A reputation for honesty, trustworthiness
In the nation’s hierarchy of most-trusted professions, where does the community pharmacist stand? Near the very top of the list.
Again in 2015, pharmacists ranked second only to nurses among all professions in Gallup’s annual Honesty and Ethics survey. That makes the 13th year in a row that Americans have ranked pharmacists among the top three of all professions in terms of trustworthiness and ethical standards.
The annual poll was conducted Dec. 2 to 6, 2015, with a random sample of 824 adults, ages 18 years and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. More than two-thirds of all respondents gave pharmacists “very high/high” marks for honesty and ethical dealings, slightly ahead of medical doctors, high school teachers and police officers.
“Nurses, pharmacists, medical doctors and high school teachers remain untarnished at the top,” according to the Gallup poll.
“The survey results reflect the remarkable trust that patients continue to place in their pharmacists, and for strong and important reasons,” said National Association of Chain Drug Stores president and CEO Steve Anderson. “Pharmacists are highly educated and highly accessible professionals. They are highly valued in neighborhoods across America, and particularly by those in the greatest need.”
In addition to the latest Gallup poll, “NACDS’ own opinion research shows another interesting finding: that those who have more first-hand experience with pharmacist-provided services feel even more strongly about their value,” Anderson added.
“These positive attitudes are translating into ever-stronger bipartisan support for pro-patient and pro-pharmacy initiatives in the U.S. Congress, as well as an expansion of the pharmacists’ scope of practice in the states,” added NACDS’ top executive.
Endorsing pharmacists as healthcare providers
“The positive, reverberating news about pharmacists marks a great beginning of the year for pharmacists, and gives well-deserved credit for the essential and expanding part they play as trusted healthcare providers, bridging gaps to care for the patients who need it most,” NACDS reported. “The professional validation comes at a time when pharmacists are positioned extraordinarily well to fill gaps in patient access to care.”
Indeed, national opinion surveys conducted on behalf of the pharmacy organization show that a large majority of Americans strongly embrace pharmacists’ expanding role as healthcare providers for a wide array of walk-in services.
The most recent such poll, conducted via the Internet among 1,000 informed likely voters in late July 2015, asked respondents whether they thought a pharmacy should be allowed to offer several types of health services, and whether they would seek out those services within a pharmacy. The results were eye-opening: 83% of respondents view pharmacies as appropriate settings for basic health services, and nearly 8-in-10 voters see them as a source for vaccinations and immunizations. More than 7-in-10 of those polled support the use of pharmacy-based primary healthcare clinics.
“There continues to be overwhelming support for allowing pharmacies to offer ... new healthcare services, with notable increases since 2013,” according to the polling organization, Public Opinion Strategies.
A separate poll last year also showed strong support among Americans for legislation that would give pharmacists full status as healthcare providers, with 82% of those surveyed expressing support for provider status legislation.
To see the full report, click here.