Consumers Want Rapport with Pharmacists

The respondents to the "Attitudes About Pharmacies and Pharmacists Survey 2004" highlighted the importance of maintaining a direct relationship with a pharmacist. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation and Wirthlin Worldwide conducted the survey of 1001 adults in March of this year.

With regard to filling prescriptions, 62% of those surveyed said that it was important to have a chance to interact directly with their pharmacist. Also, they rated the importance of having an opportunity to interact with their pharmacist 5 years ago and 5 years down the road. The results indicated that 32% of the participants felt that interaction is more important today, compared with 5 years ago, and 35% thought that direct interaction with their pharmacist would be even more important in the future.

Of the respondents who had filled a prescription in the past 3 months, 87% indicated that it is important that they have a comfortable and trusting relationship with their pharmacist. During the 3-month period, 70% of the respondents said that they talked with a pharmacist about their prescription-medication purchases, and 34% believed that direct interaction with their pharmacist would be even more important in the future.

The participants were asked to identify ways their pharmacist helped them. The most frequent responses were that the pharmacist gave general prescription information and helped them understand the correct way to take and/or use their medication. When asked about how important it is for pharmacists to provide certain types of help, the top 3 answers from respondents were (1) knowing what side effects to expect from their medication, (2) knowing whether an OTC medication is OK to take with their prescription drugs, and (3) identifying the most cost-effective medications for their condition.