FACTS AT A GLANCE: THE PHARMACIST SHORTAGE

The lack of pharmacists in the U.S. has spawned Congressional action, private studies and public concern. Today, more than 8,000 vacancies exist in retail pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and other industry sectors, and the problem is only expected to worsen over time. The following facts document the extent of the problem.

• According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), there were approximately 196,000 active pharmacists in the United States in 2000 or about 71 pharmacists per 100,000 people in the U.S.1

° Six in ten work in community pharmacies, either traditional chain, supermarket, mass merchandiser, or independently-owned;
° Three in ten work in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home health care; and
° One in ten work in pharmaceutical manufacturing and research; federal, state and local government; managed care; pharmaceutical benefit management; and the insurance industry.2

• Although the demand is increasing, HRSA predicted that the number of active pharmacists would only grow by 28,500 over this decade — 800 fewer than the 29,300 over the last decade.3

• A January 2003 survey by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores reported 5,499 vacant drug store pharmacist positions. With retail pharmacies expected to fill 4 billion prescriptions by 2006 – up from 3 billion in 2001 – this shortfall represents a major crisis for the delivery of quality health care in this country.4

• Of equal concern is a severe shortage of pharmacists working in the nation’s hospitals. A May 2003 survey of pharmacy directors by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reported a 5.6 percent vacancy rate.5 That translates to approximately 2,800 unfilled hospital pharmacist positions.

• As for federal pharmacists, vacancy rates in the Public Health Service averaged 11 percent in 2000, compared to five percent in 1996.6

• Among the three branches of the military, vacancy rates for pharmacists fell in the range of 15 to 18 percent in 2000, and the Department of Veterans Affairs noted that more than half of the pharmacist positions at some of its facilities are currently unfilled.7

• Compounding the problem, government and industry surveys point to unprecedented increases in the volume of prescriptions that must be filled by today’s pharmacists. Between 1992 and 1999, the average number of prescriptions that each community pharmacist filled rose 32 percent, from 17,400 annually to 22,900.8

• Moreover, experts predict further increases in the number of prescriptions filled as Baby Boomers begin to age and need more medicines associated with elder care. Adults aged 60 and older on average use three times as many medications as adults younger than 60.9

• Another factor contributing to the pharmacist shortage is the sharp increase in administrative time to handle third-party payments for prescriptions. According to HRSA, processing insurance claims filing now consumes between 10 to 20 percent of a pharmacist’s time.10

• There was a decline in the number of applications to pharmacy schools in the late 1990s.11 However, this trend has reversed of late, making it all the more critical to have sufficient faculty to prepare the next generation of pharmacists.12

The statistics are clear that the current shortage of pharmacists exists and will not be quickly resolved. Unless the problem is addressed immediately, the demand for pharmacists will continue to outpace the supply, and the nation’s health care delivery system will suffer. Addressing these issues will require a significant increase in the number of people who enter the pharmacy profession, which starts with enrolling more applicants into schools of pharmacy - a solution that necessitates additional qualified faculty.

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1 Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Pharmacist Workforce: A Study of the Supply and Demand for Pharmacists (Rockville, Md.: 2000) 49.
2 HRSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 14.
3 HRSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, iii.
4 “Pharmacist Shortage Continues Unabated, According To Latest NACDS Foundation Chain Pharmacy Employment Survey,” National Association of Chain Drug Stores (Alexandria, Va: 2003) (http://www.nacds.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=3061)
5 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Staffing Survey, May 2003 (http://www.ashp.org/practicemanager/StaffSurvey2003.pdf) 2.
6 HRSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 7-8.
7 HRSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 8.
8 HRSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ii.
9 “Dramatic Rise in Need for Pharmacists Projected,” Pharmacy Manpower Project, Inc., American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (Alexandria, Va.: 2002) 1.
10 HRSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ii.
11 HRSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 46.
12 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Fall 2002 Profile of Pharmacy Students (http://www.aacp.org/Docs/MainNavigation/InstitutionalData/4976_Tab_01.pdf)