Adherence Tip #5: Choose Your Pharmacy Carefully

Daily adherence with HIV medications  is the key to bringing your viral load down to low or undetectable levels, which will dramatically improve your chances of staying healthy and living a full life.  Simple, right?  Not really.  Here is my latest tip for improving your HIV medication adherence.

Tip #3:  Use one pharmacy, preferably one that specializes in HIV.
Make your pharmacy staff allies in helping you to succeed with your HIV medications.  Use a single pharmacy for all of your medications.  This cuts the chance of taking interacting medications, because the single pharmacy will know about all of your medications.  It also makes it easier to keep track of refills and insurance changes.

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I suggest you choose your pharmacy carefully.  Some pharmacies do a better job of caring for people with HIV than others.  Why is this?  If you go to a pharmacy that serves few people with HIV, they are less likely to have your medications in stock.  This could result in a delay in getting your refills, which might cause you to run out of medication.  Remember, the goal of HIV therapy is no missed doses.

Another reason to choose a pharmacy specializing in HIV is the pharmacist will have a better grasp on HIV and its current treatment.   For example,  HIV is controlled with a combination of three or more medications in most instances, and your pharmacist must give you the complete regimen every month for it to be succesful.

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In Minneapolis where I live, I often refer people to Walgreen's Specialty Pharmacy and Bioscrip.  Other pharmacies also do a good job with HIV, but I know these two pharmacies give excellent service.  Not every Walgreen's is a specialty pharmacy, nor do they all HIV expertise, however, so ask the pharmacist before giving them your prescriptions.  Walgreen's has certified 500 of their pharmacies in the US as HIV Centers of Excellence.

Here are some ways to help your pharmacy give you the best care:
1.  Carry your insurance information so that your are charged correctly.
2.  Call in your refills a week in advance, if possible.
3.  Take advantage of free delivery service if available, especially if you tend to run out of medications.
4.  Ask if they will alert you when it is time for refills.
5.  Walgreens has an app which allows you to order refills from your iPhone.

I hope this tip helps you with your medication adherence.  Stay tuned in coming days for more tips.
Wishing you health in 2012!

© William L. Larson, Pharm.D. 2012