When it comes to deciding on a pharmacy, you have to evaluate your needs and choose one that will satisfy those needs. Selecting the right pharmacist is like investing in your health. Your health and that of your family will depend on the quality of services you will receive from your pharmacists.
A pharmacist should be knowledgeable enough to advise you about your health. Furthermore, the pharmacy’s staff should help to assess whether the medication prescribed by your doctor is the most appropriate. They should show interest in your health and provide information about the right use and safety measures for prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Here are 6 key factors to consider when selecting a pharmacy:
Operating Hours and Location
You are most likely to go to the pharmacy nearest to your house to fill a prescription from your doctor. So convenience is important. Choose a pharmacy that is closer to your home than and one that operates during hours that are fit for your job and personal schedule.
Customer Service
You should evaluate the attitude of the pharmacy staff towards patients. Are the staff members friendly, courteous and ready to answer all your questions? A good pharmacist should play an active role in improving your health. For example, they can recommend other medications to improve your condition.
The pharmacy should provide quality services to its clients. This means that you should consider the time taken to dispense your prescription. The speed that the pharmacist takes to process and dispense your prescription should help you decide whether the pharmacy is right for you.
Also, how accurate is the pharmacist in dispensing the prescription? The pharmacy should be able to fill your prescription in the exact way that your physician ordered.
Ability to Offer Comprehensive Services
Ideally, a pharmacy should be able to sell over-the-counter drugs and give information for prescribed medications. A pharmacist should explain why you need the drugs, how they are administered, and side effects among others.
However, pharmacy services should be comprehensive enough to address all of the patient’s needs. This means you should be served by people who are well-informed about you. They should understand all aspects of your condition, your prescribed medications and all other factors that are likely to affect the success of your treatment. This involves staying updated about the drug interactions that may affect you.
A good pharmacy should avoid incidences where it is out of its patients’ prescribed drugs.
A pharmacy should also be able to explain how to perform some simple tests at home and the tools you need. For example, if you need to perform urine drug tests at home to prevent home substance abuse, the pharmacy should explain how to use a drug test cup.
Personalization of Services
A pharmacy should not only apply a holistic approach when helping to manage your disease but should also customize its services to address your unique needs. Besides generating revenues, another important objective of the pharmacy should be to help you realize your individual health goals.
Gives Recommendations
Pharmacists are better positioned to know where to find a variety of medical resources or other healthcare providers. Therefore, a good pharmacy will give recommendations and suggestions based on your needs. If they cannot help to solve your problem, they should go to great lengths to connect you with another professional or at least point you in the right direction.
Good Partner in Health
You need pharmacists who will be actively involved in managing your condition. For instance, the staff should be willing to have frequent meetings with you. The reason behind these meetings will be to review your full list of active medications to address any drug therapy issues.
The pharmacists should also help with:
Ensuring that on-going medication has a purpose. The staff can advise you to stop taking medication for a problem that has been addressed.
Ensure you’re receiving medication to manage active medical conditions. For example, if you have diabetes but you’re not taking any medication to treat the condition.
Preventing drug interactions
Giving the correct dosage that will have optimal performance and reduce the risk of side-effects
The Final Word
After you identify the right pharmacy, it is important that you rely on this pharmacy to meet all your prescription needs. Sticking with this one pharmacy ensures that all your records for prescription medication are at one place for easier follow-up and better management of drug interactions.
Guest author: Ruby J. Franke
is a freelance blogger at noncount.com and
a mother.
I just moved to a new area, and your tips for finding a go-to pharmacy is really going to help me find the right place to fill my prescriptions. As I don’t have a lot of experience working with pharmacies, and I just got a new prescription that will need to be regularly refilled, getting someone who is able to answer my questions and fill my prescription in a timely manner, like you said, will be really important in my decision. Working with a pharmacist that is able to tell me about possible drug interactions as well, as you mentioned, would be really helpful, especially for what medications shouldn’t be taken with what painkillers.
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