 | Kent Richardson graduated from the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy in 1972. Kent has owned and operated Richardson's Pharmacy, a retail independent pharmacy, and Richardson's Medical, a Durable Medical Equipment and Oxygen company in Wichita, KS since 1973. He also owns Custom Rx, Inc., a compounding only pharmacy in Wichita, KS. Since 1988, Kent has served on the Board of Directors of PACE Alliance, the largest retail pharmacy-buying group in the United States, and is currently Vice Chairman of that organization. He has also served as President and Chairman of the American College of Apothecaries, an international professional association of pharmacists, and has served on their Board of Directors for 14 years. Kent holds memberships in the National Community Pharmacists Association, American Pharmaceutical Association and the Kansas Pharmacy Association and has served and is still serving on various committees for these organizations. His employment history includes serving as Marketing Director for a regional Prescription Benefit Management Company (PBM) for twelve years. For the last seven years he has been instrumental in the development of Right Choice Pharmacy, a totally unique concept in the cost-effective provision of maintenance prescriptions via community pharmacies. You can reach Kent Richardson at Richardson's Custom Rx Pharmacy (316) 721-2626 located at 3510 N. Ridge Rd. in Wichita, or visit their website at www.customrx.net |
Pharmaceuticals
2004-08-01 11:51:00
Aids on remembering to order Rx
Question: My mother has trouble remembering to reorder her prescriptions. What is the best solution?
ANSWER: This is a very common problem and not just for seniors. All of us live in this extremely busy world and, many times, we simply don't remember to take care of details such as reordering prescriptions for drugs we take every day. Another problem is that we don't remember to take our medications every day. Both of these situations can decrease the effectiveness of our drug therapy and can be quite dangerous. Of course, as we age, we do have more difficulty remembering such details and we take more medications, as we get older. That means that this lack of compliance with our drug regimen is a more serious problem for seniors. There are several possible solutions. You might order your mother's medications on her behalf and check to see that she takes them as she should but that is a tremendous and time-consuming responsibility. You might also purchase "pill organizers" which are small boxes separated into compartments that are labeled with a day of the week or month and the time of day that each dose should be taken.Some pharmacies offer programs to help you insure that your mother always has the medication she needs. If forgetting to reorder is the main problem, the best solution is to find a pharmacy that offers an automatic refill program. Secondly, if you want to reorder prescriptions on your mother's behalf, you may want to use a pharmacy that allows you to do so via the Internet. Finally, you may want to look for a pharmacy that has a comprehensive compliance monitoring program that will alert the pharmacist if a patient on the program has not refilled a maintenance prescription when due. All of these programs can be very valuable and help provide peace of mind to concerned family members like you. Also, in this busy world, it is very important to find a pharmacy where you can get personal attention and don't get lost in the hectic shuffle that is apparent in many pharmacies today. Try to find a pharmacy with more of an office setting where you can have a relaxed and private discussion with a pharmacist. Together, all of these programs and suggestions should make it much easier for you and your mother to feel confident that she is getting the most out of her medication therapy.
