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OUR NEWSSTANDS Medical locations: • Children’s Hospital of Georgia, Harper Street, Main Lobby • Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Ctr, 15th St., Main Entrance • Dept. of Veterans Affairs Med. Center, Uptown Div., Wrightsboro Rd., main lobby • Doctors Hospital, 3651 Wheeler Rd, ER Lobby Entrance • Eisenhower Hospital, Main Lobby, Fort Gordon • George C. Wilson Drive (by medical center Waffle House and mail boxes) • Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home, main lobby, 15th Street • Augusta U. Hospital, 1120 15th Street, South & West Entrances • Augusta U. Medical Office Building, Harper Street, Main Entrance • Augusta U. Medical Office Building, Harper Street, Parking Deck entrance • Augusta U. Hospital, Emergency Room, Harper Street, Main Entrance • Select Specialty Hospital, Walton Way, Main entrance lobby • Trinity Hospital, Wrightsboro Road, main lobby by elevators • Trinity Hospital Home Health, Daniel Village, main lobby • University Health Federal Credit Union/ University Hospital Human Resources, 1402 Walton Way, Main Lobby • University Hospital, 1350 Walton Way, Emergency Room lobby area • University Hospital, 1350 Walton Way, Outside Brown & Radiology/Day Surgery • University Hospital - Columbia County, 465 N. Belair Road, Main Lobby • University Hospital Prompt Care, 3121 Peach Orchard Road, Augusta
Around town: • Barney’s Pharmacy, 2604 Peach Orchard Rd. • Birth Control Source, 1944 Walton Way • GRU Summerville Student Bookstore • Blue Sky Kitchen, 990 Broad Street • Columbia County Library, main branch lobby, Ronald Reagan Drive, Evans • Enterprise Mill (North Tower), 1450 Greene Street, Augusta • Daniel Village Barber Shop, Wrightsboro Road at Ohio Ave. • Family Y (Old Health Central), Broad Street, downtown Augusta • Hartley’s Uniforms, 1010 Druid Park Ave, Augusta • International Uniforms, 1216 Broad Street, Augusta • Marshall Family Y, Belair Rd, Evans • Parks Pharmacy, Georgia Avenue, North Augusta • Southside Family Y, Tobacco Road, Augusta • Surrey Center, Surrey Center Pharmacy, Highland Avenue, Augusta • Top-Notch Car Wash, 512 N. Belair Road, Evans • Wild Wing Cafe, 3035 Washington Road, Augusta
Plus more than 875 doctors offices throughout the area for staff and waiting rooms, as well as many nurses stations and waiting rooms of area hospitals.
APRIL 14, 2017
AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER
Very little if anything about healthcare is inexpensive, and that includes medicine. Tiny pills can command large prices. Over-the-counter and generic medications may be less expensive, but are they also less effective? Find the answers to lots of your drug store questions in this column written by Augusta pharmacists Chris and Lee Davidson exclusively for the Medical Examiner.
THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO GET WELL: MONEY
I
n our current economy, it pays to shop around for the best bargain possible for everything. Whether you shop at multiple markets ensuring the least expensive grocery bill, shop only the clearance sales for your clothing, or scour the internet for the best price on a new vehicle, we are all looking for new and better ways to reduce our monthly bills. However, it isn’t necessarily in your best interest to go the cheapest route on your healthcare, especially when it involves your prescription medications. Unfortunately, medications of all types have been increasing in price exponentially. Never mind the $1,000-per-pill “specialty” medications; even the old stand-by inexpensive medications have begun increasing in price at an astronomical rate. For example, a bottle of 500 tablets of a medication that used to be $3 to $4 for the pharmacy to purchase may now cost $300 to $400. Unfortunately, we have all heard about the price-gouging on Epi-Pens (the injection used for anaphylactic reactions). Anyone without prescription insurance is not likely to be able to afford many medications at those rates. These days even people with insurance may find that medication costs are out of the affordable realm. Many people look to alternative solutions to combat ridiculously high prices. Some options that are available are store or manufacturer coupons, prescription drug discount cards, lists/websites that indicate which stores sell the medications at the lowest cost. With drug discount cards, one issue is that the price is not always the cheapest available. The store’s cash price (no insurance or cards) may actually be cheaper than the “discount card” price. Manufacturer coupons may or may not be applicable due to issues with the patient’s insurance. Many cards may not legally be used if the patient
has any sort of state or federal government-related insurance plan – including teachers, military retirees and Medicaid and Medicare plans. The other possibility is using the lists that claim to show the cheapest possible places to purchase each medication. In this case, the patient may actually get the cheapest medicine, but at what cost? Using multiple pharmacies for any reason can be very dangerous. A patient may be using multiple physicians and multiple pharmacies, often for cost or convenience reasons. In doing so there is a much larger risk of drug-drug interactions, duplication in therapy, and inappropriate medication regimens. If that patient is also paying “cash” prices instead of insurance, the risk becomes even greater. One physician may not know that another has prescribed a given medication, or that a patient has a medication allergy that they have longforgotten. In a multiple pharmacy situation, it is very easy for someone to end up with medications that absolutely do not need to be given together. Give yourself the best possible chance at a good medical outcome and shop around — but use one pharmacy that gives you the best overall deal without putting your health at risk. After all, saving money is not worth compromising your health or life. + Questions, comments and article suggestions can be sent by email to cjdlpdrph@bellsouth.net Written for the Medical Examiner by Augusta pharmacists Chris and Lee Davidson (cjdlpdrph@bellsouth.net )
Healthcare costs can be hard to swallow. But if your pills are, let us know. We’ll try to help.
P
GREAT COFFEE DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME OR WORK
ARKS
HARMACY
Hometown. Not big box.
437 Georgia Avenue, North Augusta, SC
803-279-7450 parkspharmacy.com
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Thanks for reading!