Cash and carry (private-pay) medication dispensing is the most common — and typically the most efficient and profitable — type of dispensing program for private practices. Whether or not your patients carry prescription insurance, cash and carry dispensing gives them a convenient, confidential, and cost-effective alternative to a separate trip to the pharmacy, while your practice keeps full control of pricing and margin.
Why practices choose cash and carry
- Transparent pricing. When you bill patients’ prescription insurance, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) take a large share of the medication margin, and reimbursements often come in well below what a cash-pay patient would pay. With PharmaLink’s pricing, you have room to mark up medications and earn a profit while still saving your patients money compared to their cash cost or copay at the pharmacy.
- Predictable margins. Your medication cost and profit are known before you dispense. There are no fluctuating reimbursements and no risk of receiving less than you paid for the medication.
- Immediate payment. You collect payment at the end of the visit instead of waiting weeks for insurance reimbursements to arrive.
- Less administration. Removing insurance billing removes the preauthorization process along with the phone calls, faxes, and paperwork that come with it. Most practices run cash and carry programs with no additional staff.
How patients decide
Patients with prescription coverage choose where to fill based on convenience, confidentiality, and cost — comparing your cash price to their copay at the pharmacy. PharmaLink’s competitive medication pricing lets you set patient prices that compete with most copays while still earning a margin, so both sides win.
Patients without coverage compare your price to the pharmacy’s cash price. For commonly prescribed medications, they almost always save money — and skip the pharmacy trip entirely — by purchasing directly from your practice.
For medications you rarely prescribe, or for high-cost branded and specialty products, you can continue sending prescriptions to the pharmacy as you always have. As part of setup, PharmaLink will review your prescribing history free of charge and recommend a starting formulary drawn from our catalog of more than 2,000 branded and generic medications.
Compliance built into the workflow
The biggest challenge for dispensing practices is staying compliant with labeling, medication storage, and PDMP reporting requirements. PharmaLink’s software is built to make compliance routine: the system prints a compliant patient label as part of every dispense, and PDMP reporting is automatic in every state where PharmaLink operates. We stay with you as a partner to help you follow the regulations that apply in your state.
Simple to launch, easy to run
PharmaLink provides a turnkey dispensing solution — prepackaged medications, web-based software, label printer, and scanner — so there is nothing to piece together. Dispensing a medication takes 15–30 seconds, and reordering is a few clicks with free shipping on orders over $250 and delivery in 48–72 hours. Once your application is complete, your office can be up and running in as little as 3 business days.
Many practices also pair cash and carry with mail order and home delivery to offer a wider formulary without adding inventory.
Get started
Ready to see what cash and carry dispensing could do for your practice and your patients? Contact us today to request more information or schedule a demonstration.