In this digital era, everything is digitized and multiple pharmacy chains have improvised their business model providing online stores and home delivery services etc. Furthermore, there are several online stores or e-commerce platforms that have introduced a special “medical” section in their stores and some people are really becoming anxious about the future of pharmacy especially the local pharmacy because they are afraid that once everything will be sold online then the local pharmacy advantages will be obsolete.
Despite all this E-commerce revolution and chain pharmacy adaptation, there are still some disadvantages of chain pharmacy and online health stores when we talk about local pharmacy vs chain pharmacy.
This guide is gonna tell you everything about chain pharmacy definition, local pharmacy vs chain, disadvantages of chain pharmacy and local pharmacy advantages. Furthermore, why should you still prefer a local pharmacy ignoring all the benefits of online pharmacies? Keep reading.

What Does Local Pharmacy Mean?

Local Pharmacy Female Cashier in White Coat Serves Customer.

A local pharmacy is a small pharmacy that is run by an independent local pharmacist who is eager to provide the pharmacy services to its local community. A local pharmacy is not a part of any pharmacy chain and that’s why it has its own pros and cons as compared to chain pharmacies or other online health stores.

What Is a Pharmacy Chain?

A chain pharmacy store

A pharmacy chain is a group of pharmacies that are run under the same company. That’s why it is called a pharmacy chain because there are several similar nodes spreaded around the town, city, state or country. According to chain pharmacy definition and rule of thumb, there are more than 4 pharmacies that are run under the same brand name and signage to complete a pharmacy chain. There are several benefits of a pharmacy chain like convenience, fast delivery due to its common practices; however, there are still some disadvantages of chain pharmacy that can’t be ignored. For example, the pharmacy chain is not suitable for customized prescriptions as they have their own standard procedures. Furthermore, they may have higher prices because they ultimately have to sort out their branding expenses and taxes.

What Is the Main Role of Pharmacy?

The main role of a pharmacy is to provide safe and secure medications to patients under the guidelines of major health authorities like WHO, FDA and MHD. They are not just for dispensing medicines; instead, they are run under the certified healthcare professionals who can fill the prescriptions right, guide the suggested dosage, spread awareness about symptoms and who can provide medication therapy management as well.
So, if you want to have personalized care and guidance about a certain disease and if you want to know the exact dosage of a certain prescription then you should visit any nearest community pharmacy in the U.S to be educated.

5 Advantages of a Local Pharmacy vs a Chain

Here are the 5 major local pharmacy advantages when we talk about local pharmacy vs chain of pharmacies. Take note of them before deciding between a local pharmacy vs chain.

1. Personalized Care

One of the best local pharmacy advantages is personalized care. Your local pharmacist may know you well and once you start visiting a local pharmacy quite often then your local pharmacist may remember everything about you and your family health history. In future, whenever you face some specific unhealthy symptoms then your local pharmacist may already know the real reason and he/she may quickly perform some basic tests and suggest the best possible route to quickly cope with those symptoms.

2. Flexibility

One of the notable disadvantages of chain pharmacy is the lack of flexibility. You just can’t have your own flexible schedule to fill your prescription and you don’t get the personalized customized solutions as well. On the other hand, local pharmacies provide every kind of flexibility.

3. Competitive Pricing

You can always save some bucks while purchasing medicines from a local pharmacy because local pharmacies have a lesser profit margin because they are intended to build long lasting reputation in the local community. On the contrary, you always pay higher to pharmacy chains because they have to get higher profits to sustain their branding.

4. Fast Service

Local pharmacies won’t have a long queue as there are only a few patients at a time. So, you can expect a faster service at a local pharmacy as compared to a chain of pharmacies where they always have to deal with multiple customers at a time; therefore, you should always prefer a local pharmacy if you are aware of using compounding pharmacy advantages because chain pharmacies won’t entertain your compounding prescriptions.

5. Free Delivery

If you get sick and you are unable to visit the chain pharmacy yourself, a local pharmacist may make them deliver to your house and he/she may visit himself/herself to do some basic tests – like BP checking – in case of urgency. It’s all due to a local harmony between a local pharmacist and the local citizens.

Takeaway

Chain stores and online pharmacies have really revolutionized the pharmacy culture; however, the personalized care, customer service and price competitiveness along with free delivery are some of those benefits of local pharmacy that are unmatched. If you are living near Kensington, MD then you must prefer a best local pharmacy in Kensington, MD instead of a pharmacy chain to have the best prescription filling experience at a lesser price.