New Year, New Innovations: Grab your Prescriptions to Go!

Time. It’s one of our most precious commodities. So it’s no surprise that in today’s microwave mindset, we want it and we want it now. That’s why it’s prime time for a quick, convenient and easy way to offer prescription medications to patients, and HCA Healthcare-affiliate Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., kicked off 2017 with the resolution – Rx to Go.

Patients visiting the emergency room at Memorial won’t have to travel far to pick up their prescriptions. Located in the emergency room lobby, Rx to Go, an automated and interactive medication dispenser, is a one-stop shop that will allow patients real-time access to a pharmacist and non-controlled prescriptions at their disposal for quick, convenient care.

How does it work?

The self-service pharmacy is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is stocked with the most frequently prescribed emergency department medications. After a patient scans in their prescriptions and provides payment – insurance, credit, or debit cards, and flexible or health spending accounts are accepted – the medication is dispensed through the machine.

Questions can be answered through videoconference with a local pharmacist at Memorial Hospital during normal business hours or with an HCA Healthcare remote pharmacist after hours.

Medical technology innovations like Memorial Hospital’s pharmacy vending machine is the wave of the future. Because, after all, time waits for no one. And given our challenges with time (there’s never enough of it), we’re proud that one of our hospitals has introduced a concept, the first of its kind in Northeast Florida, to make access to medications easier and more efficient for our patients and communities we are privileged to serve.

More Questions? We’ve got answers. 

Q: What type of medications are stocked in the Self-Serve Pharmacy?

A: There are pre-packaged medications of various strengths and quantities. This excludes controls, reconstitutable items, refrigerated items and re-packed liquids.

Q: Can a controlled substance like codeine or oxycodone be filled at the Self-Serve Pharmacy?

A: Control substances cannot be filled at this time. The patient is encouraged to visit the self-service pharmacy where they can fill the non-controlled medications. The pharmacist can then direct the patient to the most convenient alternate pharmacy for their controlled medication.

Q: What if the patient has questions on how to use the Self-Serve Pharmacy?

A: There will be an ambassador that will be stationed by the Self-Serve Pharmacy who can assist with patient questions. Patients can also pick up the handset to be connected to a pharmacist who can answer their questions.

Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., is part of the HCA Healthcare South Atlantic Division.