Seniors Satisfied with Mail-Service Pharmacies in Both Medicare Part D and Private Programs

(Washington, DC)- Pharmacy consumers with prescription drug coverage are satisfied with a range of pharmacy options – including mail-service pharmacies – according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 National Pharmacy Study (SM), the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) said today.

According to J.D. Power and Associates, “the study finds that pharmacy satisfaction among customers with prescription drug coverage averages 818 on a 1,000-point scale, while satisfaction among those without coverage is only 792. Among mail-order customers 65 years of age or older with private prescription drug coverage, satisfaction with their pharmacy experience averages 844. In comparison, pharmacy satisfaction among mail-order customers in the same age group with Medicare Part D coverage averages about the same.”

“These data highlight that consumers have widespread access to a variety of high-quality pharmacy options, including mail-service pharmacies,” said PCMA President and CEO Mark Merritt. 

 The J.D. Power and Associates study measured customer satisfaction with the pharmacy experience across major national retail drug store chains, mass merchandisers and supermarket stores, and mail-order channels. The study examines seven factors that contribute to consumer satisfaction with brick-and-mortar pharmacies and five factors that determine satisfaction with mail-order pharmacies. The average overall satisfaction index for each of the pharmacy distribution channels were:

• Mail-order pharmacies: 834
• Supermarket pharmacies: 820
• Mass merchandiser pharmacies: 801
• Retail chain pharmacies: 798

More information on the J.D. Power and Associates study is available at jdpower.com.

Separate from the J.D. Power study, other data suggest that encouraging Medicare beneficiaries to make greater use of home-delivery options for refills of long-term, chronic medications would save the government billions.