COVID-19 Has Changed Consumer Behavior Trends for Prescription Fulfillment

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Amanda Epp, MBA, CEO of ScriptDrop, on how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected consumer behavior trends in the switch to digital prescription fulfillment and has also heightened the need to grant pharmacists provider status in order to support the health care system.

The discussion included the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on prescription fulfillment and consumer behavior trends, as well as the unexpected effects of the switch to digital prescription fulfillment on pharmacies and the pharmaceutical industry.

Epp explained that following the pandemic, consumers are going to continue to demand prescription delivery, and likely also demand a different level of service.

“Some patients might be okay with [a prescription] coming in a couple days, others might need it in that 1- to 2-hour time frame,” Epp said. “Patients may have every intent after they leave the doctor's office to go to the pharmacy, but life gets in the way and something may come up, so being able to offer prescription delivery throughout the patient journey at different touch points, making sure that it's accessible to them, is really critical. It just allows the pharmacists to be involved in more areas along that patient journey.”

Epp also discussed the importance of granting pharmacists provider status during the COVID-19 pandemic, some common misunderstandings around what would change if pharmacists are granted provider status, and some other key issues that granting provider status for pharmacists can ultimately help to fix within the health care system.