Pharmacy––Now and Then, Here and There, This and That
By Michael McLendon, Pharmacist, Texoma LIVING WELL Magazine
As I reflect on my past 43 years of pharmacy, I conclude––Pharmacy is still about patient care. Within these 43 years in pharmacy, I have seen:
Computers take charge of almost every process and the information gathered controls much of what can be prescribed for you by your doctor. Pharmacy cannot exist in this day and age without computer systems. You cannot get a prescription filled unless a computer is involved in the process.
We went from having no advertisements for prescription medications to enormous amounts of email, pop-ups, blogs, Facebook Likes, tweets and Twiddle Dee Dee, TV and radio advertisements, and post office-delivered junk mail. If you were to “Ask your Doctor” every time an ad appeared, you wouldn’t have anytime left to tweet or text your BFF about anything. OMG!
Insurance plans have multiplied in numbers with each having a complex set of rules for participation telling you (and your physician) what you can have and what you can’t, where you can get it and where you can’t, when you can get it and when you can’t. It goes on and on.
Medicare is no longer just Medicare (something to help the elderly) but rather Medicare Part A, B, D or Medicare this and that and/or all of the above––each plan way more complicated than need be. We may one day have more versions of Medicare than Microsoft has versions of Windows or Apple has versions of iPhones!
I have seen Sudafed go to the moon and back, from the front counter in the pharmacy (OTC), to behind the counter. Today’s astronaut could not take a package with them without showing their drivers’ license, and the limited quantity we can give them may not last the whole trip!
Yes. In the last 43 years, I have seen our healthcare system become complicated.
However, “Pharmacy is still about patient care.” That is why we at Meridian Pharmacy will do our best to uncomplicate filling your prescriptions:
- Traditional “one on one” pharmacy service. Our waiting line, if any, is always short
- Convenient. If your doctor is located in the Texoma Medical Plaza, we’re in the same building, ground floor, suite 140
- We accept most insurance plans, Part D Medicare, Texas and Oklahoma Medicaid
- Free delivery in the Denison and Sherman areas
- We specialize in custom compounding. Ask about our topical pain relief and bio-identical hormone replacement compounds. We offer veterinary compounds too!
- A growing selection of hard-to-find wound care supplies. We’ll special order for you.
- Experience
This September, Meridian Pharmacy will celebrate its first anniversary in the Texoma area.
We would like to thank all of you who have made this a great year for us. It has been our pleasure to serve you and we hope we have convinced you that we practice what we believe–– “Pharmacy is still about patient care.”
Stop in to see us in the Texoma Medical Plaza, ground floor, next to Texoma Medical Center or you can call us at 903-327-8808.
