Healthy Tips by Medical Center Pharmacy
Top 10 Reasons to Avoid Mail Order Pharmacy 1. Your pharmacist doesn’t know you When you get your prescriptions filled a local independent pharmacy, the odds are that your pharmacist knows you. Also, he or she knows your medical and prescription history. A personal relationship with your healthcare providers is vital to receiving the best healthcare. 2. You can’t always speak directly with the pharmacist Calling the mail order pharmacy with questions about a prescription is usually a very frustrating task. Most often there are long hold times and phone ladders of “press 1 or press 2” just to speak with a real person, much less the pharmacist that filled your prescription. Local independent pharmacies make it easy to speak directly with the pharmacist that fills your prescription. 3. If there is a problem with your prescription, they will not contact your doctor for you If your doctor makes an error on your written prescription, many mail order companies just don’t fill the prescription. Oftentimes, they keep the prescription and don’t notify the patient of the problem. Your local independent pharmacy will call your doctor to clarify the prescription for you. 4. If your prescription is lost in the mail, you will be without your medicine until the mail order pharmacy replaces it Unfortunately, mail can get lost or sent to the wrong address. If this happens to your medicine, the mail order pharmacy will replace it but there is no guarantee it will be in a timely manner. 5. Your medications are exposed to extreme temperatures In the southern United States, we can experience temperatures ranging from the teens all the way to well above 100 degrees. Most medications are not tested to determine the effect of extreme temperatures on the drug. This should be a significant concern to you as a patient. 6. There is a greater potential for drug interactions to occur It is not possible to check thoroughly for drug interactions with your medication if you get prescriptions from more than one pharmacy. Mail order pharmacies are not capable of serving patients for acute illnesses or emergency, so when you go to the local pharmacy in those situations, the pharmacist is unaware of other medications you have had filled through mail order. This clearly increases the risk of dangerous drug interactions. 7. There is no opportunity for face to face counseling Many prescription errors and drug problems have been avoided just by communicating face to face with a patient. Mail order pharmacy just does not provide for clear communication with each patient, once again increasing the risk for medication problems. 8. Lack of options for value added services Local independent pharmacies offer a variety of services that mail order pharmacies cannot or will not. Personal home deliver, patient education on medication usage or diseases, and assistance with over the counter medication choices are just a few of the services available ONLY at a local pharmacy. 9. Sometimes, you get what you pay for Mail order pharmacies are owned by the company that manages your insurance’s prescription benefits. They do offer savings to patients, but at what cost? Remember, there is a major conflict of interest when the pharmacy that fills your prescriptions is owned by the company that pays for your prescriptions. Are they looking out for the best interest of your health or their back pocket? 10. No one will take care of you like your local independent pharmacist Pharmacists have been ranked among the nation’s most trusted profession for several years and INDEPENDENT pharmacists ranked highest within that group. Your local pharmacist knows you and cares about your health! |