NCPA and the University of Southern California have teamed up to create a new interactive mapping tool that could promote health equity by identifying pharmacy shortage areas in the United States. It can also help policymakers see the consequences of unfair PBM practices believed to contribute to pharmacy access issues. The mapping tool shows that nearly one in four neighborhoods nationwide are pharmacy “deserts” – areas that have no nearby pharmacy.
"Millions of Americans may live within what appears to be a modest distance to a pharmacy, but they don’t have a car or access to public transportation,” said NCPA CEO Douglas Hoey. “That severely limits their access to pharmacies in the area.” The tool’s interactive maps will generate real-time information for national, state, and local policy officials, health care academics, industry leaders, and others to identify communities lacking in pharmacy access at the neighborhood level. Better data on the proliferation of pharmacy deserts could help policymakers and industry leaders and, ultimately, underserved communities. The new tool will be introduced over the coming weeks.
