WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Drug store franchises, supermarkets and mass merchants lead the field in terms of pharmacy customer satisfaction, with AmerisourceBergen Corp.’s Good Neighbor Pharmacy rating highest overall, according to the J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Pharmacy Study.

Good Neighbor earned a customer satisfaction index rating of 885 out of a 1,000-point scale. The next highest scores among brick-and-mortar pharmacies went to Publix (872), Hy-Vee (868), Target (864) and Sam’s Club (861).

Rounding out the top 10 ratings of brick-and-mortar pharmacies were McKesson Corp.’s Health Mart (858), Ralphs (856), Cardinal Health Inc.’s Medicine Shoppe (849), H-E-B (846) and Costco (845).

The 2013 U.S. Pharmacy Study, based on responses this summer from over 13,500 customers who filled a new prescription or refilled a prescription in the last three months, measures five key factors in satisfaction with brick-and-mortar pharmacies — the prescription ordering and pick-up process, the store, cost competitiveness, pharmacists and nonpharmacist staff — and rates them on a 1,000-point scale.

Walgreens was the top finisher of the three national drug chains with a rating of 828, which was the average score for the chain drug segment. Next were Rite Aid (827), CVS/pharmacy (819) and Duane Reade (764).

Supermarket pharmacies posted the highest average score at 835. Coming in after No. 4 H-E-B were Kroger (829), Stop & Shop (824), Albertsons (823), Giant (821), Vons (814), Safeway (810) and Giant Eagle (810).

Mass merchant pharmacies, including discounters and warehouse clubs, also turned in a high average satisfaction rating at 831. Following No. 3 Costco were Kmart (829) and Walmart (822).

A key finding of the annual study, J.D. Power noted, was that customer satisfaction with brick-and-mortar pharmacies is rising faster than customer satisfaction with mail order pharmacies, which once held a satisfaction edge on perceived cost competitiveness.

J.D. Power said customer satisfaction with brick-and-mortar pharmacies climbed by 23 points over the past year to a score of 837. During the same period, satisfaction with mail order rose to 797 from 792.

In addition, the study revealed that although mail order had a seven-point advantage in perceived cost competitiveness over brick-and-mortar pharmacies in 2011, in 2013 mail order is at a 20-point disadvantage in the cost factor.

Perhaps more important, the percentage of customers who indicate refilling prescriptions at a brick-and-mortar pharmacy has risen to 61% in 2013, up from 58% three years ago.

"For the most part, the widening gap in satisfaction has more to do with improved satisfaction in the brick-and-mortar segment than declining satisfaction in mail order," explained Scott Hawkins, director of the health care practice at J.D. Power. "For mail order pharmacies, it’s important to combine high-tech with high-touch. Not only does the online experience need to keep technological pace with other retail sites that pharmacy customers visit, but customer service opportunities that provide personal connections are essential as well."

Pharmacy customer satisfaction ratings in the mail order segment were based on four factors: cost, prescription delivery, the prescription ordering process and the customer service experience. Kaiser Permanente Mail Pharmacy came in first with a score of 868. Rounding out the top five were Humana Right SourceRx (845), Walgreens Mail Service (812), OptumRx (798) and Prime Therapeutics (794). The two biggest pharmacy benefit managers, Express Scripts and Caremark, scored 783 and 760, respectively.