Pharmacist Shortages

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Pharmacist Shortages

In late January of 2023, major news outlets reported information about pharmacist shortages throughout the country.   Major retail pharmacy chains, such as CVS and Walmart, also announced that they were cutting pharmacy hours due to lack of staffing.  As pharmacy wait times increased and delays in getting prescriptions to patients occurred, people began to wonder if there truly was a pharmacist shortage contributing to the concerns at retail pharmacies throughout the country.

As of the end of 2022, there were 142 pharmacy schools in the country accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE).  This is a significant increase of over 75% from 2000 when there were only 80 accredited schools of pharmacy in the country. Since 2000, the number of pharmacy students graduating each year has risen dramatically, from 7,760 graduates to over 14,000 graduates in 2019-20. When comparing the recent number of pharmacy school graduates with the job outlook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which estimates approximately 13,600 new pharmacist jobs, it appears that there is not a true pharmacist shortage.

Where there seems to be a shortage is in overall staffing in pharmacies, specifically for technician positions. In a survey conducted by the National Community Pharmacist Association (NCPA), many pharmacies are stating that their number one problem was finding pharmacy technicians (88% of respondents) followed by front-end staff (56% of respondents). This shortage can result in increasingly stressful environments for retail pharmacists, as they may need to play different roles, perform more duties, and oversee more services with fewer staff members.  This is coupled with an increased workload as pharmacies shift towards clinical centered services. This pharmacy environment concern is substantiated by a 2019 National Pharmacist Workforce study, which shows many pharmacists experiencing stressful conditions in the pharmacy, as well as increased harassment. This situation is further compounded by the fact that many young pharmacists are looking for other pharmacy opportunities outside of the retail space.

In recent years, the role of a pharmacist has been expanded to offer more patient-centered services. Pharmacists are now able to be utilized in various health settings outside of the typical retail space, and that shift can be seen with the increase in pharmacy residencies. According to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), there are 5,682 residency positions as of 2022. This is an increase of 26% or about 1,196 positions since 2017, specifically in areas such as palliative care, emergency medicine, and community-based programs. As these opportunities for residency expand across the country, more and more pharmacy students can pursue areas of pharmacy outside of the typical retail space.

The combination of expanded services and opportunities for pharmacists, as well as shortages in other critical staffing areas, shows that there is not necessarily a “pharmacist shortage” but rather more pharmacists shifting towards other, less stressful environments versus retail pharmacy. Companies such as Walgreens have said they plan to address these issues by increasing pharmacy automation to reduce the burden of filling prescriptions to free up their pharmacists to pursue other clinical care as their roles expand. How will pharmacies address these issues?

 

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Posted: May 2023

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