Patterson Family Pharmacy is committed to giving you the best service whether you have unique ongoing needs or require assistance for a special order medication or product. We are a customer service driven pharmacy focused on patient care. Many efforts have been made to free up our pharmacists allowing them more time to provide personal service to their patients.
Phone Calls: Patterson Family Pharmacy strives to add exceptional customer service to our excellent products. Generally, we can answer your call and deal with your situation immediately. However, there are times that we are busier than usual. If we ask you to hold the line a minute, be assured we will answer your call as soon as possible, and give you the same exemplary service we gave the person ahead of you.
Pharmaceutical Counseling is an essential component of every patient's health regimen. When your doctor prescribes you a new medication, our pharmacists will review with you the expected performance of the drug, it's possible side effects, and interactions with other drugs you are taking.
Compounding means customizing drugs and medications for specific patient requirements. There are times when a patient's special needs require customized medications. If you need a dosage or form that is not readily available, we can prepare medication that contains exactly what your doctor orders. For instance, an advanced cancer patient may need a highly specialized drug that is not commercially manufactured. Or a suffering child will not take medicine critical to recovery because it doesn't taste good. If a medicine comes in a form of a capsule or tablet and must be given to someone that has difficulty swallowing, perhaps an infant, child or senior, we can prepare a liquid, trans dermal gel, lozenge, suppository or other dosage form as appropriate. Patterson Family Pharmacy is one of just a few pharmacies in the region to provide compounding service. Compounding is also available to a veterinarian's specifications if needed for a pet. Ask your vet to contact us.
Compounding also allows us to:
- Prepare dosage forms in flavors people like — especially children!
- Prepare medicines free of materials to which a patient is known to be allergic.
- Prepare medicines that are no longer commercially available but are what your doctor prescribed.
Pill splitting is an idea whose time has come. It involves buying medication in a pill that is twice the desired dose and then the patient splits the pill in half, giving the desired dose, but twice as many doses. Insurance companies embrace the idea because, generally, a double dose size pill costs the same as a single dose size pill. Therefore if you are taking 50 mg of a given drug, generally you can get 100 mg pills of the same drug … at the same price. Break them in two, and you have 50 mg doses, but twice as many doses for the same price.
Doctors must prescribe the higher dose, and write the instructions as “use as directed” to provide the freedom to use split pills, however, they are generally willing to do so. Pharmacists also cooperate readily, because they are getting the specified price for the pill dispensed, and passing on a no-cost benefit to their customer. Most drug stores sell pill splitting devices of several styles, typically under $5.00. They are clean, quiet, accurate, and easy to use. For large pills, "Dikes" (diagonal cutters) or "Linesman's Pliers" can prove to be an easy tool. They are readily available in the hardware department of discount stores, or at your nearest hardware store.
There are, however, many medications that can’t be split. For instance, many “pills” or “tablets” readily lend themselves to splitting, but a “capsule”, liquid, paste, or cream would not. Some pills are so small that splitting is difficult. A minimal amount of manual dexterity is necessary to deal with smaller pieces, and that can be a limiting factor. The patient must be able to maintain the difference between the different dose sizes.
Patterson Family Pharmacy is proud to cooperate with prescriptions written to enable pill splitting, and to offer a number of pill splitters for sale. Expert advice is also available in this and all related matters.
Blister Medication Packaging is preparing servings of multiple prescribed medications. Many patients must take multiple prescriptions at various times throughout each day. In situations like this it is critical that the patient has an organized procedure for taking proper dosages at the proper time. Certain drugs should not be ingested together because the mixture could produce adverse side effects. Working with you and your doctors, our pharmacists' plan, organize, package and label each serving of medications so that you can follow the proper regimen needed to maximize good health.
Other services that are provided to our patients include, but are not limited to:
Medicare and Insurance Billing is available for medical equipment and medications. Dual Insurance Billing is available (for most insurances). We're certified with Medicare to bill directly for your medications and durable medical equipment so you will incur only a minimum of out-of-pocket expenses.
Mail Out Services can be handy if one is planning an extended trip, or if transportation becomes an issue.
Patient Refill Services include counseling or contacting the doctor for extended refills as needed.
Durable Medical Equipment and Special Orders: While we have a small store we have access to two large warehouses located in Stockton and Lathrop from which we can get most any item you need next day. Please do not hesitate to ask for a particular product or for us to stock it on our shelves.
Computerized Reports: We can provide you with an itemized list of your medications for tax and insurance purposes three times yearly at no-charge to you. Additional copies may be produced at a nominal fee of $1.00 per request.
Accepted Payment Types: Cash, Personal Checks, Business Checks, Money Orders, Credit Cards on-file, Visa, Master Card, Discover American Express