How to Avoid Frustrations at the Pharmacy

When you go to the pharmacy, the last thing you want to do is walk away confused about your medications. Follow these six recommendations from Dr. Daniel Platt, PharmD, to make your next visit an easier experience.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Use only one pharmacy. When you are loyal to one location, your pharmacist can review your complete medical history and all of the drugs you take regularly to warn you about side effects and check for dangerous interactions.
2. Use a slower volume pharmacy, even if it’s inconvenient. Large chains constantly struggle with long lines and understaffing. By driving an extra mile to frequent a family-owned or grocery store pharmacy, you’ll spend less time waiting and be greeted by a staff that has more time to talk to you about your needs.
3. Get on a first-name basis with your pharmacist. You are more likely to get personalized care and more attention in the future when you take the time to chat about your health, family, work or anything else you may have in common.
4. Whenever possible, plan ahead. Using a weekly pill divider will help you realize when you are getting low on your medicine so you can phone in for a refill before the day you actually need it. Pharmacies occasionally run out of even the most common medicines, so try to give your pharmacist one to two days to process your request.
5. Make sure your pharmacy has your most up to date contact information so they can get in touch with you if there is a problem filling your prescription or filing insurance.
6. Look into e-prescribing. New to pharmacy practice, e-prescriptions allow doctors, physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners to use computer software to transmit a prescription directly to a pharmacy’s computer system or fax machine. This method cuts down on filling time (unlike a voicemail that may go unnoticed) and medication errors that can result from poor handwriting.

Tips & Warnings

• While you can call in to request a refill on your current prescriptions, state laws prohibit patients from calling in new prescriptions. However, if you want your pharmacist to know about what medications you need before you show up with a paper prescription, a doctor or a doctor’s representative may phone, fax or e-prescribe it to your pharmacy of choice.