How consumers choose a primary pharmacy

Given all the attention around the hotly contested Express Scripts-Medco merger, Drug Store News thought we’d ask our C2B consumer reporters, if all things were equal and every pharmacy accepted their insurance, what would be the most important factors in choosing a pharmacy? Ninety-four percent said location/convenience, followed by customer service (50%). That's just a taste of what they told us.

1) If all pharmacies accepted your insurance or charged the same amount for your prescription, what would be the most important factor(s) when choosing a pharmacy?

 ^{* Includes kindness of staff, knowledge of what I am getting and staff ability to answer questions.}

2) How many pharmacies do you use to serve all of your prescription needs?

3) If you answered more than one pharmacy, why do you use multiple pharmacies?

4) What characteristics do you like most about your current pharmacy of choice?

 ^{* Includes kindness of staff, knowledge of what I am getting and staff ability to answer questions}

Other popular responses: knowledge of product, insurance coverage, online reorder, wide selection, well operated and rewards program.

5) What are the cons about your current pharmacy of choice?

Other popular responses: no drive-through, understaffed, lack of insurance coverage, untrusted brands, decor, long checkout lines and lack of privacy.

6) What over-the-counter categories do you expect to find in the store where you purchase your prescriptions?

Other popular responses: children's, dental, toiletries, ear care, topical, analgesics and contraception.

7) Some pharmacies offer patients consultations with pharmacists. Does your pharmacy of choice offer consultations?

8) If yes, have you ever tried a pharmacist consultation?

9) If you have tried a consultation, who paid for it?

10) If your pharmacy did offer consultations, would you be interested in receiving this kind of service?

11) If your insurance did not cover consultations, would you be willing to pay out-of-pocket for a consultation?

12) Do you use Twitter or Facebook?

Drug Store News has partnered with Engage.Me to develop the DSN/C2B Mobile Insights series as a regular feature and premium content offering for DrugStoreNews.com users. Interested in utilizing DSN/Engage.Me field research capabilities for exclusive research on your company? Contact Rob Eder at [email protected].

This survey was conducted by Engagement Media Technologies using the Gevius mobile application and EMTech backend. The campaign had 170 participants — 42% male and 57% female. The breakdown of participant age range is: 18 to 25 years old (16%), 26 to 35 years old (30%), 36 to 45 years old (18%), 46 to 59 years old (23%), and 60 years old and up (12%).