Chronic illnesses come with their own challenges, one of them being the need to repeatedly renew a prescription, which can be tedious. Some people might even experience dangerous interruptions in their treatment simply because they are unable to pick up their medication in time. Having medication delivered via courier should not be a luxury.
Rentia Myburgh, group sales and marketing director of Medipost Pharmacy, notes: “It is critical that medicine for chronic conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, cancer and HIV, is taken exactly as prescribed without interruption. Medipost Pharmacy goes to great lengths to help ensure that it is as simple and cost effective as possible for patients to adhere to their treatment regimen.”
Getting your medicine delivered
For the last 27 years, Medipost Pharmacy has been a trusted partner to medical schemes and private patients, providing free delivery to a customer’s home or nearest approved delivery point, such as a doctor’s rooms, clinic or PEPcell counter, and, by arrangement, to the customer’s temporary address or holiday destination within South Africa.
Some 400 000 medical scheme members across South Africa are among those currently benefiting from its courier pharmacy service.
Saving more than a penny
Myburgh points out that the service is also affordable. “The size of our national pharmacy means that we have been able to scale our operations to save money for patients who make use of our service,” she says.
There is no administrative or delivery fee charged for customers who make use of its services. The staff is also able to assist medical scheme members to claim medication from a specific category in their medical aid benefits to avoid depleting the medical aid so quickly.
Myburgh explains that the value of the courier pharmacy service goes far beyond the money saved on transport. She notes: “Time is precious, and our customers appreciate the fact that they can save time through making use of our service.”
Confidentiality is key
Patient privacy and medical confidentiality are of paramount importance. Medicine is delivered in tamper-proof parcels, packaged in a way that ensures the content is not visible until the parcel is unwrapped by the customer to whom it is addressed. Medipost Pharmacy customers also benefit from access to telephonic clinical advice from pharmacists and pharmacist assistants in their preferred official South African language.
“This excellent resource, which is available from Monday to Friday 08h00 to 22h00 and Saturdays 08h00 to 12h00, enables customers to discuss issues such as potential side effects and directions for use with a properly qualified, registered professional,” she says.
Helping you remember to take your medicine
In addition to the convenience of deliveries, there are a number of mechanisms in place to support customers’ adherence to their prescriptions. Medipost’s advanced systems inform customers via various communication methods when their prescriptions require renewal.
“Perhaps the greatest value of our integrated pharmacy and delivery service is that we assist our customers, including some 400 000 medical scheme members each month, to get the best out of their prescribed treatment,” she concludes.
