Immunization Access Greater at Pharmacies Than Physician Practices in Low-Income Areas

Families in low-income communities had greater access to pharmacy services than physician practices, leading researchers to emphasize the role of pharmacies to close gaps in immunizations. Findings were published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

“Expanding access to immunization services is essential for improving low-income communities’ access to health care,” authors said.

Researchers used zip-code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) in combination with data on pharmacy and physician practice locations. Communities were classified as low-income if more than 30% of families living in a ZCTA were at or below the federal poverty threshold.

“The raw access comparisons were adjusted to reflect whether physician practices have Medicare Part D billing capability, an access constraint for patients 65 and over, and to reflect the differences in hours of operation,” authors noted.

Compared to physician practices, there were 15.1% more pharmacies in low-income areas, and pharmacies offered 95.7% more operational hours. Authors also found there were 203% more pharmacy locations with 415% more operational hours when comparing specifically to physician practices with Part D billing capability.

Authors went on to recommend guidance for reforms. Within states, access could be boosted by expanding pharmacists’ authority to deliver immunization services, creating health enterprise zones, and offering special tax and regulatory exemptions or public assistance to physician offices and pharmacies operating in low-income zip codes. On a national level, researchers advised increased support of Federally Qualified Health Centers by the federal government.

“Based on the results, lower-income families had greater access to pharmacies than physician practices, which indicates that pharmacies can play a valuable role in expanding immunization access and could warrant considering policy reforms that enhance the authority of pharmacists to administer vaccinations,” researchers said.

Reference:
Popovian R, Winegarden W, Rivera E, Gavigan K. Accessibility of adult immunizations in pharmacies compared to physician offices in low-income communities. J Am Pharm Assoc. Published online ahead of print March 30, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.japh.2022.03.021