Using Pharmacists to Administer Vaccines Reduces Costs

A recent study by the Pacific Research Institute found that when pharmacists administer vaccines the costs are significantly lower compared with medical clinicians and providers.

“Adult vaccines can improve people’s health, but our nation’s vaccine rates are unacceptably low,” Wayne Winegarden, PhD, senior fellow of Business & Economics at the Pacific Research Institute, said in a press release. “Making vaccines more accessible and less expensive will help reverse this trend.”

The report showed that compared with providers’ offices and medical clinics, pharmacies administered vaccines at a lower cost. The report highlighted that a shingles vaccine administered at a pharmacy cost $168.50, compared with $208.72 at a doctor’s office. Additionally, both pneumococcal vaccines and influenza vaccines were more costly at doctor’s offices and in other medical settings compared with pharmacies.

Additionally, the researchers noted that other factors unique to the pharmacy setting can improve vaccine coverage and ultimately help prevent costly infection-related outcomes.

“In addition to lower direct costs, pharmacies also offer greater convenience including expanded hours of operation, more flexible scheduling than physicians’ offices or public health clinics, and multiple locations (located near where people live),” Dr Winegarden and colleagues wrote. “These convenience benefits have been linked to increased vaccination results. In fact, these improvements to vaccination rates were due, in part, to pharmacies providing vaccination services during non-working hours that are more convenient for many adults.”

Dr Winegarden emphasized that policy interventions are needed to remove state-level legislative barriers to pharmacists providing vaccinations.

“In many states, outdated state laws unjustifiably limit patients’ access to vaccinations from providers who may be more convenient and less expensive,” Dr Winegarden said. “By reforming the laws, patients can get their next shingles or pneumonia shot at their neighborhood pharmacy—and save money, too.”

—David Costill

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