4 Little-Known Services Many Drugstores Offer
Like many people, you may visit a drugstore or pharmacy from time to time to pick up prescription medications for yourself and/or family members. However, you may be unaware of the many little-known, additional services many drug stores today provide that can help make your life easier. Read on to learn about four little-known services that many drugstores today offer and how they work.
1. Prescription Delivery
While you may know that mail-order pharmacies exist, you may dislike the idea of having your prescriptions placed in your mailbox every month or worry that frequent mail delays will lead to your prescriptions often arriving late.
The good news is that many brick-and-mortar drugstores now offer prescription delivery services, so you can have your prescriptions delivered to your home conveniently when you cannot make it to the drugstore to pick them up. Delivery service drivers typically knock on the prescription recipient's door and place them right in their hands after they answer instead of leaving medications in the mailbox.
Even if you typically pick up your medications, you may want to consider prescription delivery when you are having car troubles, are too ill to drive to the pharmacy, and/or simply find a trip to the drugstore too difficult to fit into your busy schedule. Some drugstore delivery services are free, while others cost just a few dollars per delivery; some medical insurance policies cover the cost of prescription delivery.
2. Over-the-Counter Medication Advice
You likely occasionally develop a minor health problem that you suspect an over-the-counter (OTC) medication may help treat or control. However, once you scan the drugstore OTC medication aisle and become overwhelmed at your options, you may grab any medication that claims to treat your minor health problem without really knowing if you made the best medication choice.
Next time you need an OTC medication that will help relieve a minor symptom you are experiencing, ask the pharmacist for their expert OTC medication advice. During their training process, pharmacists learn about both prescription and over-the-counter medications, including how they work, the recommended dosages needed to treat specific health problems, and more.
For this reason, a pharmacist can recommend the best OTC medication and dosage for no extra fee above and beyond the cost of the medication. You can then leave the drugstore feeling confident that you purchased the right OTC medicine for the symptoms you are experiencing and know how to take it.
3. Immunizations
Many people who obtained COVID-19 vaccinations at local pharmacies were surprised that they were able to obtain these important immunizations from a pharmacist instead of from a doctor or nurse. However, the truth is that pharmacists are allowed by law to administer many important vaccinations aside from the COVID-19 shots.
Many drugstores offer annual influenza vaccines, and pharmacists can also administer vaccinations that protect against chickenpox: human papillomavirus (HPV): hepatitis A or B: shingles; measles, mumps, & rubella (MMR), and more.
Obtaining your annual flu vaccine at a local drugstore can be much more convenient than scheduling a visit with your primary care physician every year. In addition, when you need vaccinations that protect you against diseases you may catch when traveling to a foreign country, obtaining them from a pharmacist can make obtaining the necessary pre-travel vaccines you need quicker and easier.
4. Medication Compounding
While there are compounding pharmacies that specialize in creating compound medications, many neighborhood drugstores also offer compounding services. Compound medications are tailor-made to a patient's needs and typically contain two or more active drugs.
Medication compounding services can also include making a liquid form of a medication that is typically only available in pill form and adding a flavor to a liquid medication to increase the chance that a child will take it.
Today's drugstores offer many services above and beyond simply filling and dispensing prescription medications. Keep these four little-known drugstore services in mind next time you need a vaccination, OTC medication, compound medication, or prescription delivery.
