Study shows flat-rate generic drug customers happier with Rx experience

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. Pharmacy customers participating in flat-rate generic drug programs show higher levels of satisfaction than those who don’t, a new study has found.

Satisfaction among customers using the programs in retail pharmacies averaged 829 on a 1,000-point scale, compared to 817 among those who don’t use them. Nearly a quarter of pharmacy customers participate in programs that offer 30- and 90-day supplies of generic drugs for flat rates of a few dollars; several retailers have adopted these programs since Wal-Mart and Kmart debuted them in 2006.

“Flat-rate generic prescription pricing programs are becoming increasingly popular among pharmacies,” said J.D. Power and Associates executive director of the healthcare practice Jim Dougherty. “While low price alone is not a guarantee of satisfaction, customers find these programs especially appealing because of the low prices, and pharmacies may be able to attract new and repeat customers with the simplicity of the programs.”

The two-year study, by J.D. Power and Associates, measures customer satisfaction in mail order pharmacies and retailers, including retail pharmacies, supermarkets and mass merchandisers. It examines seven factors contributing to customer satisfaction in retial pharmacies: non-pharmacist staff, store convenience, medication availability and information, layout and design, cost competitiveness, remote ordering convenience and the pharmacist.