Carroll N V, Miederhoff P A, Waters L W
School of Pharmacy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.
Clin Ther. 1996 Jul-Aug;18(4):703-15; discussion 702. doi: 10.1016/s0149-2918(96)80221-9.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the extent to which third-party reimbursement programs have affected the profitability and availability of community pharmacies. Data were taken from records maintained by the Virginia Board of Pharmacy and a survey of 177 community pharmacies. Between 1989 and 1994, 258 outpatient pharmacies opened and 342 closed. Chain and independent pharmacies suffered net losses, and supermarket and mass merchandiser pharmacies experienced net increases. Few significant changes occurred in the distribution of pharmacies over the study period. Fifty-nine chain and independent pharmacies and 1 supermarket pharmacy chain provided usable profit and reimbursement data. These pharmacies experienced declines in profits and increases in the percentage of prescriptions reimbursed by private third-party prescription programs over the last several years. Regression analyses indicated that higher ratios of sales of private third-party prescriptions to private-pay prescriptions were associated with lower profits. All respondents indicated that changes in private third-party reimbursement had substantially reduced profits over the past 5 years. The results indicate that the growth of private third-party payment has led to lower pharmacy profits but has not yet resulted in problems of consumer access.
本研究的目的是分析第三方报销计划对社区药房盈利能力和可及性的影响程度。数据取自弗吉尼亚州药房委员会保存的记录以及对177家社区药房的一项调查。1989年至1994年间，有258家门诊药房开业，342家关闭。连锁药店和独立药店出现净亏损，而超市和大型零售商药房则实现了净增长。在研究期间，药房的分布几乎没有发生重大变化。59家连锁和独立药店以及1家超市连锁药店提供了可用的利润和报销数据。在过去几年里，这些药房的利润下降，由私人第三方处方计划报销的处方比例上升。回归分析表明，私人第三方处方销售额与自费处方销售额的比率较高与利润较低相关。所有受访者均表示，过去5年中，私人第三方报销的变化大幅降低了利润。结果表明，私人第三方支付的增长导致药房利润降低，但尚未导致消费者获取方面的问题。
