PillPack
PillPack is a full-service online pharmacy that pre-packages all of your medication into daily packets, which can help ensure you’re getting what you need.
PillPack Review and Details
Founded by TJ Parker, PillPack is a full-service pharmacy that “delivers a better, simpler experience.” How?
By pre-sorting all your medication into personalized packets (one pack for each dose), which are organized by time and date, and clearly labeled with medication names. Each convenient recyclable dispenser is delivered straight to your door every two weeks, making it simple to take all of your medications, whether at home or on the go.
And PillPack will even coordinate with your insurance company and all your doctors to actively manage your refills, so you’ll always be able to take the right medication at the right time!
Are you among the 80% of Americans who regularly forgets to take your medication? If so, you could be putting your health in jeopardy.
Can PillPack help, or will they just complicate an already complicated process? Let’s start by taking a look at exactly how the company claims to help.
How the PillPack Process Works
Signing Up
You can sign up for a PillPack account in less than 5 minutes by entering your first and last name, email address, and phone number, and then creating a password. From there, you’ll also need to enter your address, the last four digits of your SS#, your DOB, and indicate which conditions you’re treating.
Once this is complete, you’ll be able to enter medication individually by name, strength, and the pharmacy where they’re currently filled. Finally, you can enter your credit card number and insurance information.
From there, PillPack claims they’ll handle all your transfers and confirm your start date. Once everything’s set, the company will send you a message before each shipment is sent, in order to confirm medications and shipping address.
Receiving Your Prescriptions
According to PillPack, they use a highly precise, automated dispensing system to sort and fill personalized PillPacks separately for each customer. The system checks for errors using multiple barcodes and an image recognition system, while a pharmacist physically double checks for potential errors and interactions prior to shipment.
While your daily medications and vitamins will be contained in PillPacks, “as needed” medication will arrive separately in standard bottles, as will any inhalers or creams.
Important note: PillPack cannot fill schedule II prescriptions (e.g. painkillers, ADHD medication, etc.).
Proactive Refill Management
Before each refill, PillPack contacts your doctor four weeks in advance and continues following up until they have a new prescription in hand. This is something they call “proactive refill management.”
In the mean time, you can always check your personalized dashboard for “your current list of medications, where you are in your roll of PillPacks, and other helpful information.”
If you’re taking a lot of medications, this can certainly seem like a godsend. But how much will the convenience provided by PillPack cost you?
PillPack’s Pricing Model
PillPack claims there is no extra cost for their services, beyond standard 30-day co-pays. However, if you’re currently receiving your medication in 90-day supplies, your co-pay might be “slightly higher.”
PillPack accepts most major insurance plans, including most forms of Medicare Part D, although they’re not “compatible with Humana, Optum, coverage provided by the United States Veterans Administration, or state Medicaid plans.”
Unsure if your insurance will cover PillPack’s services? Be sure to call your provider in advance.
All PillPacks are shipped overnight via UPS in temperature-controlled packaging, and come with a 100% on-time guarantee. If you don’t receive the right medications, on time, every time, you’ll be eligible to receive a full refund for the cost of the medications in the shipment.
If you need assistance, PillPack’s 24/7 support can be reached at 855-745-5725.
Pricing aside, what are customers saying about PillPack?
Customer Feedback for PillPack
As a fairly unique startup (more about this next), PillPack has received a lot of media attention, having been featured in Wired, TechCrunch, Forbes, and more. Most of these were high-level overviews though, and didn’t provide a whole lot of insight into the customer experience.
PC Magazine
PC Magazine reviewed PillPack in December 2014, and gave the company a 4.5-star (excellent) rating and named them an Editors’ Choice health service.
Overall, they found PillPack to be a simple, efficient, and convenient way to refill prescriptions, although they didn’t appreciate having to enter a credit card to browse medications and prices, or the fact that you couldn’t compare these prices with other pharmacies.
Blogger Sarah Doody
Sarah Doody claimed to have really enjoyed her experience with PillPack, and could foresee it bringing “great change for both physicians, pharmacists, and patients.”
While she liked how PillPack seemed to be thinking about every little detail, she recommended that they offer a printable checklist with each medication shipment, as well as whether or not any OTC medications might interact with prescriptions.
Chronically Ridiculous
On the other hand, the author of Chronically Ridiculous was disappointed with their PillPack experience, as the company only sent one of the prescriptions they requested. And PillPack also failed to cancel their enrollment after sending an email request.
Granted, the author didn’t mention that they reached out to the company to fix the problem, or to get an explanation for what occurred.
Better Business Bureau
Finally, PillPack, based out of Manchester, NH, had an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau at the time of our research, with just two closed complaints (as of 10/27/15). One of these referenced over-billing an insurance company, and the other referenced difficulty obtaining refills.
Although PillPack seems to have a mostly positive online customer reputation, how do they compare to the competition? Does the company even have any competition?
PillPack Alternatives
Type the phrase “online pharmacy” into your favorite search engine, and you’ll encounter thousands of results. In other words, if you’re simply looking for an online pharmacy company to fill your prescriptions, you’ve got a lot of choices.
However, where PillPack really distances themselves from the competition is their pre-filled medication packets, which seems to be completely unique. Yes, robots like the one implemented by PillPack have been used for years to deliver medication to hospitals and assisted living centers, but nothing (until now) for consumer mail-order use.
Just because it’s unique, does this necessarily mean you should choose PillPack?
Should PillPack be Your New Pharmacy?
If you’re taking a lot of medications, there’s no doubt that PillPack’s pre-filled medication packets can simplify your life. To boot, the company even claims that you’ll pay about the same as your local pharmacy, so there’s no extra cost for this added convenience.
On top of this, even with limited online customer reviews, PillPack seems to have a solid customer reputation.
Perhaps the biggest hassle you’ll experience with PillPack is signing up for an account and then listing all your medications in your dashboard. And while the company claims they’ll handle all the transfers and insurance paperwork, insurance companies (and even many brick-and-mortar pharmacies) can be notoriously difficult to deal with so this might require your involvement as well.
Overall? If you’re looking for convenience with your medications, it seems you can’t go wrong with PillPack.
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RUN AWAY
I've never written a negative review in my life, but my experience was so bad that I want to warn others. Please do not sign up with this company if you want a positive experience. I used their service for 9 months. Every single month without fail, they scheduled my medication to arrive late, and every month I had to call or email multiple times to get them to ship on the correct date. This past month, they shipped it late and it never arrived. Tracking number proves that. Customer service was no help. They did not comp me, and instead sent out replacement medication and charged me double. I canceled my account today. Save yourself the trouble and go with a competitor - literally anyone else but them.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
Not ready for "Prime" Time...
I cannot recommend PillPack for several reasons.
They never shipped meds complete from the day I signed up. There was a transition and glitch that prevented the meds from coming all from PillPack. So for the first few months, I had to do a combination of PillPack and my Local Pharmacy to get all the meds required.
However, once PillPack was ready to ship ALL the meds, they failed again to ship all the meds required. However, PillPack never notified me of any issues prior to failing AGAIN to ship all meds...for the third row in a month.
To make matters worse, because PillPack never notified me of any issues, I ran out of meds. Not good!
PillPack packaging has to improve their packaging. The packs do not tear off easily and often the next in line rips causing all the pills to spill and scatter.
I have spent way too much time searching for meds on the floor so my dog would not eat them. Not good!
In addition, you have to figure out exactly which direction and where to tear open the pack or it will not open. The problem is, even when you do figure it out, there are still issues with the perforations, ripping off the next pack in line, pills spilling and scattering and just too much hassle overall.
I am sorry to say this has not been a good customer experience which is made worse by the fact that I had to pay for meds to cover for what PillPack did not send due to the mixup they caused during the transition from my local pharmacy.
Not recommend!
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 2 people found this review helpful
Don’t do it!
Listen to the negative reviews on here. I’ve been without FOUR medications for a week now due to incompetency between this company AND my regular pharmacy. I have been on the medications for years and now since I don’t have them, I’m suffering from terrible pain and anxiety. Even though my insurance approved the meds, I still haven’t received them and they told me it could take another ten days to receive my meds. Then they offered to transfer them to a local pharmacy so they could be filled today and the pharmacy still didn’t have the information from PillPack. This seemed like a great idea as I live out in the country and the closest pharmacy is an hour round trip for me. Now I regret it.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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6 out 6 people found this review helpful
No human oversight!
This company was good until Amazon got involved. There is no human overseeing the medication process. Two months in a row they did not ship vital medication (heart, blood pressure, multiple sclerosis) holding up the shipment for ulcer medication. Seriously! The first time it happened they assured me it would not happen again. This time they said they want to ship all meds at once and they contact the customer to let them know. I asked who they spoke to or emailed and oops! They failed to contact anyone. I asked the logic in holding a shipment of 20+ medications for 1 pill and she said so it is all in the PillPack. I asked her who makes this decision - it is computer generated.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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8 out 8 people found this review helpful
Great idea, horrible execution
I should have known it wasn't great when I was without meds for a week because they never bothered to contact my insurance. But no, I just gave them another chance. They used those chances to ignore my request to change my doctor, fail to obtain a refill for me in a decent time frame, and just generally be inept. The customer service is awful. If you decide to take a chance with them, make sure you have some meds stashed so that you can get by while they take forever to do the simplest task.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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9 out 12 people found this review helpful
PillPack, great idea, but...
In this HighYa article PillPack is defined as:
Founded by TJ Parker, PillPack is a full-service pharmacy that "delivers a better, simpler experience." How?
By pre-sorting all your medication into personalized packets (one pack for each dose), nothing could be further from the truth. If you take several Meds they come in more than one package per dose. This is because of the font size on the package, let me repeat that, it is because of the FONT SIZE ON THE PACKAGE. Pathetic, back to Costco Pharmacy I go...I can help with programming variable size font based on content. These guys don't get it, the whole idea is "one pack for each dose", their idea not mine.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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2 out 6 people found this review helpful
Works very well for me
To start with, my situation is unique. I have a PCP in California and pain management in South Carolina. My problem was I spend about three months in South Carolina then the next three months in California. So my pain meds became a huge problem. I am one of the chronic pain people that is caught in the opioid problem. All the script crackdown made my life a nightmare. Add to that most pharmacies do not stock my med because it is expensive. Then add that the dosing is for 28 days and can not be refilled until day 27. PillPack was the dream solution. I no longer had to have the pharmacy in California question a script from South Carolina. Or deal with when I traveled to my other home, much less if I ever wanted to take a vacation...
PillPack has fulfilled all of their promises it has been about a year. Count me as a happy customer.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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8 out 8 people found this review helpful
If cost is a concern, this is not the best option.
There's a reason they don't provide pricing until you are a subscriber. The cost of my prescription through PillPack is triple what I pay at Sam's Club. FYI - EVERYONE offers mail-order delivery these days. So convenience isn't an advantage. Plus there are several dangers with mail order. What if your package is lost or stolen? How are your drugs packed? (Are they packed in ice, if refrigeration is needed?) How will they hold up if left sitting in the sun? Are they okay if left out in the rain? What's the expiration date on the medication you receive? Where was it packaged and shipped from - within the USA? On the plus side, their customer service is here in the USA. So call and get pricing before subscribing.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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11 out 12 people found this review helpful
Can't seem to get it right after 5 months
Very bad communication. First month, April, was ok and I got all 5 meds in the pack. Next month arrived with only 2 meds. I called and they said it was a mixup with Walmart pharmacy and that they would straighten it out the next month. Next month arrived with only the same 2 meds.
I called and they said they would send me another pack with the missing 3 meds and that I would use two PillPacks for a month and they would straighten it out the next month. I then received a bottle with only 1 med, not in a pack. I called again and they tried to again blame Walmart and my doctor.
Today I received another bottle of pills and it's now the first of August. So I now have a PillPack with 2 meds, bottles with 2 more meds, and still missing 1 med.
TLDR; Customer service does not take responsibility and doesn't bother to notify the customer when they are going to ship out a changed number of meds. Even the Walmart calls to tell me when my meds change or when a transfer order is received. PillPack should do the same thing or send a text message at a minimum.
I spoke with a manager named "Chris" who would not give me his full name, even though they have my SS number, Credit Card info, and birth date.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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11 out 11 people found this review helpful
Warning: PillPack might not send your medication
Be aware PillPack will not send your medication if there is any glitch in the payment process. They will not notify you that they've done this. The first two payments went through fine and I received my medications on time. However, the third shipment didn't arrive. When I called to find out why they said it was some problem with the delivery or the payment. The problem must have been on there and because I received the shipment a few days later. I called them and tried to tell them that now I had medication for days that had already passed in addition to not having medication for the first few days. They need to have a policy where they always deliver the medicine on time and work any problems afterward. I would never use them again.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
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9 out 15 people found this review helpful
Good bye CVS
I signed up before I realized no supplementals, so I stopped. Read Amazon, bought the company, called, and now supplemental, was available and rejoined. Their service saves me at least 2 hours a week when I would place meds into daily plastic containers. Also impossible to beat when traveling on vacation. Their service is 180 degrees from the local pharmacy. Looking forward to the drug store closing because of terrible service. PillPack and Amazon will change the landscape of meds forever.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend