InterviewThe Health Depot Pharmacy Launches Direct-To-Door Delivery Program: Interview

The Health Depot Pharmacy launched their direct-to-door delivery service for prescriptions and health items across Ontario. Their unique triaged approach is prioritizing seniors, immuno-compromised individuals, and their loved ones during COVID-19. To learn more, we conducted an interview with The Health Depot Pharmacy.

1. Can you tell us more about The Health Depot Pharmacy?

The Health Depot is a tech-driven, online pharmacy where innovation in patient-care comes first. We are using technology to redefine what pharmacy means to Ontarians by offering solutions for the everyday individual. We offer prescriptions in traditional vials or in our convenient Daily Dose Strip Packs that help individuals to improve compliance and take more control of their day-to-day lives. Take advantage of our free prescription delivery to anywhere in Ontario, we can ship to a home, work or the cottage! This is particularly important during the current pandemic for older adults and the immunocompromised.  We want to flatten the curve and help everyone to Stay Healthy and Stay Home during these tough times.  We also have a large health store for over-the-counter items, health foods, health essentials and home healthcare products. Have health essentials added to your prescription order for free delivery, or on any order of $50 or more. Manage both yours and your family’s medications easily using our online patient portal that is accessible on desktop or all mobile devices.

2. What is the direct-to-door delivery service?

The Health Depot delivers your medications and health essentials together to your home, work, cottage, or any other pickup location in Ontario. You no longer have to wait in line to get your prescriptions!

3. Who can benefit from the direct-to-door delivery service?

Few pharmacies deliver outside of their immediate local radius. Our reach is the entire province of Ontario, with a current focus on SouthWestern Ontario. Patients, particularly the elderly and immunocompromised, are able to stay home and away from high risk areas such as community pharmacies and grocery stores. For most of Ontario, order by 1pm and have the prescription in your hand the next business day.

4. What encouraged you to start this service?

• With a dream of revolutionizing and changing the pharmacy profession, our founders Andrew and Agata Donald, created The Health Depot Pharmacy to provide a comprehensive, patient-focused experience. Their goal is to continually provide the utmost care by monitoring medication safety while working together with other healthcare professionals and caregivers to help ensure that the patient’s needs are met.

• Our pharmacists are passionate about healthcare, with expert knowledge and years of practical experience. As a patient of The Health Depot Pharmacy, you have access to a Certified Respiratory Educator, Certified Diabetes Educator and Certified Geriatric Pharmacists to help you understand your medications and to individualize your medication therapy to your health and needs. We are committed to working together with you and others in your Circle of Care to keep you in good health and give you the best care possible. You can talk to our experts easily on the phone, online chat or video chat from the comforts of your own home.

5. What kind of items are available for online purchase and delivery?

We offer a rapidly growing online health shop for over-the-counter items, health foods, health essentials and home healthcare items.  We want to become the largest one stop shop for anything health related. We are committed to helping increase the access and affordability to health items to all Canadians.

6. Is there a way by which the Health Depot Pharmacy customers can access their medication profile?

• Our online portal supplies patients with real time access to their current medications on desktop or mobile devices. Patients and approved family members have access to the pictures and information monographs about their medications, can request refills and even upload a picture of their prescription that we can verify and use to help get them their next round of prescriptions much faster.

• We also utilize ClinicalConnect, a shared health records service for Southwestern Ontario, allowing us to personalize medications to the individual.  ClinicalConnect allows us access to relevant health records (hospital, laboratory, drug history, doctors and specialists reports) for everyone in SouthWestern Ontario. This service allows us now to bring the level of care and collaboration seen between physicians and pharmacists in hospitals into the community setting.

7. Where do you see the online pharmacy industry in general and direct-to-door delivery in particular in the next 5-years?

The online pharmacy world is about to explode in Canada like it has in most of Europe and across the United States.  The convenience, costs, increased access and real time availability to health information just surpasses what pharmacy can currently provide in the traditional community setting.  I predict that in the next 5 years the majority of prescriptions will be direct-to-door delivered through an online pharmacy. In fact, given the likely long battle with the current pandemic I foresee this transition happening a lot faster now as online pharmacy is the safest way to get your prescriptions.  Transfering is easy and only takes a couple clicks of the mouse. You can have a risk free trial and if you do not like it (we really hope you do) it only takes a few seconds to transfer you back.  We really need to help everyone, especially older adults and the immunocompromised, during these tough times to Stay Healthy and Stay Home.