Why Choose Pharmacy Services Online?

The debate rages on…and on…about the best solutions about healthcare for Americans. We’re not going to join the fray in our pharmacy review. Instead, we’re simply going to present the best options for obtaining medication for you and your family regardless of your personal insurance situation. Using this guide will help you decide which pharmacy is best for your own unique situation. The options presented will help you save time and, in many cases, money.

Using our Pharmacy Review will also keep you from falling victim to some of the traps that can be associated with online pharmacies. All of the options presented on this site are legitimate, U.S. based pharmacies. Sticking with these choices will ensure that you’re doing business with companies that won’t endanger you by selling fake medications and will insist on approved prescribing practices. If nothing else, you can be assured that dealing with these pharmacies is legal. For more detailed information on some of the common pitfalls associated with purchasing prescription medications online, we invite you to take a look at our article, “Online Pharmacy: Within the Law.”

What to Look For in an Online Pharmacy

Filling prescriptions online can be a great time saver. Each of the pharmacies we’ve included in this review makes strong efforts to provide the best combination of services, value and convenience. Ultimately, only you can decide which set of features is best for you. Here are some of the things we considered in creating our Pharmacy Review:

Prescription Services
Ordering prescriptions online may seem like a novel idea to many people. Generally we depend on our physician or other licensed health care provider to convey an initial prescription order to a pharmacy and that isn’t likely to change. Still, it can be convenient to initiate the process with a pharmacy, especially when the medical need isn’t very time sensitive. Some pharmacies make this process easy while others make it awkward or impossible.

Refilling existing prescriptions online is perhaps the most practical aspect of dealing with pharmacies online and we’ll help you understand which ones make the process easiest. Transferring prescriptions from one pharmacy to another can also be fast and convenient online and we’ll help you determine the best option for your particular situation.

Accreditation
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has been around for over 100 years and seeks to ensure that pharmacies comply with accepted pharmacy policies and procedures as well as state and federal laws. In 1999, as many pharmacies began to include an internet component, they created the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site (VIPPS) to ensure that internet based pharmacies meet their stringent requirements. Sites that have undergone and passed their rigorous inspections are authorized to display the VIPPS recommended pharmacy logo. The downside is that very few internet pharmacies have undergone this inspection process; indeed only seventeen pharmacies have successfully passed the process and the majority of them can be characterized as Pharmacy Benefit Providers, the sort of pharmacy service that an employer is likely to provide to employees rather than a retail pharmacy that an individual consumer is likely to be looking for.

There’s another organization, called LegitScript, which employees the same standards of practice used by NABP. They’ve inspected and certified a much larger number of online pharmacies. It’s important to know that not all legitimate online pharmacies have been inspected by NABP or LegitScript. The mere absence of certification by one of these organizations is not, in and of itself, reason to avoid the provider. Our survey includes two pharmacies which are candidates for approval by LegitScripts and we're confident that they’re not illegitimate.

Over-the-Counter Products
Modern pharmacies carry a wide range of products beyond those which can only be dispensed by prescription. Non-prescription medications, nutritional supplements and medical equipment are among the many offerings. You’ll also find personal care products, diet and exercise aids and beauty treatments among their many offerings. Purchasing these products online, whether in conjunction with a pharmaceutical order or independently can be a tremendous convenience and often offer great deals as well.

Health Education
The best pharmacy sites offer a wealth of information regarding health care. The majority offer specific information about medications such as uses, side effects, interactions with other drugs, nutritional supplements and foods as well as what to do if you have a problem with them. Some sites are impressive in the amount and quality of information that they provide regarding your health in general. You can find informative articles about diet and exercise, special sections for men, women and children, and help for avoiding health hazards such as smoking. Many also provide information about caring for others such as aging parents and assistance in finding support services. You can also find a wealth of generally objective information about such subjects as natural and holistic medicine and numerous other alternative or complementary health practices.

Ease of Use
There are numerous ways to have your pharmacy needs fulfilled so if an online service isn’t easy to use, it’s probably not worth the trouble. We’ve evaluated the procedures for using each of the services and give details of the various processes. Our reviews are categorized so that determining which service best suits your personal needs is easy to determine.

Help & Support
We place great emphasis on the quality and availability of customer service. We rate Help & Support features of each pharmacy so that you’re not stuck with unanswered questions or concerns.

Choosing a pharmacy provider can be confusing primarily because the services offered from one to another can be very similar. Like other businesses, pharmacies all claim to be the best. Our pharmacy review is designed to help you decide which is best for your specific requirements because, ultimately, only the patient can decide which one is right. For details about the top pharmacies, take a look at our reviews of drugstore.com, CVS/pharmacy and Walgreens. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™