Pharmacies Leverage Immunization Programs to Build Long-Term Patient Loyalty

Across the United States, community pharmacists are quietly transforming from dispensers of medication into frontline providers of clinical care. What began with seasonal flu shots and blood pressure checks has accelerated dramatically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as patients learned to rely on their local pharmacies for everything from vaccines to basic preventive services. Now, with growing demand for convenient, walk-in care, many pharmacies are weighing how far they can—and should—expand into services like contraception prescribing and travel health.

This shift comes at a time when access to reproductive health care is increasingly fragmented and uneven. In several states, pharmacists can prescribe hormonal contraception directly, offering patients an alternative to traditional physician visits that may involve long wait times, transportation barriers, or lack of nearby clinics. Younger adults in particular, often juggling work, family, and multiple responsibilities, place a premium on speed and convenience. For them, the ability to walk into a neighborhood pharmacy, avoid a crowded waiting room, and quickly obtain birth control or travel vaccines is not just a perk—it can be the difference between receiving care or going without.

Yet the path to building sustainable clinical services is far from straightforward. A pharmacist’s scope of practice varies widely by state, as do rules around what can be billed and how. Pharmacies must navigate a patchwork of regulations, payer policies, and operational challenges while also marketing new services to their existing patient base. Professional organizations, state pharmacy associations, and specialized groups like the Birth Control Pharmacist have stepped in with training, billing templates, and workflow tools to support this evolution.

In this interview, Sally Rafie, PharmD, BCPS, APh, FCCP, FCPhA, founder of the Birth Control Pharmacist, discusses how pharmacies can strategically launch services such as immunizations, birth control prescribing, and travel health—starting with the needs of the patients already walking through their doors.

“The most obvious thing is, if they're not already doing immunizations, that would be the first one. That’s a no-brainer,” Rafie said. “Most pharmacies are already doing that, but if you're not, then I think the community might see that you're not even providing the standard menu of services our community is definitely, especially since the pandemic, counting on us for access to vaccines.”