Try on this scenario: Visit your doc, who prescribes a med and, instead, of running to the pharmacy, you simply walk to the front desk. The doc left the pills for you after taking them from a nearby kiosk. Not only is it convenient, but the pills are generics that are priced competitively with insurance co-pays and may give the doc a little profit.

These kiosks, which mostly stock generics, are gradually popping up around the country as insurers push low-cost meds, doctors hunt for extra income, and drugmakers seek new ways to boost market share. This approach “gives (docs) an opportunity to provide an ethical, quality service to their patients, and earn some incremental income,” says Mel Stein, a pharmacist and former Aetna exec who joined QuigMeds, one kiosk supplier, as ceo last year.

Another company, MedVantx, installs kiosks, but only to offer samples, not help docs make money. With QuigMeds, docs must pay $240 a month and so have to write a lot of scrips to make the typical profit of $5 a bottle. Some docs say they aren’t tempted to write more scrips for the drugs in the kiosk just because they make a little more money. But Marc Kress, a doc outside Philadelphia, says his hoped to make a little extra money in what he said were tight times. “Unfortunately, I’m not seeing the kind of volume that makes this a profitable enterprise.”

Look, there is a profit motive here. And this raises a question: should docs be in the business of selling only certain drugs that can generate extra income? Never mind the Hippocratic oath. The media is regularly delivering stories about docs who are influenced to write certain scrips by drug companies offering freebies of all sorts. This may offer certain legit advantages, but smells funny. For docs, these kiosks dispense meds - and dollars.

Story about QuigMeds in The Philadelphia Inquirer;
Story about MedVantx in The Star-Ledger of New Jersey.*

This story was written by Pharmalot.

[tags]Generics, Medvantx, QuigMeds[/tags]