Prescriptions Go On-line at The Medicine Shoppe

Ted Borgstadt, who owns three Northwest Arkansas drugstores, recently got permission from the state Board of Pharmacy to accept prescription refill orders over the Internet.

Borgstadt says customers often transfer prescriptions for various reasons. “All it takes, basically, is asking the pharmacy that you want [to fill the prescription] to call the pharmacy that has it on file. … It happens every single day.” Typically, that happens when the customer visits the store or makes a telephone call. Now, at Borgstadt’s stores, they can make that directive over the Internet. The customer can drop by and pick up the order, go through the store drive-through or take advantage of Borgstadt’s free delivery within the city limits.

The three stores owned by Borgstadt include The Medicine Shoppe stores in Rogers and Springdale and Sager Creek Pharmacy in Siloam Springs.

Borgstadt says he wanted to go beyond the merely functional at his web sites. “We wanted to do something that was functional. A lot of sites are aesthetically pleasing … but, once you look at it and read it, it doesn’t do anything for you.”

For his customers, Borgstadt wanted to give them direct contact with his pharmacists. They can submit questions and get private answers in return. Some of the most commonly asked questions may be summarized and placed on-line for general access, he says.