August 19, 2024
Rural Health Research: Changes in Rural Pharmacy Presence 2023
This data brief provides information on rural communities that have kept, lost, or gained a retail pharmacy between 2018 to 2023.
- Between 2018 and 2023, the number of retail pharmacies in the U.S. declined by 3.9 percent.
- During that same period, the number of retail pharmacies located in rural communities declined by 5.9 percent and,
- The number of retail pharmacies located in urban communities declined by 3.4 percent
- There was little variation in the characteristics of the population in places that kept, lost, or gained pharmacy service.
- Where there was any variation, the results were often counterintuitive
- Places that gained pharmacy service had a lower proportion of population that was non-White but a higher proportion that was Hispanic, and a higher proportion with no health insurance
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