PillPack Reviews

About PillPack

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?

Similar Pharmacy Services To PillPack

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.

Have you used PillPack? Did it make your life easier, or just give you a headache from all the complications? Whatever it is, tell us about it by writing a review below!