*
Corresponding author: Jacqueline A. Padilla
College of Pharmacy, Centro Escolar University, Manila, Philippines.
Copyright © 2022 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0.
Drive-Thru community pharmacy in the “New Normal Era”: An innovation in
pharmaceutical services and its socio-economic impact
Jacqueline A. Padilla
1, 2, *
and Erwin M. Faller
1, 2
1
College of Pharmacy, Centro Escolar University, Manila, Philippines.
2
Department of Pharmacy, San Pedro College, Davao City, Philippines.
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2022, 18(03), 137–154
Publication history: Received on 08 February 2022; revised on 13 March 2022; accepted on 15 March 2022
Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/gscbps.2022.18.3.0101
Abstract
The new normal has become the “now normal”. Indeed, it is now inevitable that the health care system has changed,
including the pharmaceutical services. A big evolution has taken place which will correspond to a huge change in
pharmaceutical practice in order to keep abreast with the new normal and continue rendering pharmaceutical services
and access to the community.
The emergence of new ideas in order to meet the demands of the society in terms of pharmaceutical services while
keeping the community safe from contamination with the coronavirus has taken a tool. This pandemic situation has
indeed opened an avenue of new pharmaceutical services like Drive-Thru Pharmacy, Telepharmacy and Door-to-Door
Delivery of Medicines. However, the full practice of these pharmaceutical services are not yet fully developed and
accepted.
Several studies have indicated that during the pandemic community pharmacist have faced ample challenges like
emotional exhaustion (13.39%) and depersonalization (5.64%) which were higher in comparison to pre-Covid-19
situation. Indeed, Pharmacist are experiencing burnout with work from the demands of the consumers but supplies are
limited. Truly, the Covid-19 pandemic has created a great havoc in the pharmaceutical industry especially during the
lockdowns. Though market trends for Drive-Thru Pharmacy is suggestively positive but the actual materialization of
this new pharmaceutical service innovation is left to be further studied for full global development and acceptability.
This review aims to elucidate the possible good benefit of Drive-Thru pharmacy especially during the pandemic. Its
birth, challenges, potential market trend and socio-economic implications shall be discussed and its corresponding
correlation.
Keywords: Drive-Thru Pharmacy; Pharmaceutical Services; Coronavirus; Socio-Economic; Market Trend; Challenges
1. Introduction
Ever since the beginning of lockdowns in 2020 in almost all countries globally, many businesses have suffered financial
losses because the world is not ready for the lockdowns. But the Covid-19 pandemic has placed the pharmaceutical
industry at the pedestal of health care globally. Because of this, pharmacies have thrived in the business amidst the
months of lockdown. Pharmacies became one of the well-sought forms of businesses as many people are scampering to
purchase in large volumes of different vitamins and health supplements in order to enhance their immune system [1].
Moreover, during the pandemic, community pharmacies became part of the essential services. Hence, it should remain