Drive Thru Pharmacy, Is It Really More Convenient?

By Author: Kaycee Bishop
Total Articles: 24
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Upon reading this article’s title and seeing the question posted, I’m sure you already had an immediate answer, and that is “Yes”. This answer maybe based on our impression of drive thru food chains, convenient access and fast service. However, do we really get the same impression on a drive thru pharmacy?

In an article posted at the website of the Ohio State University, College of Pharmacy page, it seems that rather than providing ease and convenience, drive thru windows are only increasing delays and errors.

Most of us are always in a hurry and if we need to buy some medicines, sometimes we hate the idea of getting off in the car and going to the store where you have to wait for your turn. This is why we so love the idea of just passing through pharmacy windows and hopefully getting our orders as quickly as possible. But what if you find out that there was a mistake in your purchase, for example, a wrong dosage or wrong form (liquid rather than tablet), and worse is you are already home. Would driving back to get the right meds still comfortable for you?

According to a new study by Sheryl ...
... Szeinbach and her colleagues, pharmacists in drive thru windows admitted that additional distractions provided by an open window can contribute to delays in their processing, ensured efficiency, and even handing out errors. Sometimes it is really hard to avoid noticing other elements outside the window aside from your customer right outside handing you the prescription or detailing you his order.

Respondents of the study identified the layout of the drive thru pharmacy to be responsible to such occurrences. They suggest that the design should eliminate distractions so as they can focus on the accuracy of the orders and the speed of dispensing. The findings also indicated that automatic dispensers can be useful in avoiding such mistakes. Moreover, working on a drive thru also limits the pharmacist in giving advices or answering questions from buyers since the idea is to provide quick and easy purchasing of prescriptions.

However, the pharmacists are not the only ones with a responsibility. Customers should also see to it that before they leave the window, their order is not just complete but of course, have to be exact. They must check if what they ordered was the one they got. There is really nothing wrong in taking an extra minute or two in double checking the prescription meds before driving away from the window. You can just apologize to the next in cue once he honks on you.

Such study should also encourage customers to ponder and compare the services they receive from a pharmacist in a counter and from a pharmacist from the drive through window. Where do you get lesser communication errors? Where do you experience lesser hassles and delays? Where can you get an exact order?

While there are still a lot of things to be thankful for in a drive thru pharmacy, customers should still not forget that their ensured safety should be more prioritized over easy access and buying convenience.