Rural patients often face significant challenges in accessing healthcare services, including long wait times, missed workdays, and costly urgent care visits. Seventy-four million Americans live in areas with healthcare shortages, and this number is expected to rise by 2036, with a projected shortage of up to 86,000 physicians. Despite these challenges, many states continue to limit the role of pharmacists, who are often the most accessible healthcare professionals in these communities.
Pharmacists are already located in many rural areas, with 88.9 percent of Americans living within five miles of a community pharmacy and 96.5 percent living within 10 miles. For minor conditions such as the flu or strep throat, a pharmacy visit can be faster, closer, and less expensive than a trip to a doctor's office, urgent care, or emergency room.
Allowing pharmacists to test and treat routine conditions can also lower costs for both patients and public programs. When minor illnesses are pushed into more expensive settings, patients face higher out-of-pocket costs, longer delays, and more time spent seeking care. Medicare and Medicaid also end up paying more for care that could have been handled safely in a lower-cost setting.
A study in Washington state found that care for minor ailments in community pharmacies cost a median of $277.78 less than comparable care in primary care offices, urgent care centers, or emergency departments. By allowing pharmacists to handle routine care, states can move simple care out of expensive settings and reserve doctors and hospitals for patients who actually need them.
States do not need to guess whether pharmacists can prescribe safely, as there are already examples to learn from. Virginia and Iowa have implemented statewide protocols that allow pharmacists to test and initiate treatment for certain conditions, demonstrating that pharmacist prescribing can be limited to defined conditions and objective tests. These models show that pharmacists can handle routine care without open-ended prescribing authority.
Pharmacists' scope of practice does not need to be expanded dramatically to help patients. Standardized protocols can be used to handle common conditions such as COVID-19, flu, strep throat, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections. In many cases, patients could be tested, treated, and receive the necessary medicine in the same pharmacy visit.
By modernizing scope-of-practice laws, states can give patients faster access to basic treatment, reduce unnecessary pressure on physicians, and lower the cost of care by keeping minor illnesses out of more expensive settings. This reform can be implemented intelligently, protecting patient safety while allowing pharmacists to handle routine care.
