Category Archives: Healthcare Marketing

Pharmacists and the Flu Season

Direct from the Pharmacist Crowd: Flu season 2013 – 2014

Fall officially kicks off the flu season, with October being the peak month for flu shots. Haven’t gotten your flu shot yet? Your local pharmacist can help.

Flu shots provided at your local retail pharmacy are predicted to increase this year and convenience plays a major role in that trend. To better understand this shift in care setting we asked our Crowd of Retail Pharmacists from across the United States to weigh in on the 2013-2014 flu season. Here’s what we learned…


Interested in getting a flu shot at your local pharmacy? Use this handy HealthMap Vaccine Finder to locate a pharmacy near you that’s providing flu shots. We searched a 10-mile radius around the InCrowd office and found 50 local pharmacies offering flu shots.  

Interested in tapping into our Crowd of healthcare professionals? Have market questions you need answered? Learn more about how we can help, or drop us a note.

To hear more from our Crowd of healthcare professionals, view our recent series on social media access in the healthcare work setting, Social Media in Hospitals.

This post originally appeared on CROWDTalk. 

Predicting the flu is not an exact science

Direct from the Pharmacist Crowd: What level of severity do you predict for the 2013 – 2014 flu season?

Why can’t public health officials predict the severity of the upcoming flu season?  Because it’s impossible to predict how the flu virus will behave. How should you manage this unpredictability? The CDC, and you local pharmacist, suggest you get a flu shot. Looking for additional insight, InCrowd asked retail pharmacists from across the US a series of questions regarding the 2013-2014 flu season.

Question #1: Why don’t people get flu shots?

Question #2: What do you see as the major benefits to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

Question #3: What do you see as the major drawback to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

Question #4: What level of severity do you predict for the 2013 – 2014 flu season?

An increase in the number of people getting flu shots leads majority of surveyed pharmacists to predict an average flu season. 

  • Mild 17/150, 11.3%
  • Average 114/150, 76%
  • Worse than average 17/150, 11.3%
  • Severe 2/150, 1.3%

Bonus Question: During what month does your pharmacy administer the highest number of flu vaccines?


Answer: October, 106/150, 70.6%

That wraps our series of flu questions with local retail pharmacists. Interested in getting market feedback from pharmacists? Drop us a line, we have Crowds of US and international based pharmacists working in both the retail and hospital setting. These pharmacists are pre-screened and have opted-in to answer questions in real time.

Retail pharmacists see few drawbacks to providing flu shots at your local pharmacy

Direct from the Pharmacist Crowd: What do you see as the major drawbacks to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

Last year, about 20% of adults received their flu shots at a retail pharmacy. This number is up from the previous year and expected to grow again this year. With this growth rate in mind, InCrowd asked 150 retail pharmacists a series of questions regarding the 2013-2014 flu season.

Question #1: Why don’t people get flu shots?

Question #2: What do you see as the major benefits to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

Question #3: What do you see as the major drawback to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

Nearly half of the pharmacists surveyed (44%) see no drawbacks to providing flu shots at local retail pharmacies.

Other drawbacks identified include:

  • Less privacy, less professional setting 31/150, 20.6%
  • Managing and preventing adverse events 29/150, 19.3%
  • Disruption in continuity of care with PCP 14/150, 9.3%

Next question Direct from the Pharmacist Crowd: What level of severity do you predict for the 2013 – 2014 flu season? 

Interested in conducting market research with pharmacists? Drop us a line, we have Crowds of US and international based pharmacists working in both the retail and hospital setting. These pharmacists are pre-screened and have opted-in to answer questions in real time.