The Top 10 Pitfalls of Using a Mail Order Pharmacy and How to BEAT Them

PITFALL # 1: You’re always having to wait for your medicine to arrive.

When you use a local pharmacy, you’ll usually get your medicine the same day. Using a mail-order pharmacy means you’ll wait up to week or even longer after ordering your medicine. What happens when the mail is too slow, and you need your medicine?

SOLUTION: You should choose a local pharmacy to use when you need medication quickly, to avoid delays in getting antibiotics for an infection or getting relief from pain after surgery, or when your refills don’t arrive in the mail in time and you are out of medicine.

With new delays on the horizon for the US Postal Service, it’s more important than ever to request your refill EARLY enough to receive it before you run out of critical heart medicines, blood thinners, and thyroid medicines.

PITFALL # 2: When you get a new medicine, there’s no one to help explain to you what it’s all about.

During a typical office visit, a doctor spends only about 5 minutes talking to you face-to-face. They rarely have the time to explain to you what any new medicine is for or how to use it. They assume your pharmacy will do that, but if you only have a mail-order pharmacy, when your new medicine arrives in the mail, you’re on your own!

SOLUTION: Know which questions to ask your doctor about your medicines while at your appointment, and where to find other critical information you should know about it so that you can take it safely.

PITFALL # 3: Your medicines can be stolen out of your mailbox or from your porch.

Mail theft is widespread today. Would-be thieves often shadow postal delivery workers, hoping to score some analgesics or swipe your personal information to steal your identity. If you don’t happen to be home when your medicine is delivered, they can snatch it before you get there, leaving you to argue with your mail order pharmacy whether it was delivered, and forcing you to PAY out of your own pocket to get another refill.

SOLUTION: You need a safe location for the delivery of your medicines because there are some heart and blood thinner pills that you should NEVER stop abruptly. Having a light-fingered opportunist “pinch” your pills not only can cost you a lot of money, the delay from having to ship an additional supply of a critically important medicine could trigger a stroke, or something worse.

PITFALL # 4: You need another pharmacy to use for emergencies or urgent prescriptions.

For urgent issues involving medication, you should use a local pharmacy in addition to your regular mail order one. Your local pharmacy won’t know which chronic medicines you take or what you’re allergic to, and you could end up getting a medication that could seriously harm you.

SOLUTION: Make sure your local pharmacy has an updated list of all of your medications and allergies to help them recognize when a new drug will not mix well with the ones you already take. If possible, change to a local pharmacy for ALL your medicines.

PITFALL # 5: You’re stuck figuring out how to use medicines like inhalers and injections all by yourself.

If your doctor prescribes an inhaler to better control your asthma and help you breathe better, it will help you a LOT MORE if you know the correct way to use it. Mail-order pharmacies rarely provide any step-bystep instructions, forcing you to figure out how to use it on your own.

SOLUTION: Have your doctor send the very first prescription of any inhaler or injectable medicine to your local pharmacy instead of your mail order pharmacy, and make sure you ASK the pharmacist to show you exactly how to use it correctly.

PITFALL # 6: The information you get with your prescriptions consists of pages of small, hard-to-read print.

Learning what your new medicine is used for and exactly how to take it can be a real challenge when that vital information is buried in pages and pages of fine print.

SOLUTION: It’s important to find an unbiased source of information about your medicines that explains things in a way that makes sense to you, so you can understand what your medicine is for and what to watch out for when taking it, so that it can help you instead of harm you.

Medication Insider is here to help. You’ll get clear, understandable and practical answers to your medication questions from the FREE blog and email newsletter to Personal Consults and Full Access subscriptions.

PTIFALL # 7: It’s up to you to figure out if your new medicine is supposed to be added to your current medicines, or to replace one of them, and if so, which one should be stopped.

A mail-order pharmacy works like a vending machine, shipping out your new pills but leaving you to figure out what to do with the rest of your medications. With a local pharmacy, a live person is available to explain what your new medicine does, how best to take it and can answer any questions you might have about it.

SOLUTION: One of the most common and serious preventable mistakes causing a trip to the ER or the hospital from a fall is confusion about taking a new medicine. If you continue taking all of your medicines plus a new one which is intended to replace one of them, the double dose of medicine can cause confusion and dizziness, or a fall resulting in broken bones, serious head injury and the loss of your independence.

PITFALL # 8: When you do have questions about your medicine, it’s not easy to find a live person to explain things to you.

When calling a mail-order pharmacy, better be prepared to wait for AT LEAST 10-15 minutes on hold, waiting for a live person to address your concerns.

SOLUTION: Having to wait on hold for 10-20 minutes at a time is frustrating and discourages you from bothering to call your mail-order pharmacy, leaving you to fend for yourself when you have a question about one of your pills.

Medication Insider’s Personal Consults and Full Access subscriptions give you accessible, understandable and useful information about your medicines.

PROBLEM # 9: You miss out on having a relationship with a pharmacist that you trust.

Doctors don’t have much time with you, especially to explain your medicines to you or answer your questions about them. They assume that you have the opportunity to ask your pharmacist about issues you are concerned about, but mail-order pharmacies rarely have easily accessible pharmacy professionals available to answer your questions.

SOLUTION: Contact your prescription benefit plan to find out which local pharmacy you can use instead.

If using a local pharmacy isn’t feasible, Medication Insider’s Full Access subscription provides information about both prescription medicines and non-prescription remedies that can help with common issues like constipation, itching, cough, cold or allergy symptoms.

PITFALL # 10: The color and shape of your medicines never stay the same.

Mail-order pharmacies seek out the LEAST EXPENSIVE medicines available, frequently switching from one supplier to another. This results in you getting pills that change their color and shape. Although pharmacists at mail order pharmacies check your pills before shipping them to you, pharmacists and pharmacy staff are human and if you get the wrong medicine, it is all too easy to just assume “Oh, it’s just another generic”.

SOLUTION: You should ALWAYS verify that the pills you are receiving are the correct ones BEFORE you take then. Whenever your pills are different color, shape or size than before, check to make sure any differences are due to them being from a different manufacturer, not because they are the wrong strength or a completely different medicine.

You CAN call your mail-order pharmacy and wait on the phone for 15-20 minutes to ask them to verify your medicine by shape, color and markings. Here’s a better, faster way that you can do yourself with an internet connection:

Go to Google. In the Search box, type in the word pill or capsule, then add the shape, color, and any markings you can find. Hit the search button or icon. You should get get one or more options along with an actual photo of the pill. Compare what you have in your bottle with the photo on your screen to verify what it is.