, 29.4 percent had closed by 2021. The risk for closure for pharmacies in predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods was higher than in White neighborhoods. Independent pharmacies were at greater risk for closure than chain pharmacies across all neighborhood and market characteristics. Policy makers should consider strategies to increase the participation of independent pharmacies in Medicare and Medicaid preferred networks managed by pharmacy benefit managers and to increase public insurance reimbursement rates for pharmacies that are at the highest risk for closure.
近年来，联邦和州政策制定者对美国各地零售药店的关闭表示担忧。然而，关于此类关闭范围的及时信息却十分匮乏。我们将美国国家处方药计划委员会关于所有美国零售药店的数据与国家卫生统计中心的县级数据以及美国社区调查的邮政编码分区数据相链接，以确定2010年至2021年期间药店关闭的数量和百分比；确定与药店关闭相关的药店、社区和市场特征；并估计独立药店相对于连锁药店的关闭风险。我们发现，在2010年至2020年期间运营的88,930家零售药店中，到2021年有29.4%已经关闭。在以黑人和拉丁裔为主的社区中，药店关闭的风险高于白人社区。在所有社区和市场特征方面，独立药店比连锁药店面临更高的关闭风险。政策制定者应考虑采取策略，以提高独立药店参与由药品福利管理公司管理的医疗保险和医疗补助优先网络的程度，并提高对关闭风险最高的药店的公共保险报销率。
