Choosing a pharmacy

You need to find a pharmacy you are comfortable with and use it for all of your prescriptions.  This will reduce the risk of prescription filling errors.  But how can you tell a good pharmacy from one that is not so good?

Factors to consider

Here are some things to think about:

1. Does the pharmacy have a searchable records system?  Does it keep track of drug interactions, duplications, and changes that may affect you?

2. Are your prescriptions filled quickly and correctly?

3. Do the pharmacists explain medications - their names, uses, how they should be taken, and possible precautions and side effects?

4. Is a pharmacist available to answer your questions?  Do you understand the answers given?

5. Do the pharmacists help you select over-the-counter medications that won't interfere with your prescription medicines and treatment plans?  

6. Do you feel comfortable here - not rushed, uneasy, or intimidated?

How your pharmacist can help

Once you've found your pharmacy, get to know your pharmacist.  A survey done for the American Pharmacists Association found that folks who know their pharmacist by name also tend to:

• keep the pharmacist up to date on all their medications,
• read the labeling info on their prescriptions,
• and ask the pharmacist questions.

Pharmacists know about the chemical composition of drugs and how they function in the body.  They are familiar with the diseases that different drugs are used to treat, and how drugs are absorbed and metabolized.

What to ask

Here are just some of the issues your pharmacist can help you with:

• what to do if you miss a dose of a particular medication
• how to store your meds so they remain potent
• ways to cut prescription costs
• advice on over-the-counter medications
• potential for harmful interactions between your prescriptions meds and over-the-counter drugs, herbal supplements, food, and alcohol
• negative side effects you might encounter and what to do about them
• how to properly administer drugs not in pill form, such as inhalers, nose and eye drops, and skin patches
• questions about insurance and Medicare Part D (the prescription drug benefit)

Pharmacists are a wonderful resource when it comes to medications and supplements.   Make an ally of yours.