Survey Shows Significant Increase in Use of Pharmacy Health and Wellness Services, Customer Satisfaction in 2021

More than half of all retail pharmacy customers have used health and wellness services over the past year, according to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Pharmacy Study. These services include vaccinations, routine screenings, and physical exams.

The 2021 survey is based on responses from 12,646 pharmacy customers who filled a prescription during the 3 months prior to the survey period of September 2020 through May 2021.

For the fifth consecutive year, Good Neighbor Pharmacy was ranked highest among brick-and-mortar chain drug store pharmacies with a score of 912, followed by Health Mart (891) and Rite Aid Pharmacy (866). For brick-and-mortar mass merchandiser pharmacies, Sam’s Club was ranked highest for the sixth consecutive year (891), followed by CVS/pharmacy inside Target (879) and Costco (877).

H-E-B gained the highest score among brick-and-mortar supermarket pharmacies (896), followed by Wegmans (892) and Stop & Shop (885). Humana Pharmacy achieved the highest score in the mail order segment for the fourth consecutive year (906), ahead of Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy (887) and Aetna Rx Home Delivery (884).

According to the investigators, 51% of pharmacy customers reported using health and wellness services at their pharmacy within the past 12 months, an increase from 48% in 2020 and 43% in 2019. According to the investigators, the most frequently used health care services are vaccinations and routine screenings.

The study also found that use of these health and wellness services was associated with higher customer satisfaction and higher spending. Customers who used at least 1 health and wellness-oriented service provided by their pharmacy spent, on average, $5 more than those who did not use these services, and had an increase in overall satisfaction of 24 points on a 1000-point scale.

“It was not long ago that the major pharmacy chains, health care providers, health plans and consumers were all asking themselves whether or not people would ever feel comfortable receiving treatment in a retail setting,” said James Beem, managing director of health care intelligence at J.D. Power, in a press release. “While we have been seeing consumer satisfaction with retail health services grow steadily, this year marks a significant turning point in which most customers are now using these services. The fact that this happened during a pandemic should send a clear signal that retail pharmacies are transforming health and wellness services in America.”

Mobile app integration is also increasing in importance, with mobile app use increasing among pharmacy customers. According to the study, 26% of brick-and-mortar customers and 27% of mail order customers are accessing their pharmacy’s mobile app. Satisfaction ratings for brick-and-mortar mobile apps is 848, and overall satisfaction with mail order mobile apps is 868, both of which are higher than the average mobile app/text message satisfaction score of 826 seen in the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study.

REFERENCE

Retail Health and Wellness Services Surge in Popularity, Driving Significant Gains in Pharmacy Customer Satisfaction, J.D. Power Finds [news release]. J.D. Power; July 28, 2021. Accessed July 28, 2021.