Seventy-four million Americans reside in areas facing healthcare shortages, with projections indicating a potential deficit of up to 86,000 physicians in the United States by 2036. In many rural communities, accessing timely medical care for common conditions like a sore throat or the flu can be a significant burden, often requiring patients to miss work, travel long distances, and endure lengthy waits for appointments.
To address these challenges, experts suggest modernizing state laws to allow pharmacists to treat minor, protocol-driven conditions. Pharmacists are a readily accessible healthcare resource, with 88.9 percent of Americans living within five miles of a community pharmacy. This proximity offers a faster, closer, and potentially less expensive alternative to doctor's offices, urgent care centers, or emergency rooms for routine ailments.
Allowing pharmacists to manage conditions such as COVID-19, influenza, strep throat, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections could also lead to cost savings for both patients and public health programs. A 2024 study in Washington state found that care for minor ailments provided by community pharmacies cost, on average, $277.78 less than comparable care received in primary care offices, urgent care, or emergency departments. By handling these simpler cases, pharmacists could free up physicians to focus on more complex medical needs and reserve hospitals for patients requiring intensive care.
States like Virginia and Iowa offer models for expanded pharmacist practice. Virginia permits pharmacists, under statewide protocols, to test and initiate treatment for conditions including COVID-19, UTIs, influenza, and strep throat. Iowa protocols allow pharmacists to dispense antivirals or antibiotics for influenza and strep throat. These examples demonstrate that expanded authority can be implemented through defined protocols, objective testing, clear treatment guidelines, and established referral requirements, rather than open-ended prescribing.
This expansion of scope is not intended to replace physicians but rather to complement their services. Pharmacists would be expected to refer patients with complex symptoms, recurring issues, high-risk conditions, or young children to physicians for more in-depth medical evaluation. Modernizing these scope-of-practice laws could enhance patient access to basic treatment, alleviate pressure on the physician workforce, and reduce overall healthcare costs by diverting minor illnesses from more expensive treatment settings.