If you’re someone with a chronic
illness, or if you have a large family, the cost of healthcare, including over
the counter and prescription medicines, can really add up over time.
Your community pharmacist isn’t
just someone who fills your scripts. They can deliver important health checks
and services, offer guidance and refer on where necessary, and even help to
save you money. Here’s now:
Providing convenient healthcare advice without
needing an appointment and often without a fee.
Your community pharmacist is the
most accessible healthcare professional. They are available for advice, without
an appointment, at any point that the pharmacy is open — either in-store or
over the phone.
Our pharmacists are trained in a
range of fields and can assess and treat many different health conditions. For
example, Capital Chemist pharmacies offer services including baby clinics, a sleep apnoea service, wound management, mental health first aid and anaemia screening
— just to
name a few!
Outside of the services that your
Capital Chemist pharmacist an offer, they are available to lend an ear and
provide professional healthcare advice whenever you need it.
Sometimes it’s not only a matter of
money but of time. One of the services that your Capital Chemist pharmacist can
offer is a Workplace Leave Certificate. If you have woken up with a self-limiting
condition that would usually fall into your pharmacist’s normal scope of
practice (like a cold, stomach upset, migraine, or back pain), your pharmacist
may be able to issue a certificate for up to two days. A small fee applies, but
you may find a trip to the pharmacy is more convenient than a visit to the GP
and with less waiting time.
Through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
(PBS) Safety Net
The PBS Safety Net runs on a
calendar year and helps to protect Australian families from high medication
costs. If you are taking lots of PBS medicines, you could qualify.
If you go to one pharmacy for all
of your medicines, then your pharmacist can automatically keep track of your
families PBS medicines and let you know when you reach the limit — as long as
they know all of the members of your families (different family names can make
it tricky otherwise).
If you’re a concession patient,
once you reach the limit, most scripts become free. If you’re a general
patient, most scripts go down to $6.60 in 2020.
By offering a less expensive brand
Sometimes, your doctor may
prescribe a particular brand of medicine. There may be a generic version
available, which offers the same active ingredients. According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, generic brands also have to be
‘bioequivalent’, meaning the same dose contains the same active ingredient
which is absorbed by your body over the same period of time.
The alternative brand will offer
exactly the same benefits as the existing brand and work in the same way, but switching
to a generic brand can save you a significant amount of money over time.
If you have any concerns or
questions about a generic, less expensive brand, your Capital Chemist
pharmacist is more than happy to talk about it with you.
By making sure you’re taking the right
medicines correctly
Your Capital Chemist pharmacist can
also make sure that you’re taking only the right medicines you need at the
right dose.
There are a number of ways that
this can happen: one is through a simple conversation where they can answer
your questions and explain or demonstrate how to correctly take your medicines
(for example, how to use an asthma inhaler properly).
Another way is a Home Medicines Review. This is a comprehensive clinical review of your medicines by a
specially accredited pharmacist. Once you have a referral from your GP, the
pharmacist will come to your home and conduct the review. This service happens
in cooperation with relevant health professionals, and, where appropriate, your
carer.
Through our Loyalty Matters program
Whether it’s items for your first
aid kit, vitamins, supplements, skincare and toiletries, we think that you
deserve to be rewarded for looking after yourself and investing in your health.
That’s why we invented our Loyalty
Matters programme, to thank you for your loyalty and to help save you money.
Here’s how it works: for every $1
spent (except on prescription medicines) you’ll receive 1 Loyalty Point. When
you earn 100 points, you’ll be rewarded with a $5 loyalty voucher to spend as
you choose. You’ll also have the chance to win fantastic prizes exclusive to
Loyalty Matters members and look forward to exclusive member-only offers
in-store. And seniors earn double points.
Membership is free, and you can
start earning points immediately. Find out more and sign up at
https://capitalchemist.com.au/pg.aspx?title=loyalty-matters.