Advantages and Disadvantages of
E-Pharmacy

E-Pharmacy is a business model that deals with the preparation and sale of prescription and non-prescription drugs as in traditional pharmacies. However, online pharmacies take orders online and send the drugs to their destination by post.

With the internet being an important part of our lives, it was not a surprise that pharmacies started to move to the online platform. So what is an online pharmacy? The online pharmacy is a business that deals with the preparation and sale of prescription and non-prescription drugs as in traditional pharmacies. However, online pharmacies take orders online and send the drugs to their destination by post. Around 32,500 online pharmacists around the world provide services within legal limits to protect public health around the world.

Online sales of drugs started in the late 1990s and began to spread rapidly around the world. With this rapid transition, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) opened a section on its official website under the heading "Buying drugs on the Internet" and emphasized that people should be careful against illegal online pharmacies with the guidelines it published. The advantages and disadvantages of online pharmacies have become a subject of great debate today. In order to understand the subject clearly, it is necessary to compare the advantages and disadvantages of online pharmacies in detail. But before, what is e-pharmacy and how does it work? We should list the answers to these questions in detail.

What Is E-Pharmacy and How Does It Work?

E-Pharmacy is a pharmacy that sells medicines on the internet and delivers them to customers. Thanks to the internet, the drug purchasing process becomes much easier and more convenient. Patients can order their prescription medicines from registered pharmacists via the internet and receive their medicines from the nearest delivery point. The E-Pharmacy model, which is very easy to use and continues to spread rapidly, started to replace traditional pharmacies.

How Does E-Pharmacy Work?

As a first step, patients download mobile applications to their phones or tablets. They then create a request for medicines by uploading a copy of their scanned prescriptions to the system. Every drug request entered into the system is controlled by a team of registered pharmacists. Registered pharmacists direct the prescriptions they deem valid to the pharmacy warehouse in the region where the drugs will be given to the patient. This special system can work on a mobile and web basis and is as secure as it is easy to use.

What Are the Advantages of E-Pharmacy?

• It is very easy to order prescription drugs through E-Pharmacy. Especially for people who live far away from a traditional pharmacy, the elderly, disabled people, and those who work very intensively, this system is both a very easy and a very fast method of obtaining medicine. Additionally, the shipping cost is much cheaper than the travelling to a traditional pharmacy.

• One of the most important advantages of the E-Pharmacy application is time saving. You can order your medication within minutes and get your prescription medicines very quickly. All you have to do is to place an order by entering the prescription through the mobile application or website. You do not have to go to the pharmacy and you will not be faced with waiting in line at the pharmacy.

• Buying drugs on the internet also saves money. Studies show that buying drugs online can save a third of money in total.

• Another advantage offered by E-Pharmacy is privacy and confidentiality. This system provides great convenience especially for those who are afraid of talking face to face with doctors and pharmacists. In addition, people are able to order medications without any drawback on special issues such as sexuality or adolescence that may be a source of embarrassment.

• E-Pharmacy, which offers a much wider range of options than a traditional pharmacy, provides a great advantage to patients. It is not possible to find every drug in a physical pharmacy in a particular area, but there are many more drug options available in general drug stores.

• Most legal stores that work with E-Pharmacy have a drug verification process. These stores request a prescription from a personal doctor or drug delivery is applied after completing a questionnaire about the patient's health status. These questionnaires are approved by a doctor before being distributed.

• Some online pharmacies share useful information about medicines and illnesses. It provides links to useful information, as well as important medical resources, universities, and government agencies.

What Are the Disadvantages of E-Pharmacy?

• One of the biggest disadvantages of the online pharmacy model is the lack of physical evaluation capability. In some cases, physical evaluations can be made and situation analysis can be done very effectively. Even if the online evaluation process is done, this process will not be done by licensed healthcare professionals.

• One of the disadvantages of E-Pharmacy is that there is no one you can contact face to face. When patients want to ask questions about the drugs they are taking, it is very difficult for them to reach a licensed pharmacist. For this reason, it may not be possible for patients to access their medication on the same day.

• Some online pharmacies can dispense medicines to patients without requiring a prescription. In such a case, patients can get sick much more severely instead of healing. Therefore, when buying drugs from the pharmacy, pharmacists must definitely request a prescription. Some illegal online pharmacies sell over-the-counter drugs by putting human health at risk, and it is very difficult to prevent this.

• One of the issues that raise questions about the E-Pharmacy application is the privacy of personal and financial information. Therefore, online pharmacies should create their own privacy policy pages on their websites and ensure that personal information and financial information are not shared with third parties.

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