Are presorted medication packets a good idea?
Medication regimens can be confusing to patients and caregivers. What do I take in the morning? Should I take that with food or on an empty stomach? Did I remember to take that pill last night?
Faced with an army of pill bottles every morning, noon and night, many Americans, especially seniors, need solutions. Plastic pill sorters are one way of managing multiple meds, but that requires weekly sorting, carefully following the latest instructions from healthcare providers.
Enter Amazon. In 2018, it acquired a company called PillPack, which had pioneered the monthly delivery of presorted prescription packets directly to patients. Medications are sorted by day and time, making it easy for a patient or caregiver to take the right drugs at the right time.
As far as I can tell, Amazon and another company, AccuPac, are the only providers of this service to consumers. CVS had a program called SimpleDose, but it was discontinued in 2023.
On the surface, getting your meds delivered to your door in easy-to-use and easy-to-understand packets is a good deal for patients and caregivers. The sorting and packaging is free; patients only pay their copays or coinsurance.
They accept many major insurance plans, including Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage. I recommend confirming with your insurer before starting on the program. You can also add a family member or other trusted adult to your account.
There may be some cost benefit. Under Amazon’s RxPass, for example, Prime members can get 60 common generics for $5 a month.
Isn’t there always a “however”? Of course there is.
One complication is synchronizing your medication refills so they can all arrive in the same packet. I recently read of an incident where a patient’s pill packet was missing her antidepressant because the refill approval hadn’t reached the pharmacy in time to be included.
This could lead to serious complications, depending on the medication. If your heart medication or blood thinner happens to be left out, that could be life-threatening. So don’t take for granted that all of your medications will be in the shipment. Double check it for accuracy each and every month.
Both Amazon and AccuPac will work to synchronize your prescriptions, which is a good idea even if you still get your prescriptions in bottles from the corner pharmacy or online provider. (Type “refill calculator” in your search engine and you can find several calculators that estimate the refill date based on last fill date, days of supply and the refill percentage.)
You will also need to stay on top of dosage changes ― such as taking two pills instead of one or a 10mg pill becoming a 20mg pill ― as well as changes in how or when you take the medication. If your doctor discontinues a medication that you already have in a packet, you will need to know which one to stop taking.
Obviously, presorting medications only works with pills. More and more medications are coming in injectable forms that require refrigeration. Creams, such as lidocaine, won’t be included.
Finally, pill packs are suitable only for maintenance medications you take for chronic conditions ― to manage your cholesterol or depression, for example. If you need an antibiotic for an infection, Tamiflu for the flu or Paxlovid for COVID-19, you still need to see your pharmacist.
Are pill packets convenient and easy to use? Absolutely. Are they foolproof? Absolutely not. It’s not a completely hands-off arrangement, and you will still need to be involved in managing your meds.
• Teri (Dreher) Frykenberg is a registered nurse and board-certified patient advocate. She is the author of several books on advocacy and founder of Nurse Advocate Entrepreneur, which equips medical professionals with the knowledge and skills to start their own advocacy businesses. Contact her at Teri@NurseAdvocateEntrepreneur.com.