Role of independent versus chain pharmacies in providing pharmacy access: a nationwide, individual-level geographic information systems analysis

Abstract

Pharmacy accessibility is critical for equity in medication access and is jeopardized by pharmacy closures, which disproportionately affect independent pharmacies. We conducted a geographic information systems analysis to quantify how many individuals across the United States do not have optimal pharmacy access or solely rely on independent pharmacies for access. We generated service areas of pharmacies using OpenStreetMap data. For each individual in a 30% random sample of the 2020 RTI International US Household Synthetic Population (N = 90 778 132), we defined optimal pharmacy access as having a driving distance to the closest pharmacy ≤2 miles in urban counties, ≤5 miles in suburban counties, and ≤10 miles in rural counties. Individuals were then categorized according to their access to chain and independent pharmacies. Five percent of the sample or ∼15.1 million individuals nationwide relied on independent pharmacies for optimal access. Individuals relying on independent pharmacies for optimal access were more likely to live in rural areas, be sixty-five years or older, and belong to low-income households. Another 19.5% of individuals in the sample did not have optimal pharmacy access, which corresponds to 59.0 million individuals nationwide. Our findings demonstrate that independent pharmacies play a critical role in ensuring equity in pharmacy access.