By 2012, Prescribing Pharmacists Could Influence $145 Billion in Drug Sales

New York, - Florida already allows it. And new research suggests that six other states may soon give pharmacists the authority to independently prescribe prescription drugs, a move which could grow drug revenues influenced by pharmacists from $77 billion in 2006 to $145 billion by 2012, according to Prescribing Pharmacists: An Emerging Decision Maker, a new report from Kalorama Information.

The study shows that 77% of drug purchase decisions are currently made without the influence of a pharmacist. However, by 2012 that percentage will drop to 63%, a clear indication that a shift is beginning to occur in the healthcare industry as the notion of independent prescribing by pharmacists becomes a reality.

Already, the state of Florida allows pharmacists to prescribe independently from an approved list of medications. Some Federal agencies already allow pharmacists to prescribe under regulated conditions. And as the lines between prescriber and distributor become increasingly gray in the rest of the U.S., many pharmacists believe their changing role will provide improved patient care, free-up physicians for more pressing health visits, and provide substantial savings to the healthcare industry.

“Forty-three states already allow cooperative health management between physicians and pharmacists, and pharmacists have continually proven their role in the detection of dangerous drug interactions and prescribing errors,” notes Melissa Elder, the report’s author. “Certainly safety will continue to impact the decision to allow pharmacists to prescribe, but cost-savings, population shifts, and numerous other factors are helping to swing the pendulum toward this expansion of the pharmacist’s role.”

The study focuses on the existing and increasing need for pharmacists, rising healthcare costs, collaborative practice trends, international trends in independent prescribing, markets and pharmacists’ influence, and the role of the emerging prescribing pharmacist.

Prescribing Pharmacists: An Emerging Decision Maker also includes a list of states most likely to allow independent prescription; therapeutic areas most likely to see pharmacist influence; main drivers of the prescribing pharmacist trend; a comprehensive overview of the pharmacists’ current role; review of cooperative therapy management programs; and more. It can be purchased directly from Kalorama Information by visiting http://www.kaloramainformation.com/pub/1492510.html. It is also available at MarketResearch.com.

About Kalorama Information
Kalorama Information supplies the latest in independent market research on medical markets. For more information, contact Tom Ehart at 240-747-3014 or tehart@marketresearch.com, or visit www.KaloramaInformation.com.