A how-to on Mail Order Pharmacy

Some of our patients opt to fill certain prescriptions of theirs via the mail order pharmacy that’s contracted with their insurance plan, but we know that interacting with these pharmacies can be confusing and cumbersome. We’re here to help.

Click on the buttons below to be led to our dynamic mail order “cheat sheets,” which offer helpful instructions, tips, and tricks for working with these pharmacies and are regularly updated as we learn more about each of them.

the Cheat Sheets

Have you heard about Costco or Sam’s Club?

Both of these warehouse retailers offer in-person and mail order pharmacy services, which are available even to non-members. Because these retailers are NOT traditional PBMs like CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx, they appear to operate with an increased level of transparency and customer service, based on feedback we’ve heard from our own patients. Click one of the buttons below to learn more about their pharmacy services.

Why mail order pharmacy isn’t pharmacy the way it should be.

Traditional mail order pharmacies are owned and operated by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs, i.e., the bad guys). They are known for being cumbersome, confusing, and overall poor communicators with patients and their care providers, but they get away with it because of their unmatched power in the pharmaceutical industry. Despite this, there a few advantages to working with them, including:

  • Mail order being the cheapest way for most patients to fill prescriptions using insurance | Because the primary focus of the PBMs who own and operate these pharmacies is making a profit, they want as many patients as possible to use their pharmacies. Because of this, there is currently an industry standard that, for most patients using insurance to pay for their prescriptions, mail order is the cheapest way to do so. This can be especially relevant for patients living on a fixed income and/or who are taking an expensive brand-name medication.

  • Being able to have medicine shipped directly to your home | This can be valuable for patients who are homebound or face difficulty with driving or using public transit. However, your home retail pharmacy may also provide mailing of prescription medications and other items—we certainly do! Unsure if your pharmacy does? Make sure to ask them!