Summary of Research Findings

This questionnaire survey was conducted among 352 small- and medium-sized pharmacies, focusing primarily on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and the adoption of digital tools, such as pharmacy support systems, AI-based medication history systems, online medication counseling systems, and electronic prescriptions. This press release discloses some of the analytical results from the survey, revealing changes in the operational environment of these pharmacies and their associated challenges.  

The business environment is challenging for small- and medium-sized pharmacies. This questionnaire asked how the current business environment has changed over the past three years. Respondents provided one answer to each question. Indeed, 80.6% of respondents said that various costs, such as electricity bills, labor costs, and purchase prices, have "deteriorated.” 60.1% of respondents said that the stable supply of medicines has “deteriorated.” These results indicate that concerns about the supply of pharmaceuticals have persisted and are impacting pharmacy operations. Regarding the number of patients visiting pharmacies, 46.7% of respondents answered “deteriorated.” The slow provision of prescriptions also appears to be tightening their businesses.

Noteworthy Topics

Deployments of Electronic Prescriptions and Cashless Payment Have Progressed Steadily

The questionnaire inquired about the deployment of various digital tools, including inventory management systems, dispensing audit support systems, drug dispensing systems/robots, AI-based medication history systems, online medication counseling systems, electronic prescriptions, self-checkout/semi-self-checkout systems, cashless payment terminals, smart pharmacy lockers, and translation tools. Respondents provided one answer for each system and tool. In this questionnaire, the adoption rate is defined as the sum of "already deployed" and "in preparation for deployment" for each product or system. The following four systems or devices achieved an adoption rate exceeding 50%: inventory management systems, online medication counseling systems, and electronic prescriptions, and cashless payment terminals.

Electronic prescriptions had the highest adoption rate, at 87.3% (83.9% already deployed and 3.4% in preparation for deployment). Cashless payment terminals also showed prevalence, with an adoption rate of 76.7% (76.1% already deployed and 0.6% in preparation for deployment).

AI-based medication history systems use generative AI to create patients’ medication histories by analyzing communication between pharmacists and patients, especially pharmacists' verbal medication counseling. This streamlines the process of creating medication histories for pharmacists. Currently, the system has a 19% adoption rate (15.3% deployed and 3.7% in preparation for deployment), indicating a gradual increase.

Conversely, the three systems with adoption rates below 10% are drug dispensing systems (robots), self-checkout/semi-self-checkout systems, and smart pharmacy lockers. The low adoption rates of drug dispensing and self-checkout/semi-self-checkout systems appear to be due to their high initial costs. The reason for the low adoption rate of smart pharmacy lockers seems to be the difficulty of securing space and the lower demand from patients.

Research Outline