News

ATM-like device gives patients easy access to a generic Rx, saving them, and insurers, money

 

They look like ATMs but when the right password is punched in, prescription drugs - all generics - pop out instead of greenbacks. And soon these machines, which encourage doctors to prescribe generics instead of more expensive brand-name drugs, could be coming to a physician's office near you.

The machines - which contain treatments for ailments ranging from diabetes to ulcers - allow doctors to give patients their first prescription of a generic drug free, straight from the machines. Patients cannot access the machines without authorization.

If the patient requires a refill, the doctor writes a regular prescription for the generic to be filled at the normal price at a drugstore.

"That's the beauty," said Dr. David Rasa, whose High Mountain Health group practice in Wayne, N.J., uses a MedVantx machine.

The machine allows Rasa to prescribe an assortment of generics such as lisinopril for high blood pressure straight from the machine rather than a prescription for the more expensive but identical Prinivil, made by Merck.

Read more from the original article