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Shizuoka
/ Drive-through pharmacy helps elderly From The Yomiuri Shimbun September 15, 2003 A pharmacist in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, who opened the country's first drive-through pharmacy is also offering home delivery service. The pharmacy, P Station Mikatahara Yakkyoku opened in June and is located in a 360-square-meter space along a prefectural road in the city. The owner, Hiroaki Suzuki, 40, has worked as a pharmacist at several pharmacies in the city, and waited 10 years to open his own. He often saw people tired and sick people having to wait in line to receive medicine, which he felt must have been very hard on them. Suzuki said many customers that use the drive-through, such as people with children and people suffering from various ailments, would have difficulty coming inside. The outside of the pharmacy has the appearance of a fast-food restaurant. Customers drive up to the reception window, hand their prescriptions to the pharmacist, and wait in their cars while their prescriptions are filled. The process takes no more than five minutes. When they leave, they pay and receive their prescriptions and instructions on how to take them. First-time customers, however, must enter the pharmacy to answer questions about their health. The pharmacy also delivers prescriptions and give instruction on taking medicine to physically disabled customers. Eight elderly customers were told about the service by nurses and welcome its convenience. When a prescription is sent to the pharmacy by fax, Suzuki delivers the medicine to the customer's house and explains how to take it. One advantage of this, says Suzuki, is that when he enters customers' homes, he can can tell them where a safe place to store the medicine would be. About five to 10 people visit Suzuki's pharmacy a day. "Honestly speaking, business is not so good," he said, adding, "If I had a little more leeway, I'd like to hire another pharmacist and expand both home delivery service and the pharmacy."
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
