The young generation, or to be more specific, the millennial have more acquataince to internet than other sources. The immense use of internet in the current era have led to the flourishing of many online business platforms. One such platform is e-pharmacy. With the increased link between the health care and the online platforms, the accessibility to health care have tremendously improved with the tap on the button. And the medicines prescribed by the health care professionals led to the innovation of web portal of pharmacy, i.e. e-pharmacy. Still, the majority of the population are under dark regarding the benefits of the e-pharmacy.
What is e-pharmacy model?
Before we proceed onto the myths & misconceptions regarding the operation of e-pharmacy, let’s know in brief about the structure of e-pharmacy model. E-pharmacy or online pharmacy is an online web portal where the transactions of medicines takes place between the buyer and the seller. The retailer takes the order after confirming the validity of the prescription with the registered pharmacist, and then delivers the genuine medicines to the door steps of the customers. One of the genuine e-pharmacy is 3MEDS-Best healthcare service provider in India.
Types of e-pharmacies existing in the market:
Inventory based e-pharmacy:
This model of pharmacy includes storage of medicines in different store houses. The pharmaceutical company houses the goods and services and lend them to the required customer on verification of the prescription. They hire a registered pharmacist to answer the queries of the customers. The drugs sold are genuine with validity of at least 3 months. The orders are delivered with the help of courier services and the payment details are handled by intelligence team to safeguard the confidentiality of the customers.
Non- inventory based/market based e-pharmacy:
This group of e-pharmacy acts as a mediator between the different offline pharmacies and the customers. They do not house medicines by themselves but are involved in trading medicines from he registered offline pharmacies. The orders are taken through the web portal and then checked for the validity of the prescription before dispensing the medicines.
International trade between e-pharmacies illegally:
These are group of e-pharmacies without valid registration and license and are involved with dispatching of medicines without the confirmation of prescription. There is no registered pharmacist and they do not display appropriate details. Therefore, one must look for genuine e-pharmacies with valid registration governed by state and the country.
Myths and misconceptions regarding the e-pharmacy:
Responsible for selling counterfeit drugs: myth
e-Pharmacy asking for valid prescription before dispatching medicines are not involved in marketing of counterfeit drugs or fraudulent drugs. Only after the approval of the prescription by the pharmacist, one can avail the medicines from web portal. To overcome this myth, one must check for basic details such as validation and registration of the pharmacy before opting to use its services.
Poor quality drugs are sold: myth
There is a common misconception that the e-pharmacies are involved with selling poor-quality drugs which is not true. Genuine e-pharmacies like 3MEDS-online pharmacy store in India, is one of the reliable source to buy your prescription online. There are few rogue pharmacies which supply low-quality drugs and hence careful analysis of the pharmacy is extremely important before placing your orders.
Prolonged duration taken for delivery of medicines: myth
e-Pharmacies are designed in such a way that the customers can keep a tab on the medicines after dispatch. Maximum time limit involves deliver within 24 hours after dispatch within the accessible geographical locations. Therefore the above statement is completely a myth.
Price hike on drugs at e-pharmacies: myth
When compared with offline pharmacies, e-pharmacy offers substantial discount on drugs. 3MEDS-best medicine store in India offers 23% discount on all the drugs purchased from their web portal. These pharmacies are involved with buying bulk of medicines and therefore offers a lowered price on medicines.
Hoax customer services: myth
Often, people believe that the customer services provide vague information on medicines which is a misconception. E-pharmacies are more user-friendly as one can get to know the basic details of the drugs, its adverse effects, benefits and category of drug it belongs to with the help of information displayed on web-portal. This is lacked by most of the offline pharmacies.
Conclusion:
E-Pharmacies are one of the safest web portal for the delivery of medicines which is often underrated due to the myths and misconceptions taking rounds. Due to the lack of insight into the functioning of e-pharmacies, often public seems to believe rumours than the actual benefits. One can blindly accredit reliability, confidentiality of the payment details, and affordability with 24*7 customer services. E-pharmacies is one of the growing business in the current era. However, checking the basic details of registration and validation hold paramount importance due to the surge of rogue pharmacies.