Sooner State News

Data from a recent AXIS poll shows Oklahoma residents support expanded roles for pharmacists and telehealth services.

The results, which analyzed 408 adults in the state, report 88% of adults strongly or somewhat support policies that would expand access to telehealth services across the states.

“Oklahomans are on board with innovations in health care, backing the expansion of telehealth throughout the state and a larger role for pharmacists,” AXIS Research Data Scientist Blake Moore told the Sooner State News.

Data shows 82% of survey participants would trust the administration of flu shots from a chain drug store pharmacist and 84% support pharmaceutical advice on minor health conditions. 

“Polling consistently shows the public holds a great deal of trust in pharmacists, and strong majorities of Oklahomans are comfortable with their pharmacists administering flu shots and strep tests, consulting on medication alternatives and minor health conditions, and prescribing some products,” Moore said.

Alternatively, just 30% of participants said they would trust a drug store pharmacist performing X-rays and 56% for helping manage chronic health conditions.

“The pandemic magnified long-standing cracks in the foundation of the U.S. healthcare system and exposed those cracks to populations that had never witnessed them before,” Dr. Shantanu Nundy, a primary care physician based in Washington D.C., told NPR. “All of us — not just patients with chronic diseases or patients who live at the margin — have the shared experience of trying to find a test or vaccine, of navigating the byzantine healthcare system on our own.”

NPR reports new research shows Oklahomans increasingly wanting more of their health care services via telehealth rather than traditional clinic or doctor visits. This shift has been accelerated due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, where more Americans shifted their medical care options from in-person doctor visits.

One study, reported by Ortholive, showed telehealth can save up to $1,500 for patients over traditional in-person care.

World Population Review data shows Oklahomans spent $9,258 per capita on health care in 2021, higher than the U.S. average per capita amount of $7,893.