Using Data to Influence Drug Pricing Policy

In a video interview with Pharma Commerce, Maggie McCullough, PolicyMap’s CEO, highlights how geospatial mapping can play a critical role in identifying and addressing pharmacy deserts—areas where access to pharmacies is limited or nonexistent. With an estimated 17.7% of the US population affected, the issue is increasingly urgent, particularly as major chains like Rite Aid close locations. Using Philadelphia as a case study, McCullough explains that 13% of the city’s pharmacy locations were Rite Aid stores, and their closure could significantly impact local access to medications and health services.

Geospatial tools like PolicyMap allow stakeholders to visualize not just where pharmacies are closing or opening, but also the broader context of the communities they serve. This includes assessing whether alternative pharmacy options exist nearby and evaluating how easily residents can access them. Physical distance is only part of the picture—transportation availability, such as car ownership or access to public transit, is also crucial.

McCullough further emphasizes that pharmacy access now extends into the digital realm. Telepharmacy is a growing solution, but it requires reliable internet access and digital devices—resources not all households have. Understanding these additional barriers is essential for designing effective interventions.

By layering geographic, transportation, and socio-economic data, mapping platforms can help policymakers, health systems, and community organizations proactively identify at-risk areas before they become pharmacy deserts. This data-driven approach enables more targeted responses that account for the real-life conditions affecting healthcare access, including digital equity.

McCullough also comments on what PolicyMap’s data reveals about the relationship between pharmacy access and broader health disparities in underserved communities; how mobile and digital solutions can be deployed effectively to close the gap in areas identified as pharmacy deserts; how data-driven insights support PBMs and healthcare leaders in negotiating fairer drug pricing; and much more.

A transcript of her conversation with PC can be found below.

PC: In regions with limited pharmacy access, how can data-driven insights support PBMs and healthcare leaders in negotiating fairer drug prices?

McCullough: In the pharmacy deserts, we know that these populations tend to have lower incomes, and as a result, even if they can get to the pharmacy, they may not have the money to pay for the drugs that they need to help with their conditions. This is where reducing drug pricing becomes so important. Certainly, what we've seen is that when people can best make the case for how a certain intervention—like reducing drug prices in particular deserts—not all deserts that might work, but particular deserts—and say, if we can reduce drug pricing in these areas, we're going to see better health outcomes, reduced hospitalization rates, and lower healthcare costs for the system as a whole. The ability to clearly make that argument with factual data becomes very, very important, so that it's not just an opinion. It’s about using that data, making that argument, and then thinking about the intervention, right?

What I've heard—I haven't seen any of this yet—but heard about people saying in these zones, potentially negotiating lower prices for all drugs. I've also heard about ideas of negotiating lower prices for the drugs that are addressing the chronic conditions that are most prevalent in that community, so it's a combination of the claims data and the on-the-ground, community-level data that can help make those decisions.

The one thing that I have seen that I think is really important because of all of the pharmacy pricing at some point is that there's a federal component to it. When making these maps to make the case, you want to highlight which neighborhoods are most in need. You can pinpoint them, but then make the map at a congressional district level, so you can go to congresspeople, and they can see very clearly where their constituents are suffering and how some of these interventions are going to benefit particular pockets in their community. I think bringing it home in a very clear and simple way to congresspeople is important, and I think that's one of the most powerful contributions of geospatial work to this effort.