Online Pharmacies Research Articles

Application of Cache Coherence Protocols in Enhancing Pharmacy Management Systems

The complexity of modern pharmacy management systems mirrors challenges faced in distributed computing, particularly in ensuring data consistency across multiple locations and systems. Cache coherence protocols, widely used in computer science to manage data consistency in multiprocessor systems, offer a valuable framework for addressing similar issues in pharmacy management. This paper explores the application of cache coherence protocols to pharmacy systems, proposing a model that enhances the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of pharmacy operations, particularly in multi-location and online pharmacy environments

Pricing of medical services and channel selection strategies for pharmaceutical supply chain under the zero‐markup drug policy

AbstractThis paper studies the channel strategies of drug suppliers in the drug supply chain under the zero‐plus drug pricing policy. With the popularity of e‐commerce and online shopping, supply chain firms have begun considering expanding their business to online channels. In this paper, we construct a game model to explore the impact of the pharmaceutical supply chain's development of online channels on supply chain members. We conclude that under the zero profits policy, increasing the public hospital's public welfare level will increase the price of drugs, decrease the price of medical services, and reduce the overall cost of patients. In addition, the greater the sensitivity of medical services, the lower the likelihood that a drug supplier will open an online pharmacy, and the lower the level of public good, the greater the likelihood that a drug supplier will open an online pharmacy. In addition, under certain conditions, patients can receive a higher level of medical service and spend less on healthcare under a dual‐channel strategy. Finally, under a dual‐channel strategy, an appropriate profit‐sharing mechanism can eliminate instability in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Order prescriptions online: Determinants of purchase satisfaction in an emerging Indian e‐pharmacy sector

AbstractThe burgeoning Indian e‐pharmacy sector, spurred by digital commerce growth and affordable Internet access, presents a promising solution to distribution challenges, especially during the pandemic. Despite doubling online sales within a few months of lockdown and significant investments, understanding consumer behaviour in this novel domain remains crucial. This research addresses this gap by employing the stimuli–organism–response (SOR) model to conceptualize and empirically validate the determinants of customer purchase satisfaction in e‐pharmacies. In the e‐pharmacy context, stimuli encompass online cues like the perception of honesty (PH), convenience value (CV), perceived risk and quality perception. The organismic state embodies the user's propensity to purchase medications online (PPMS), whereas the response represents their customer purchase satisfaction (CPS). Employing partial least squares structural equation modelling on data from 220 consumers, this study reveals significant relationships between stimuli and PPMS and CPS. Furthermore, subjective norm moderates the influence of PH and CV on PPMS, highlighting the importance of social influence in online pharmacy decisions. These findings enrich the understanding of consumer behaviour in e‐pharmacies and demonstrate the utility of the SOR model in this context. This research contributes to both theory and practice. Theoretically, it pioneers applying the SOR model to e‐pharmacies, uncovering the interplay between environmental cues, internal states, and purchase satisfaction. Practically, the study offers valuable insights for e‐pharmacy platforms to enhance user experience and promote customer satisfaction.

Assessment of PrEP and PEP furnishing in San Francisco Bay Area pharmacies: An observational cross-sectional study

BackgroundOver 1 million people in the United States are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As of 2021, pharmacists in California can prescribe PrEP and PEP without establishing a collaborative practice agreement in an effort to reduce HIV transmission. However, in 2021 less than 3% of independent pharmacies in the San Francisco Bay Area did so. To our knowledge, there has been no follow-up research assessing potential changes in pre-exposure prophylaxis/postexposure prophylaxis (PrEP/PEP) furnishing rates in the region. ObjectiveAssess the extent of PrEP/PEP furnishing in San Francisco Bay Area pharmacies 3 years after policy implementation. MethodsWe conducted an observational, cross-sectional study to identify independent community and mail-order pharmacies furnishing PrEP/PEP in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area in 2024. Furnishing pharmacies were identified via phone calls and the findings were validated with in-person visits. We also identified the number of retail chain pharmacies furnishing PrEP/PEP in San Francisco County. ResultsWe contacted 202 independent community and mail order pharmacies in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area by telephone; of these, 16 reported furnishing PEP/PrEP and all confirmed their ability to furnish when visited in person. We contacted 67 retail chain pharmacies in San Francisco County; of these, 11 pharmacies reported furnishing PrEP/PEP (10 Safeway; 1 Walgreens). ConclusionsMore pharmacies furnished PrEP/PEP in the 9-county San Francisco Bay Area in 2024 (8%) than in 2021 (3%); in addition, one retail chain pharmacy had instituted a furnishing protocol. However, furnishing rates remained low. Past research suggests that advertising and the development of furnishing protocols may help increase furnishing and increase medication access.

Support for Mail-Order Pharmacy Dispensing of Mifepristone for Medication Abortion.

According to this study.

Lifetime cost of surgical treatment for canine hip osteoarthritis is less than conservative management in dogs under eight years of age.

To determine the lifetime cost of 3 treatments for canine hip osteoarthritis: (1) conservative management, (2) femoral head and neck excision (FHNE), or (3) total hip replacement. We hypothesized that FHNE would be the least expensive treatment at all ages. Cost estimates from 11 private and academic referral centers from 8 randomly chosen cities across the US. Costs of surgeries were collected from practices in 8 US cities. The literature was used to determine expected postoperative costs. For conservative management, costs of pain medications and diet were obtained by use of online pharmacies. A 4.5% inflation adjustment was used for costs in subsequent years. For a dog aged 1 to 7 years, FHNE had the lowest lifetime cost. Total hip replacement had the second lowest cost until age 4, after which conservative management was lower. For dogs > 8 years, conservative management was the most cost-effective. For dogs presenting with clinical signs at or under 1 year of age, the perceived benefits of total hip replacement may not be financially prohibitive if lifetime cost of care is considered. Femoral head and neck excision was also less expensive than long-term conservative management. This can help veterinarians inform owners on costs of treatments over the lifetime of their pet. This type of analysis is limited to financial costs alone and does not account for differences in outcomes, as these are not well established. It should be expanded in the future as better data on outcomes and impacts of care become available.

Overview of online pharmacy regulations in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf cooperation council countries and their impact on online pharmacy service providers in Saudi Arabia: a qualitative analysis.

Laws and regulations are needed to regulate the growing online pharmacy (OP) services. The main objective of this work was to provide an overview of the laws and regulations for OP services in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. In addition, the perception of how these laws and regulations in Saudi Arabia (SA) affect the online ordering of medications and health-related products from national and international OPs was explored. A secondary data collection through emails and a qualitative descriptive analysis was used to gain insight into the OP regulations in the GCC countries. Then, a qualitative study was carried out with semi-structured interviews to investigate the impact of these regulations on the practice and the market from the OP service providers' perspective. The interviews were carried out with a sample of major OP service providers in SA, to represent the GCC countries. During the interviews, multiple open-ended questions were used to explore opinions about the OP regulations and how these regulations affected the practice. The interviews were then transcribed and thematically analysed. Responses were mainly received from regulators in SA, Bahrain, Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE). SA and UAE allow for offering of OP services as add-on service for existing community pharmacy, while UAE also allows for standalone OP providers. SA, Bahrain, and Oman allow online ordering of both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription-only medications (POM) from international OP; a prescription is required for POM and quantities allowed should be no more than 3months' supply in case of SA and Oman while this was not specified in case of Bahrain. Invoice of purchase was also required for any POM to be released from customs in SA and Bahrain but not in Oman and UAE. Controlled medications were prohibited to be ordered online in SA, UAE, and Bahrain while it was allowed in Oman if the prescription was issued within 6-month, and the quantity dispensed was for 1month only. Apart from online ordering of medications in these countries, no specific regulations existed to regulate ordering of other health-related products from local or international OPs. Whether Kwait and Qatar have regulations for OP could not be established due to lack of response. Two of the four interviewed representatives of OP service providers in SA were not aware of the existence of specific regulations for OP services. The representatives who were aware of these regulations were satisfied with them and found them beneficial for their business and for the patients at the same time. However, representatives raised concerns regarding the enforcement of regulations on international OP providers. The existing regulations for online ordering of medications are somewhat comparable between the GCC countries, with no specific regulations for ordering of other health-related products from local or international OPs. In SA, there is limited awareness of the existing regulations for OP services by providers. Nevertheless, the need for detailed regulations on certain aspects of OP services was highlighted, such as regulations for international OPs and importing medications for personal use.

Does the type of pharmacy used influence medication adherence? A retrospective observational study in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Community pharmacies in New Zealand have varying ownership and operational structures. Unlike independent pharmacies, corporate and hybrid pharmacies do not charge prescription copayments. This research aimed to determine whether people receiving free prescriptions from corporate and hybrid pharmacies (via copayment waiver) have greater medication adherence than the users of independent pharmacies. A nationwide, retrospective, observational study linked 1 year of dispensing data (1/05/2022 to 30/04/2023) from the Pharmaceutical Collection to patient enrollment data using a National Health Index number to identify demographics of different pharmacy-type users. People were assigned to a particular type of pharmacy if they collected at least 70% of their prescriptions from there; if they did not meet this threshold, they were defined as mixed users. People were classified as adherent if dispensing data showed they collected their supply of medication to cover at least 80% of the study period. The sample captured 218,080 people taking at least 1 diabetes medication, with a total of 360,079 unique medications being included in the analysis. The majority, 156,893, used independent pharmacies. The type of pharmacy used was shown to be a significant predictor of adherence. Corporate and hybrid pharmacy users were 0.90 (95% CI 0.88 to 0.93) and 0.93 (95% CI 0.90 to 0.96) times as likely be adherent than the users of independent pharmacies. Mail order pharmacy users were the most likely to be adherent, whereas mixed pharmacy users were the least likely to be adherent. Our findings suggest that prescription copayments provided by corporate and hybrid pharmacies are not the most significant barrier to medication adherence. Further research may identify more efficient ways of improving medication adherence than removing prescription copayments for all.

Primary care and abortion provider perspectives on mail-order medication abortion: a qualitative study

BackgroundThis qualitative study aims to assess perspectives of clinicians and clinic staff on mail-order pharmacy dispensing for medication abortion.MethodsParticipants included clinicians and staff involved in implementing a mail-order dispensing model for medication abortion at eleven clinics in seven states as part of a prospective cohort study, which began in January 2020 (before the FDA removed the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone). From June 2021 to July 2022, we invited participants at the participating clinics, including six primary care and five abortion clinics, to complete a semi-structured video interview about their experiences. We then conducted qualitative thematic analysis of interview data, summarizing themes related to perceived benefits and concerns about the mail-order model, perceived patient interest, and potential barriers to larger-scale implementation.ResultsWe conducted 24 interviews in total with clinicians (13 physicians and one nurse practitioner) and clinic staff (n = 10). Participants highlighted perceived benefits of the mail-order model, including its potential to expand abortion services into primary care, increase patient autonomy and privacy, and to normalize abortion services. They also highlighted key logistical, clinical, and feasibility concerns about the mail-order model, and specific challenges related to integrating abortion into primary care.ConclusionClinicians and clinic staff working in primary care and abortion clinics were optimistic that mail-order dispensing of medication abortion can improve the ability of some providers to provide abortion and enable more patients to access services. The feasibility of mail-order pharmacy dispensing of medication abortion following the Supreme Court Dobbs decision is to be determined.Trial registrationRegistry: Clinicaltrials.gov. Trial registration number: NCT03913104. Date of registration: first submitted on April 3, 2019 and first posted on April 12, 2019.

Implementation of a North Dakota opioid misuse and overdose prevention program in West Virginia

BackgroundPharmacy has an important role in combating the opioid epidemic. However, there is a need for more consistency of programs and evidence-based practices across the country. ObjectivesTo describe how an evidence-based opioid misuse and overdose prevention program that originated in North Dakota was implemented in West Virginia and to compare program results between the two states including pharmacist interventions and patient screening for opioid misuse and overdose. Practice descriptionThis advancement in practice took place in participating North Dakota and West Virginia community pharmacies. Practice innovationAn evidence-based program that originated in North Dakota was implemented in West Virginia. The details of this collaboration are outlined in this manuscript. Evaluation methodsProgram screening and pharmacist intervention data were collected using DocStation, an online pharmacy patient management platform. ResultsThirty-four pharmacies in West Virginia implemented the program. Between April 2022 and September 2023, a total of 34 West Virginia pharmacies conducted 449 documented screenings compared to 12,105 screenings by 81 pharmacies in North Dakota over the same time. There were differences between the states with regard to the proportion of individuals screened as high-risk for opioid use disorder and individuals at risk of accidental opioid overdose likely attributable to different demographics. ConclusionAn opioid misuse and prevention program was successfully implemented in two states, which can serve as a model to implement similar programs in other pharmacies across the United States.

Quality Control and Safety Assessment of Online-Purchased Food Supplements Containing Red Yeast Rice (RYR).

Dietary supplements containing red yeast rice (RYR), a fermentation product of the fungus Monascus purpureus grown on white rice, remain popular in Europe as proclaimed cholesterol-lowering aids. The cholesterol-lowering effects are due to the occurrence of monacolin K, which is often present as a mixture of monacolin K lactone (MK) and as monacolin K hydroxy acid (MKA). MK is structurally similar to the cholesterol-lowering medicine lovastatin. Recently, due to safety concerns linked to the use of statins, the European Commission prohibited RYR supplements with a maximum serving exceeding 3 mg of total monacolins per day. Moreover, the amount of the mycotoxin citrinin, potentially produced by M. purpureus, was also reduced to 100 µg/kg. Evidently, manufacturers that offer their products on the European market, including the online market, must also be compliant with these limits in order to guarantee the safety of their products. Therefore, thirty-five different RYR supplements, purchased from an EU-bound e-commerce platform or from registered online pharmacies, were screened for their compliance to the European legislation for citrinin content and the amount of total monacolin K. This was conducted by means of a newly developed LC-MS/MS methodology that was validated according to ISO 17025. Moreover, these supplements were also screened for possible adulteration and any contamination by micro-organisms and/or mycotoxins. It was found that at least four of the thirty-five RYR supplements (≈11%) might have reason for concern for the safety of the consumer either due to high total monacolin K concentrations exceeding the European predefined limits for total monacolins or severe bacterial contamination. Moreover, three samples (≈9%) were likely adulterated, and the labeling of six of the seventeen samples (≈35%) originating from an EU-based e-commerce platform was not compliant, as either the mandatory warning was missing or incomplete or the total amount of monacolins was not mentioned.

Unregulated male sexual enhancement treatments: Perils and pitfalls for patients and providers

ABSTRACT As the demand for “quick-fixes” and instant gratification intensifies among consumers of the US health care delivery system, health care providers remain essential to ensuring patients receive safe, evidenced-based care. Erectile dysfunction is a common health condition affecting as many as 42% of US men. As such, it is unsurprising that American health care consumers affected by erectile dysfunction (ED) may be tempted by “quick fixes” to ameliorate their symptoms—particularly if such fixes are perceived to be less embarrassing, more accessible, and/or more affordable. Although multiple therapies for the treatment of ED are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, unregulated and/or counterfeit treatments are abundantly available to health care consumers on the Internet and US retail settings. These unregulated treatments may take the form of over-the-counter supplements or tainted prescription medications from illegal Internet pharmacies. This clinical brief is a call to action for health care professionals to advocate for patient safety, educate patients, and champion evidence-based therapies approved for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

Conversion of an outpatient pharmacy to a mail-order pharmacy within a health system.

In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. The establishment of a new outpatient pharmacy provided a strategic opportunity to repurpose and convert an existing outpatient pharmacy into a closed-door mail-order pharmacy within a health system. This article describes the steps taken to successfully make this change and evaluates the impact. The mail-order pharmacy conversion project was divided into 3 phases: phase 1 (before conversion) from July through August 2022, phase 2 (conversion) from October through November 2022, and phase 3 (after conversion) from December 2022 through February 2023. Phase 1 included standardizing workflows with standard operating procedure (SOP) development, improving automation, determining staffing ratios, gathering baseline staff engagement data, and identifying primary and secondary outcomes of interest. Phase 2 encompassed SOP implementation and training of mail-order team members. Phase 3 involved evaluating available pharmacy floorspace, marketing mail-order services, and the second distribution of the staff engagement survey. The measured outcomes of this project were total prescription volumes, increase in total revenue, and staff engagement. Data collection was completed in phase 3. The existing outpatient pharmacy was successfully converted to a closed-door pharmacy, and the associated prescription volume increased. Developing a strategic action plan to establish SOPs, calculate staffing performance metrics, and identify opportunities for growth and engaging frontline team members were essential to the success of this project.

Enhancing and Implementation of ML in Healthcare Sector

This research paper explores the transformative impact of machine learning (ML) on the healthcare industry, particularly through the emergence of ML-driven health and medical platforms. With the ongoing shift from offline to online shopping, the future of healthcare is envisioned to heavily rely on specialized online doctor consultations and pharmacies. Leveraging ML technologies, these platforms offer personalized services such as real-time video consultations, appointment scheduling, prescription management, and health record maintenance, ultimately prioritizing safety and convenience. This paper elucidates the potential of ML in optimizing patient care, expediting processes, and enhancing decision-making in healthcare. Additionally, it delves into the global trend of online medicine purchasing, highlighting its advantages and examining its impact on the Indian healthcare market.

FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI PREFERENSI KONSUMEN TERHADAP KEPUTUSAN PEMBELIAN DI WEBSITE K24Klik.com APOTEK K24 CIKIJING TAHUN 2024

Online drug purchases have become a popular choice among consumers in the growing digital era, especially in Indonesia, where online pharmacy services are increasingly attracting people to meet their health needs in a more efficient and practical way. This study aims to analyze the factors that influence consumer preferences for drug purchase decisions on the K24Klik.com Apotek K24 Cikijing website. Descriptive quantitative methods were used to collect data from 100 respondents through structured questionnaires. The variables studied include the practicality of the purchasing process, security, service quality, convenience, and consumer trust in the K24 Pharmacy. The results showed that the efficient payment process, responsiveness to customer inquiries, ease of communicating with the pharmacy, and previous experience with the K24Klik.com website should be improved. Keywords: Factors, Consumer Preference, Website

Mail-Order Pharmacy Dispensing of Mifepristone for Medication Abortion After In-Person Screening

Before 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration required mifepristone to be dispensed in person, limiting access to medication abortion. To estimate the effectiveness, acceptability, and feasibility of dispensing mifepristone for medication abortion using a mail-order pharmacy. This prospective cohort study was conducted from January 2020 to May 2022 and included 11 clinics in 7 states (5 abortion clinics and 6 primary care sites, 4 of which were new to abortion provision). Eligible participants were seeking medication abortion at 63 or fewer days' gestation, spoke English or Spanish, were age 15 years or older, and were willing to take misoprostol buccally. After assessing eligibility for medication abortion through an in-person screening, mifepristone and misoprostol were prescribed using a mail-order pharmacy. Patients had standard follow-up care with the clinic. Clinical information was collected from medical records. Consenting participants completed online surveys about their experiences 3 and 14 days after enrolling. A total of 540 participants were enrolled; 10 withdrew or did not take medication. Data were analyzed from August 2022 to December 2023. Mifepristone, 200 mg, and misoprostol, 800 µg, prescribed to a mail-order pharmacy and mailed to participants instead of dispensed in person. Proportion of patients with a complete abortion with medications only, reporting satisfaction with the medication abortion, and reporting timely delivery of medications. Clinical outcome information was obtained and analyzed for 510 abortions (96.2%) among 506 participants (median [IQR] age, 27 [23-31] years; 506 [100%] female; 194 [38.3%] Black, 88 [17.4%] Hispanic, 141 [27.9%] White, and 45 [8.9%] multiracial/other individuals). Of these, 436 participants (85.5%; 95% CI, 82.2%-88.4%) received medications within 3 days. Complete abortion occurred after medication use in 499 cases (97.8%; 95% CI, 96.2%-98.9%). There were 24 adverse events (4.7%) for which care was sought for medication abortion symptoms; 3 patients (0.6%; 95% CI, 0.1%-1.7%) experienced serious adverse events requiring hospitalization (1 with blood transfusion); however, no adverse events were associated with mail-order dispensing. Of 477 participants, 431 (90.4%; 95% CI, 87.3%-92.9%) indicated that they would use mail-order dispensing again for abortion care, and 435 participants (91.2%; 95% CI, 88.3%-93.6%) reported satisfaction with the medication abortion. Findings were similar to those of other published studies of medication abortion with in-person dispensing. The findings of this cohort study indicate that mail-order pharmacy dispensing of mifepristone for medication abortion was effective, acceptable to patients, and feasible, with a low prevalence of serious adverse events. This care model should be expanded to improve access to medication abortion services.

Integration of AI in Web Development for Online Pharmacy Store: An Effective Approach

This research paper investigates the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into web development for online pharmacy stores using the Flask framework with Python programming language. Authors Yogesh Raikwar and Gaurav Rajak explore the potential benefits and challenges associated with incorporating AI technologies in the context of pharmacy e-commerce platforms. The study aims to develop a prototype system capable of providing intelligent recommendations, medication reminders, and virtual consultations to enhance user experience and streamline operations in online pharmacy services. Key Words: AI, E-COMMERCE, HIPAA, GDPR

ДИСТАНЦИОННОЕ ФАРМАЦЕВТИЧЕСКОЕ КОНСУЛЬТИРОВАНИЕ С ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕМ ЧАТ-БОТА

The article discusses the use of chatbots for a variety of tasks in the medical field – such as scheduling doctor’s appointments, monitoring patients with chronic conditions, and providing healthy lifestyle recommendations – and in pharmacy operations, including verifying pharmacy addresses and hours, searching for and ordering products, and accessing information about delivery and payment, as well as operator consultations. It identifies several challenges faced in pharmaceutical counseling: time constraints, lack of motivation, absence of a dedicated counseling space, and low demand for the service. Chatbots are proposed as a solution to these issues, offering the benefit of pre-determined specific questions to address the time shortage, while the virtual nature of counseling negates the need for a physical space. Pursuant to recommended standards and legal requirements, we have developed a seven-stage model for remote pharmaceutical counseling, tailored for digital implementation. When integrated into a website, mobile app, messenger, or other online pharmacy services as a chatbot, this model enables pharmacists to consider individual client needs and provide comprehensive pharmaceutical care remotely without significantly extending consultation times. Integration with online pharmacy services is suggested to be facilitated through an API (Application Programming Interface). Furthermore, the article describes a mechanism to safeguard user personal data in the application of this algorithm.

Large language models for preventing medication direction errors in online pharmacies

Errors in pharmacy medication directions, such as incorrect instructions for dosage or frequency, can increase patient safety risk substantially by raising the chances of adverse drug events. This study explores how integrating domain knowledge with large language models (LLMs)—capable of sophisticated text interpretation and generation—can reduce these errors. We introduce MEDIC (medication direction copilot), a system that emulates the reasoning of pharmacists by prioritizing precise communication of core clinical components of a prescription, such as dosage and frequency. It fine-tunes a first-generation LLM using 1,000 expert-annotated and augmented directions from Amazon Pharmacy to extract the core components and assembles them into complete directions using pharmacy logic and safety guardrails. We compared MEDIC against two LLM-based benchmarks: one leveraging 1.5 million medication directions and the other using state-of-the-art LLMs. On 1,200 expert-reviewed prescriptions, the two benchmarks respectively recorded 1.51 (confidence interval (CI) 1.03, 2.31) and 4.38 (CI 3.13, 6.64) times more near-miss events—errors caught and corrected before reaching the patient—than MEDIC. Additionally, we tested MEDIC by deploying within the production system of an online pharmacy, and during this experimental period, it reduced near-miss events by 33% (CI 26%, 40%). This study shows that LLMs, with domain expertise and safeguards, improve the accuracy and efficiency of pharmacy operations.

Pharmaceutical company ranks best, worst states to live in for MH

In an analysis published last month, the online pharmacy company, Universal Drugstore, ranked the best and worst states to live in for mental health after evaluating various data points, including the prevalence of mental illness and the cost of care, FortuneWell, reported on April 8. Montana topped the list of best places to live for mental health, scoring 8.06 out of 10. The state had the lowest number by population of “mentally unhealthy adults” who cannot afford care, and residents took the second‐fewest mental health sick days in 2022. By contrast, Nevada ranked as the worst state for mental health, with a score of 2.06 out of 10. The Silver State placed in the top five for several measurements, including the highest number of mental health sick days taken and the most youth reporting depressive episodes. Nevada also had one of the lowest ratios of psychologists to residents across the nation. Breaking the data down further, South Dakota, ranked fourth as the best state for mental health with the fewest reported mental health sick days (three), while West Virginia and Louisiana, ranked 34th and 44th, reported the most (six). Adults in New Jersey, ranked 16th, had the lowest rates of mental illness diagnoses (16%), while adults residing in Utah, ranked 25th, had the highest rates of mental illness (27%). Oregon, in 50th place, ranked as the second‐worst state for mental health with a score of 2.89 out of 10, tied with New Mexico, ranked 42nd, for the nation's highest percentage of youth experiencing depressive episodes (19%); the lowest is in Washington, D.C. (11%). The nation's capital, which ranked 13th, is also home to the highest proportion of psychologists compared to Alabama, Maine, Georgia, and Louisiana. Researchers used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Kaiser Family Foundation, Mental Health America, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to compile the rankings. They compared each state's ratio of psychologists to residents, the average number of mental health sick days taken, the prevalence of mental illness for adults and youth, the number of beds available in mental health facilities and the cost of prescription drugs.