Indiana’s First Telepharmacy Opens in Albion
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana’s first telepharmacy has opened in Albion. The Pill Box Pharmacy allows residents to fill prescriptions without direct contact with a pharmacist. Town representatives hope the new location will set a precedent for more telepharmacies to open in rural communities.
The telepharmacy comes after a three-year effort of community members conducting surveys that pushed for a telepharmacy. Albion lost its traditional pharmacy services in 2006 when Fischer Pharmacy closed three area locations.
The Pill Box Pharmacy is now on the town’s north end and is open for business. The telepharmacy is an extension of the services of The Pill Box in Warsaw, Indiana. The Warsaw location is a long-established, licensed brick and mortar pharmacy staffed by pharmacists. Albion’s Pill Box employs certified pharmacy technicians who dispense under the remote supervision of licensed pharmacists in Warsaw, facilitated by telecommunications. A laptop on the pharmacy counter in Albion enables patients to engage with pharmacists, via video chat.
Pill Box Pharmacy President Greg Winn says there are approximately 78 communities in Indiana at risk of losing their local pharmacies, in addition to many who already have. Albion hopes the successful outcome of this historic project will aid other communities in meeting the needs of Hoosiers.