Patients' willingness to pay for diabetes disease state management services in Australian community pharmacies

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine whether and how much patients would be willing to pay for diabetes disease state management (DSM) services in community pharmacies, and also to determine the relationships between willingness to pay (WTP) and different clinical/socio/demographic characteristics of patients.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 130 diabetic patients recruited from 14 pharmacies across Sydney, Australia completed self‐administered questionnaires. SPSS 16.0 was used to assess WTP in four scenarios (50 and 100 percent improvement in diabetes control after a 30 minute initial and 30 minute follow‐up consultation, respectively). Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques (regression) were used to analyse data.FindingsPatients are willing to pay a median of AUS$30 for 50 percent improvement and AUS$40 for 100 percent improvement per 30 minute initial consultation, and AUS$20 for 50 percent improvement and AUS$30 for 100 percent improvement per 30 minute follow‐up consultation. Although results varied across scenarios, WTP generally increased when: patients' income is greater than AUS$150,000; frequency of patients' diabetes‐related hospitalizations is between 2 and 4; and patients' perceptions of pharmacists' ability are higher. The remainder of the variables tested are not significantly associated with WTP.Practical implicationsThe findings demonstrate that most patients are willing to pay for diabetes DSM services in community pharmacies, and there is a great opportunity for pharmacies to expand their clinical services in this area.Originality/valueThe key contribution to the literature is the data relating to the willingness of Australian diabetic patients to pay for pharmacy‐delivered disease management support, and how this varies across people with different clinical/socio/demographic characteristics.