Next to your doctor, your local pharmacy is the healthcare facility that knows you best. Pharmacy technicians and pharmacists work together to help you achieve your health goals.
The Medicamento care team knows you intimately enough to deliver the right advice every time, whether you’re having a headache or filling your medication.
With more people than ever relying on mail-order pharmacies, is the time of the local pharmacy numbered? In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Visiting and remaining loyal to your local pharmacy has a lot of advantages you won’t get online. From personalized service to cheaper products to delivery options, we outline six of their benefits right here.
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1. Personalized Advice
Since your pharmacy care team understands your personal health situation, they can also recommend everyday self-care that’s tailored to your needs.
Let’s say you have high blood pressure, but you come down with a bad cold. The pharmacist would advise you not to take cold medications that contain stimulant drugs like phenylpropanolamine or ephedrine because they can increase blood pressure.
2. Save on Expensive Prescriptions
Pharmacy care teams are knowledgeable about your health insurance coverage and can often assist you in finding the most affordable solution for your needs. This results in lower overall costs for both over-the-counter and prescription medications, regardless of what you are trying to treat.
When you’re prescribed an expensive medication and order online, you’re given the standard brand from the pharmacy. Finding cheaper alternatives and cheaper versions isn’t always easy. Substitutions are difficult to make, and the process of requesting a substitution is often cumbersome.
3. Getting to Know Your Physician
Do you suffer from a chronic illness? Maybe you have been trying to get rid of a chest infection for weeks. When initial treatments fail, doctors often change medications or adjust dosages to compensate. However, going back and forth between the pharmacy and your doctor can be incredibly time-consuming and exhausting, especially if you’re already feeling ill.
This is where the relationship between your doctor’s office and your pharmacy comes into play.
Local pharmacies have a good working relationship with local doctors. If your physician prescribes something that doesn’t make sense for you, they may be able to change the prescription by telephone. It saves you a trip and reduces the time you spend traveling between offices.
4. Obtaining Basic Vital Statistics
Do you keep track of your blood pressure? Do you test your blood sugar? Perhaps you seek in-depth hormone testing to identify subtle thyroid issues.
Your local pharmacy can often help you achieve these goals. You can test your blood pressure, sugar, or hormone levels at the pharmacy while you shop or pick up medications and have it recorded on your file.
An ongoing record of basic testing and recording such as this might uncover problematic patterns over time. These patterns might not be apparent on your own if you only see your doctor every few months.
This service isn’t offered by every pharmacy, but those that do often offer other integrative care services as well. Call your pharmacist to confirm.