American Pharmacists Month: Why Technology Cannot Replace Traditional Pharmacy

Mail-order delivery and telepharmacy are widening the reach of pharmacy care in underserved communities, but for patients in pharmacy deserts, getting a prescription delivered to their doorstep doesn’t always mean they are receiving necessary care.

“I definitely think the technologically driven drug delivery channels are part of the solution, especially when we’re talking about access issues,” Kimberly Kue-Tsemo, PharmD, clinical pharmacist at George Washington Medical Faculty Associates, told Drug Topics®. “However, I think it’s important to recognize that improving access doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ve now just solved all the challenges with medication management.”

Although automated delivery channels work well for stable chronic conditions with predictable dosing, drug regimens requiring ongoing adjustments face significant operational hurdles. Kue-Tsemo emphasizes that logistical breakdowns such as disconnected phone lines, unconfigured voicemails, and uncoordinated deliveries frequently create severe delays in care.

READ MORE: American Pharmacists Month: Pharmacy Deserts Growing in US Despite Rising Awareness

The Delivery Gap and Care Coordination

These logistical issues reflect widespread national experiences.

A survey by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) reveals that 48% of mail-order patients experienced missed doses due to late shipments, a rate that climbed to 63% when health plans mandated mail-order usage. Furthermore, 85% of patients stranded by delayed deliveries reported paying twice when purchasing emergency fills at retail pharmacies.¹

Inflexible 90-day dispensing rules also leave patients with stacks of unusable medication when prescriptions change, while unattended porch deliveries expose sensitive drugs to extreme weather elements.

Shrinking Storefronts and Root Causes

Contextualizing why technology is being heavily promoted requires examining the rapid expansion of pharmacy deserts.

Research from Ohio State University shows that residents in nearly half of all American counties live in a pharmacy desert without a drugstore within a 10-mile radius. National data indicates over 29% of community pharmacies closed between 2010 and 2021, with thousands more shutting down in recent years at a rate of up to 8 per day. Major retail chains like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid continue to reduce store footprints alongside independent closures.^2,3

Pharmacy owners attribute this crisis primarily to low reimbursement rates from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) acting as powerful middlemen, alongside rising operational expenses and staffing shortages.²

An analysis from the Rural Health Research Gateway highlights that counties lacking retail pharmacies contain higher proportions of low-income, uninsured, unemployed, and elderly residents. Across the nation, 15.8 million Americans reside in pharmacy deserts spanning urban, suburban, and rural regions.^3,4

Mail-order models cannot substitute for physical storefronts because they siphon economic activity out of local communities, lack vital health screenings or vaccinations, and eliminate direct professional interaction. Despite 85% of Americans historically relying on local brick-and-mortar pharmacies, retail closures force vulnerable populations to navigate remote systems without guidance.^2-5

Regulatory Obstacles and the Value of Pharmacist Interaction

Telepharmacy offers a potential hybrid solution by establishing remote sites staffed by technicians under remote oversight. A cohort study published in JAMA Network Open demonstrates that states adopting less restrictive telepharmacy policies achieved an 11.1% relative reduction in populations living in pharmacy deserts, with telepharmacies being twice as likely as traditional stores to open in underserved areas.^3,5

However, Kue-Tsemo notes that telepharmacies encounter major barriers, including high equipment costs, technician shortages, and fragmented state regulations governing staffing ratios and location limits.⁵

Beyond legal and economic hurdles, replacing traditional pharmacies with remote platforms risks degrading care quality. Standard pharmacies provide immediate, direct access to a licensed pharmacist, whereas telepharmacies rely primarily on technicians with remote oversight.

Kue-Tsemo warns that removing direct and in-person pharmacist contact removes a vital health care partner, creating potential risks for patient outcomes. Without face-to-face pharmacist counseling, patients managing complex therapies face higher risks of polypharmacy and adverse drug events.

Although technological delivery channels expand physical access, they remain a supplement rather than a complete replacement for the personal relationship between patients and local community pharmacists.

READ MORE: American Pharmacists Month Resource Center

REFERENCES

1. Poll: Rx patients encounter problems with mail order. Chain Drug Review. July 31, 2024. Accessed October 27, 2026. https://chaindrugreview.com/poll-rx-patients-encounter-problems-with-mail-order/

2. Crowley K. Pharmacy deserts grow as drugstores close. First Alert 4. March 17, 2026. Accessed October 27, 2026. https://www.firstalert4.com/2026/03/17/pharmacy-deserts-grow-drugstores-close/

3. Dowell MA. The evolving telepharmacy dispensing landscape. U.S. Pharmacist. 2025;50(10):31-36. https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/the-evolving-telepharmacy-dispensing-landscape

4. Rural and urban pharmacy presence – pharmacy deserts. Rural Health Research Gateway. August 2022. Accessed October 27, 2026. https://www.ruralhealthresearch.org/publications/1519

5. Urick BY, Adams JK, Bruce MR. State telepharmacy policies and pharmacy deserts. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(8):e2328810. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.28810