BetterRxCard


Saving Consumers Time and Money on Prescription Drug Costs

Mail Order Prescriptions: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

by BetterRxCard 2. March 2010 22:27

If you’ve been following our progress, you will note that we’ve broken with many of our discount drug card program competitors by choosing to NOT offer a mail order option. The theory is that by using a mail order pharmacy, provided by your discount drug card or by your insurance company, can save you money on your drugs. About 10%, give or take a few percent, of all prescriptions today are filled through mail order (also called mail away) programs and not by your local pharmacist.

 

Typical savings?  Around 20%, plus or minus around 10%. If you are using a prescription discount card program, like BetterRxCard, it is probably closer to 10%.

 

Savings, sure. But is it worth it? What are you giving up? I’m not a pharmacist (far from one), but I could imagine that you’re missing out on at least the opportunity to speak with your pharmacist who probably knows all the drugs you are taking from one to several doctors.

 

Then I read this article by Kelly Mori of the Springfield News-Sun. The article addresses the problem with insurance plans and sponsors requiring mail order usage.  It lists some pretty good reasons to consider paying a little more to your local independent or chain store pharmacist so that you are availing yourself to the person that lives in your area and that you see everyday to give you important guidance you should have at your fingertips.

 

Some points to note:

  • Counseling. Your pharmacist has a relationship with you and your doctor, probably a long-established one.
  • Errors. Local pharmacists catch 3 errors each day, some which could be deadly. Ahhh, that’s pretty important.
  • Training. They are there to help guide you to other medications when yours is too expensive (we’d also through our EquivaMeds service in the ring as something that can help pharmacists do this job more efficiently …)

 

Good points. Food for thought.

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About ... Genuity Group

For years, Genuity Group has been engaged in finding new ways to save money on prescription drugs by blending technology with patients needs and doctor and pharmacist requirements. Along the way we learnd a lot! We used that knowledge to  created new, innovative ways to help consumers and employers save money on prescription drugs.

 

In 2006, we created a new technology that would save millions of dollars off the cost of brand name drugs for self-insured employers and consumers. That technology, called EquivaMeds, is a patent-pending tool that has averaged more than $700 per year in savings for consumers nationwide – nearly four times more savings than is possible with a traditional discount drug card.

 

In 2009, we introduced BetterRxCard, a discount drug card program that not only provided the best discounts available for consumers when insurance wasn't an option, but it also provides a way to save on expensive brand name drugs.



Now I we're sharing some of what I've learned here.  Sure, we'll talk about projects we're working on, like the BetterRxCard and EquivaMeds.  But there are other ways out there to save and many other things to consider when you are in a position that you need to find the facts and make a decision.  I hope we provide some of the information to help you, one of the  58% of Americans that have some form of monthly prescription drug cost, save money.

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