When it comes to finding the right formula for customer satisfaction when they’re filling a prescription, today’s consumers have a wide range of options ranging from brick and mortar drugstores to mail order pharmacies. J.D. Power and Associates 2008 National Pharmacy StudySM analyzed responses from more than 15,000 consumers to understand how they’re using pharmacies and what makes them happiest with their experience. We then segment out the top ranked pharmacies by type – either brick and mortar or mail order – and then further break down the rankings by region and kind of store so you can see what your best options are.
For brick and mortar pharmacies, the study examines seven key factors that contribute to customer satisfactions: non-pharmacist staff; store convenience; medication availability and information; layout and design; cost competitiveness; remote ordering convenience; and pharmacist. Mail order customers have a different set of requirements that we consider: ordering convenience; delivery convenience; medication availability and information; cost competitiveness; and customer service representative.
Among the trends we found:
- The rise of flat-rate generic prescription pricing plans that charge a fixed price like “$4 generic” for prescriptions is creating higher satisfaction for the brick and mortar customers who participate in them. That number that now includes nearly one quarter of all pharmacy customers, with the highest numbers drawn from customers 44 years of age and older. For these customers, the predictability of low prices for generic prescriptions is especially appealing.
- Health insurance and Medicare Part D have driven more seniors to utilize mail-order pharmacies to obtain medications for managing chronic conditions. Customers who are 65 years and older requested 26 percent of all mail-order prescriptions in 2008, as opposed to 18 percent of prescriptions filled at brick-and-mortar pharmacies. Improvements in the ordering process are key to driving satisfaction in a customer segment that is growing rapidly as the Baby Boomer generation ages.
Here are the Study results by segment, with satisfaction measured on a 1,000 point scale:
Chain Pharmacies
Medicine Shoppe ranks highest with 873.
Mass Merchandiser Pharmacies
Target ranks highest with 847.
Supermarket Pharmacies—West
Ralphs ranks highest with 854.
Supermarket Pharmacies—Midwest
Hy-Vee ranks highest with 842.
Supermarket Pharmacies—Northeast
Wegmans ranks highest with 850.
Supermarket Pharmacies—South
Publix ranks highest with 879.
Mail-Order Pharmacies
Prescription Solutions ranks highest with 864.
For more information, view mail-order retail pharmacy ratings and brick and mortar retail pharmacy ratings, or read the press release.
