Study: Pharmacy deserts primarily affect underserved communities

Pharmacies across the US are closing in record numbers, and the resulting pharmacy deserts are deepening healthcare disparities, according to a recent study from the University of Houston.

As consumers increasingly order prescriptions online and insurers leave independent pharmacies out of preferred pharmacy networks, pharmacy closures are disproportionately affecting underserved communities, the study found.

“Pharmacies have always been the frontline healthcare access points for families in medically underserved areas, but that’s going away,” Omolola Adepoju, a health services researcher and clinical associate professor at the University of Houston as well as the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “In these areas, which are mostly minority communities with serious socioeconomic challenges, it is adding to existing healthcare disparities.”

Researchers found, for example, that in Houston’s Greater Third Ward neighborhood, the nearest pharmacy is two miles away—four times farther away than in the nearby, more affluent neighborhood of Midtown.

“That added distance can have serious consequences,” Adebosola Karunwi, a third-year medical student at the University of Houston and the study’s coauthor, said in a statement. “A diabetic who faces a long walk or multiple bus rides to get their insulin prescription filled might not do it, instead skipping doses or blood tests.”

The researchers from the University of Houston encouraged community leaders to lobby for more pharmacies and apply for government funding to open pharmacies in existing buildings, such as churches or community centers.

“We’re already seeing hospitals using services like UberHealth to deliver medications and get people to their appointments,” Karunwi said in a statement. “But more needs to be done. In this day and age, there’s no reason anyone shouldn’t be able to get the healthcare they deserve.”