ABOUT
MAIL ORDER
Mail order pharmacies are pharmacies that are located in warehouse or suite spaces across the United States. Instead of having patients pick up their medications on site or delivering them locally, these pharmacies ship prescriptions to patients through the mail via USPS or carriers like FedEx and DHL.
The majority of these pharmacies are owned and operated by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)—middlemen that exist in the pharmacy world between pharmacies that fill prescriptions and payers that, well, pay for them (which include private insurance companies, large employers (think 3M and Boeing) who are self-insured, and the federal and state governments).
PBMs were originally designed to help streamline claims processing when the pharmaceutical market began to grow exponentially, but have since taken on a number of responsibilities in addition to playing administrative assistant in the filling of prescriptions, including:
Their numerous abusive practices are now described under the umbrella term PBM abuse, and it's something myself and fellow pharmacy professionals and advocates are working hard and daily to combat. Because, in short, our country has entered a nationwide #Pharmageddon that has now left thousands (and counting...) communities without a local pharmacy, and those of us who work in pharmacies know firsthand that #PharmacyDesertsKill. Whether you're here because your insurance company has forced you to use their mail order pharmacy; you're voluntarily transferring your prescription to help out your local independent pharmacy who loses money filling it; or you're looking to try out mail order because it's the best fit for you or your local chain pharmacy isn't cutting it, I'm happy you're here. Mail order pharmacies are, admittedly, not fun to work with, but with the right tools and education, it's doable, and you don't have to go in blind.
Click here to dive deeper into the basics of mail order pharmacy, here to learn specifically about how to manage you or your loved ones mail order needs, and here to share your own mail order story.
ME
My name's Hildie! I'm a Registered Nurse and self-taught mail order "expert." Out of necessity and in order to help save the independent pharmacy where I grew up and have now started my nursing career, over the past two years I've learned the ins and outs (and the tragedies) of mail order pharmacy in the US while independently managing the mail order needs of nearly 100 of our patients and counting. When I realized that my niche knowledge could help others, I felt that it was something I needed to share (i.e., I learned the hard way, but that doesn't mean you have to!).
This site is a culmination of my (and my patients') stories and the lessons I've learned throughout my ongoing mail order management journey—I hope you find it instructive, informative, and, more than anything, helpful.