How to Use a Pharmacy

You are at your physician's office and they offer to give you your prescription on paper or electronically sent it to your local pharmacy.

Do not look at this as such a simple exchange. Don't say OK and leave it at that. First ask, is what you wrote for me a generic. Then ask what side effects you may encounter and how you should take the medication. You need to take a little bit of control over your health care, knowing what is going on and being truly involved can help to eliminate any errors.

Step Two.

If you prescription was sent electronically, do not proceed immediately to your pharmacy! There is a slim chance that it'll be ready. It takes time. Call your pharmacy and ensure they've received the prescription. Let the pharmacy know when you'd like to pick up your prescription.

If you opted for a paper prescription, please look at it. Is your name legible? If your name is not, you can bet the rest of the prescription might not be either. Bring this to the attention of the Doctor or nurse who handed it to you. Then before you enter the pharmacy, make sure you have your newest insurance card with you and your date of birth clearly written on the prescription if it isn't already.

Step Three.

KNOW YOUR INSURANCE! As a technician, I wish that I knew how everyone's insurance copay's and limitations work, but we just don't. This is actually a courtesy service to bill your insurance. Time and times ago, people sent claim forms to their insurance to be reimbursed for their prescriptions (they paid full price out of pocket!). Your insurance card should have a customer service number on the back of the card for you to inquired anything about your plan. Better yet, read the paperwork that comes with your insurance so that you are familiar with "tiers", "copays", and "deductables".

Personally I love trying to solve insurance problems for patients. Especially when their plan is too confusing for them. But the last thing any technician will do is happily call an insurance company for an irate customer who is blaming the technician for their insurance problems. That is like blaming the fast food worker for Wal-Mart being out of milk. It seems that we have something to do with it, but about 90% of the time it is not the pharmacy, rather a change in your insurance or a misundertanding of it that causes trouble.

Step Four.

Picking up your prescription when it's done is not like picking up photos, although more people inspect their photos than their prescription! Make sure it's yours (it's inexcusable, but technicians are people), also make sure it's what you expected. If this is new medication for you, if you have questions, ask for the pharmacist! Please! Don't go home and blindly take something you know nothing about. This leads back to Step One, take control of your health care. Ask questions.

When your experience is completed, hopefully it went smoothly, remember that if you are going to need a refill, contact your doctor 5 to 7 days before you'll need it again. They need time to get a new prescription to your pharmacy. I called a doctor's office once because a patient forgot to request a refill and needed it that day. The medical assistant said it would be able 3 days before they could get to it. They had over 300 refill requests to handle at that time! So think ahead :)