Getting a prescription filled

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Pharmacy alternatives

Prescriptions - how to fill; Medications - how to get prescription filled; Drugs - how to get prescription filled

Once a prescription has been written by a health care provider, you may buy the medication from various sources. Factors that may affect the choice of source include the location and hours of operation, cost of the medication, and insurance coverage.

Questions to consider when choosing a pharmacy include:

• Does the health insurance limit where prescriptions can be filled?
• Is the location convenient to home, school, or work?
• Does the pharmacy maintain patient records (preferably on computer) and checks for drug interactions?
• Are employees willing to take time to answer drug-related questions?
• Are the pharmacists friendly and helpful?

The most common source for obtaining prescriptions is the local pharmacy. Usually the pharmacy is located in a drug or grocery store. Independent pharmacies are also commonly used, but their numbers are decreasing because many find it hard to compete with the grocery and drug chains. A chain pharmacy (drug or grocery) may have lower prices than an independent, because chain stores usually have greater buying power.

However, lower prices tend to attract more customers, which means the pharmacist may not be able to spend as much time with each patient for counseling and answering questions.

If you belong to an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization), you may be required to use an on-site pharmacy (at the location of the HMO), or the HMO may require you to use certain pharmacies. Your insurance company may have a contract with specific drug or grocery stores or independent pharmacies, which means you must use one of these pharmacies.

Some individuals and some insurance companies have chosen to use mail-order pharmacies. Normally, a prescription is sent to the mail-order pharmacy or phoned in by the physician. It may take a week or more for the prescription to arrive at the home of the patient. Therefore, mail order is best used for long-term medications that treat chronic problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Short-term medications such as antibiotics and medications that require storage at specific temperatures should be purchased at a local pharmacy.