Rural Pharmacy Closures: Implications for Rural Communities. Rural Policy Brief No. 2012-5.

摘要

Retail pharmacies provide essential services to residents of rural areas and serve many communities as the sole provider of pharmacist services. Losing the only retail pharmacy within a rural community (census designated city), and within a 10 mile radius based on driving distance (sole community pharmacy), may affect access to prescription and over-the-counter drugs and, in some cases, leave the community without proximate access to any clinical provider. This policy brief documents the closure of local retail pharmacies in which the pharmacist was the only clinical provider available in the community at the time the pharmacy closed. Characteristics of the community and the retail pharmacy are described. The findings may suggest future policy actions to minimize the risk or mitigate the negative consequences of pharmacy closures.T