how do pharmacies work? Do they just have every kind of medication at all time? How is a prescription ready within an hour?
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Pharmacist here who used to work in a community pharmacy in south Fl. For most community / retail pharmacies, they manage an inventory on hand of medications that they expect to use. There are what most people call “fast movers” or “common stock” that are commonly dispensed, and then sections for other oral medications, liquids, ointments, creams, and even some injections. A lot of times if it’s less common, the drug has to be ordered from a supplier. Most pharmacies have contracts with one and they can submit an order online. Usually comes the next day or the day after.
When a prescription is electronically sent over or a patient brings a hard copy, we have to enter or process it in. We make sure it’s appropriate for the dose, directions, quantity, etc. Then we verify it, double checking for any drug interactions (for most there are not any major or severe drug interactions). Once it’s filled we verify it one more time and it’s ready to be sold. Some prescriptions can be filled within an hour depending on how easy of a fill it is, others are more complicated and require calling a doctor to verify, adjusting a dose, etc.
Sometimes drugs are on shortage from the supplier and we simply can’t get them even if we try to order them everyday. It’s different everywhere in the country and hard to predict.
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