There are a zillion online pharmacy sites out there but you might be surprised to know that most of them are actually working for the same parent company. Have you every heard of affiliate marketing? I didn’t really know what it was until I started working at an online pharmacy myself and learned all about this business and how it operates. Let me outline below the entire process from order to delivery.
1) You find an affiliate’s site online. Most online pharmacies, about 80% are affiliate sites. An affiliate is someone who signs up to market and sell the product (in this case, medication) and receives a commission for every order they make from the parent company. There is about 10 big parent pharmacy companies out there that depend 100% on their affiliates to market and sell for them, some of the biggest being MyRxCash, CartAdmin and Health Solutions Network. It kinda works like Mary Kay, where Mary Kay corporate has reps they rely on to sell the products, but the reps are actually considered their own company, separate legal entities from Mary Kay corporate. Most likely, if you are ordering medication online, you are ordering from an affiliate’s site. All the Recommended Sites are run by affiliates. You can find out which parent company you are buying from by reading the fine print when you go to place an order.
2. You place the order, and payment is processed. One the order is made, the affiliate’s job is done and it becomes the responsibility of the parent company to make sure the order is processed properly. The parent company has relationships with banks, who process the payment. At this point, usually affiliate is paid their commission for making the sale.
3. The order is approved by the doctor. Affiliate companies have a network of doctors and pharmacies around the nation that process your order through a extremely sophisticated online networking system. Sometimes the parent affiliate company is headquartered hundreds or thousands of miles away from the doctors and pharmacies that are reviewing the prescriptions and filling the orders. Most of the doctors that work with parent companies have a their own practice too and see people in person so it’s just the same as talking with your local doctor about your need for a medication. To prevent anytime of malpractice, most good parent companies will pay their doctors for every script they review, even if they choose not to approve or refill the prescription.
4. The order is sent to a pharmacy to be refilled. If the doctor chooses to write you a new prescription, the order is then sent to a pharmacy to fill. Some pharmacies are brick and mortar shops that service customers in person and some are wholesale distributors. Pharmacies can be paid either by number of orders filled or by type of order, it depends on what they have set up with the parent company. Often times you can tell which pharmacy filled your order by looking that the label on your medicine bottle when it comes- if not, you should be able to call your parent company customer service line and ask them.
5. The order is shipped and delivered to you. The parent company will usually have a relationship with a shipping company that makes sure to get your order to you as quickly as possible. Once you get your orders the process is done and starts again with the next time you make a purchase. If you have questions about the order or are ready to place a new order, you would call customer service, which is usually at the parent company headquarters.
As you can see, this process is extremely complicated with a number of parties involved in getting you your order. This industry is one of many that was made possible by the internet and some genius programmers and is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds as customers begin to see the benefits of getting their prescription filled through an online pharmacy.
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