title: The relationship between the financial status of sole community independent pharmacies and their broader involvement with other rural providers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To document sole community pharmacists' involvement with other local health care organizations, these pharmacies' current financial status, and to determine whether financial position was associated with the provision of pharmacy services to other local health care providers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted semistructured interviews with pharmacist-owners of 401 sole community pharmacies randomly selected using data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, Inc. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of responses were conducted to examine associations between pharmacy characteristics, financial position, and involvement with other local health care providers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About 4 in 5 pharmacies provided services to at least 1 local health care organization. Most respondents (70%) described their store's overall financial position as good or very good, but about one-third reported that their financial conditions had deteriorated since the previous year. Providing services to other organizations was associated with higher prescription sales volume. After controlling for prescription volume, there was no association between providing services to other organizations and pharmacist-owners' self-assessed financial position.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sole community pharmacists provide important pharmaceutical support services to other health care organizations. Other than increased volume of business, this support often does not translate directly to an improved financial position for the pharmacy. The survival of sole community pharmacies not only ensures retail access to pharmaceuticals and patient counseling, but it also, in many cases, plays a key role in supporting other local health care providers, helping to preserve access to important services that are particularly needed in communities with limited health care options.
authors: North Carolina Rural Health Research & Policy Analysis Center, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7590, USA. aradford@schsr.unc.edu
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Radford
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Slifkin
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: King
authors: Michelle
authors: M
authors: Lampman
authors: Indira
authors: I
authors: Richardson
authors: Steve
authors: S
authors: Rutledge
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010594:Pharmacies / Q000191:economics*; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*