Pharmacies of the Future
On-Line Pharmacies Provide Cyberceutical Care

The Internet is changing the way consumers shop for groceries, purchase airline tickets, and obtain their medicines and vitamins. Internet users now have access to the full spectrum of pharmacy products and services via the World Wide Web, without patronizing the traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacy site.

Internet pharmacy practice sites vary in the scope of products and services offered. The more notorious Web sites, and the ones most publicized by the media, are prescribing sites that permit almost any consumer with a credit card to log on, complete an electronic "diagnosis" form, and, if approved by the site's prescriber, receive the medication. The consumer, prescriber, and pharmacist never meet. (See "Medicine Dot Com" in the October/November 1998 NABP Newsletter.) Some of the drugs offered through these sites are Viagra®, for male impotence; Propecia®, for male-pattern baldness; and Claritin®, for allergy relief.

Other Internet pharmacy sites gaining attention are dispensing sites. Unlike prescribing sites, which utilize an on-line diagnosis system, some dispensing sites require that prescriptions originate from the patient's prescriber, who is not affiliated with the Web site. These sites operate similar to a mail-order drug company in that a patient must provide a prescription or transfer refills from another pharmacy. Several dispensing sites state that they will ship prescriptions only after verifying them with the prescriber. And like traditional pharmacies, Internet sites that dispense will often bill the patient's insurance company.

Comprehensive pharmacy practice sites, such as drugstore.com, planetrx.com, and soma.com, provide many of the products and services offered by traditional pharmacies. They sell sundries, vitamins, and over-the-counter products, in addition to conducting dispensing, counseling, and billing activities.

Curious consumers who want information about a prescription medication, but do not want to obtain prescriptions via the Internet, can also use some of the pharmacy practice sites for this purpose.

Ideally, consumers should feel free to ask their pharmacist questions about their medications, and at least one pharmacy practice site, soma.com, invites consumers to e-mail questions to its pharmacists.

Besides electronic communication with pharmacists and readily available medication information, pharmacy practice sites promote such services as automatic refill reminders, price comparisons, a large and complete inventory of pharmaceuticals, and home delivery. The sites may also provide assurances to the consumer that medical data is kept private and encryption technology is used to maintain security.

Vendors of vitamins and herbs have also staked out their place on the Web. These sites not only sell their products, but may also determine what product a customer should be using for his or her particular ailment. Selfcare.com, for example, allows the consumer to type in a symptom, and a list of recommended herbal products appears on the screen.

Vitamin e-vendor acumins.com promotes custom formulas of vitamins. After a customer answers various questions (such as "Do you smoke?") by selecting "yes" or "no" on the SmartSelect™ Analysis screen, Acumin says it will determine what vitamins and minerals are needed by that consumer and then create a vitamin product with those ingredients.

Even customers who patronize actual pharmacies can utilize the Internet. For instance, Walgreens' Web site allows consumers to pre-order their refills on-line before visiting the store to pick them up. This Web site gives customers another option besides calling in their refill orders to the pharmacy or taking empty bottles to the store and waiting for the refill.

While the convenience of on-line pharmacies exists, so does the concern about how easily sites operated by unscrupulous individuals can be closed down one day and reappear shortly afterwards under a different name. Another concern is offshore prescribing sites that sell unapproved drugs or drugs that do not meet U.S. standards, but are also accessible to American consumers on the Internet.

"Consumers have been contacting the [North Carolina] Board office questioning the legitimacy of on-line pharmacies, both those based in the U.S. and those from foreign countries," said David Work, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy.

Consumers seeking assurance that an on-line pharmacy practice site is operating lawfully and employing licensed and qualified pharmacists will welcome NABP's Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) program, which is currently being developed to verify the licensure of on-line pharmacies and ensure they meet certain practice criteria. (See "VIPPS Development On Schedule" in this Newsletter.)

Internet pharmacy practice sites are not only a pharmacy of the future; they are already an accepted fact of life at the other end of consumers' modems. With a growing number of Internet users accessing these sites through a simple touch of their keyboards, there is little doubt these sites will have an impact on the pharmacy marketplace and the practice of pharmacy in the years to come.

 TOP 

Comments? Click here.