Free Medication Programs - Pharmacy Consulting
As a Pharmacy Consulting Company, HCC has been noticing a major tend nationally of pharmacies offering patients free medications. The latest to utilize a free medication program is Marsh Supermarkets based in the Indianapolis geographic market. Last week Marsh announced its Cardiac Care Program to be initiated in their 39 pharmacies located in the Indiana area. The program will provide heart patients with free prescriptions for commonly prescribed medications to treat many heart conditions. Marsh is the first pharmacy chain in Indiana to offer such a program and will dispense 30-day supplies of furosemide or hydrochlorothiazide free to their customers. The new Cardiac Care Program is an extension of Marsh’s extremely successful Diabetes Care Program in which patients can receive one of seven free diabetes medications at their pharmacy locations. Since the Diabetes Care Program launched in November of 2011, Marsh Pharmacy has given away more than 62,000 free diabetes prescriptions and saved patients over $1,000,000 in prescription costs.Publix Pharmacies throughout Florida has had such free prescription programs for several years now. Their free medications include 30-day supplies of:- Amlodipne- Lisinopril- Metformin- Antibiotics such as amoxicillin, ampicillin, SMZ/TMP, ciprofloxacin and peniciilin VK (14 day supplies)Do these programs work? Do they lead to customer loyalty, new customers and an increase in profits? It seems that the answer is an emphatic yes! In a discussion with an actual patient from Publix as an example, the program actually lead to an increase of over 120 prescription refills a year for the pharmacy for just this one individual customer and his wife. The patient received free lisinopril from his nearby Publix Pharmacy for almost 2 years, but still refilled all his other medications at the competitor pharmacy across the street. After several bad customer service issues at his primary pharmacy, the patient decided to move ALL his prescriptions over to Publix. Not only did he transfer his 6 monthly refills, but his wife the moved her 4 monthly prescription refills over to the Publix also!If you are considering instituting some form of a Free Medication program at your pharmacy, call HCC to discuss how we can help. With over 25 years experience in the business of Pharmacy Consulting, HCC can help you in virtually any area of your pharmacy business or practice. With a full-time staff of in-house Pharmacy Consultant specialists, HCC can answer any questions that you may have in all areas of your business. Call us today at 800-642-1652 for a free consultation today!Bob Miller1/25/2015