Is It Time To Switch To Delivery For Your Prescriptions?
Trying to get to the pharmacy before it closes when you're rushing home from work, or finding time on the weekend when you can wait in line for a while, aren't always easy to accomplish. An option to consider is home delivery for your prescriptions, whether you use your insurance company's delivery system or that of an online pharmacy. Sometimes it's better to stick to walk-in pharmacies, but delivery companies, such as On Time Delivery, can be a very good alternative if you and the prescriptions meet some guidelines.
Immediate Resolution
Check out the customer service department for the delivery service. One of the advantages of going to a brick-and-mortar pharmacy is that, if you find you've gotten the wrong pills or the wrong dosage -- this does happen -- you can fix the problem immediately. If someone at a pharmacy gives you an asthma inhaler that expires one week later, you can immediately get a much newer inhaler with a longer shelf life. For delivery services, you don't have the satisfaction of getting the prescription corrected right that moment, but if the customer service is good, you can usually get the problem resolved within a day or two. For urgent prescriptions, then, stick with walk-ins. But for others, as long as the customer service is very responsive, delivery should be fine.
Will You Be Home?
Package theft has become more of a problem in the past few years. If you can get the delivery restricted to just when you're home -- in other words, the carrier would take the package back and leave a notice for you to come pick it up or ask for redelivery, if you weren't home at the time of delivery -- delivery could still be a good option. The same goes for times when there's someone to hold the package for you, such as an apartment manager.
Mail Delays
Be aware that any delivery service can occasionally have delays, especially in bad weather or during the winter holidays. So, again, that means urgent prescriptions shouldn't come from a delivery service. But regular prescriptions, especially renewals that you can set up a couple of weeks in advance, would do fine.
Find out what the customer service is like, especially in regards to fixing problems. Go with a service that backs up its delivery somehow and that has a generally good track record. If you can start receiving your medications at home, that will help you out immensely.