Not All Pharmacies Are the Same

Sure, you’ve probably read that statement on our website or caught it on a billboard around town. Maybe you saw it on the TV screen near the prescription pick-up counter. So, if you’ve ever wondered what “Not All Pharmacies Are the Same” means or are now a little bit curious about why it should matter, you’re in the right place.

This blog is just for you.

Does the pharmacy I choose actually impact me and my family?

If the medication is the same anywhere, does it matter where I fill my prescription?

Can a pharmacist help me improve my long-term health?

The answer to these questions is a resounding “YES!” — and choosing an independent pharmacy (like ours!) is so very good for you, your family, and our community.

As someone who landed his first post-graduation pharmacist job at a big box chain pharmacy, I make that statement with great conviction and from personal lived experience. In those first few years, I loved interacting with the customers and the team members.

And I learned a lot, especially about productivity-to-profit ratios.

So when I opened the doors of DePietro’s in 2012, I knew, deep in my gut, that the attentive, personalized service and exceptional care we would deliver as a community-based, independent pharmacy could truly impact our customers’ lives and improve community wellness.

But before we jump in, it’s worth clarifying that “independent” is not synonymous with “small” — although this is often the perception when it comes to pharmacies like ours.

Nothing is small about our services, capabilities, or collective responsibility to the individuals and families who trust us. We offer the services chain pharmacies do — and a whole lot more.

We want to know you and your family.

Personal attention and exceptional quality care are not just buzzwords here. And our pharmacists are not white-coated pill counters filling orange bottles “somewhere in the back. Our team will smile when they see you and greet you by name. Maybe they’ll ask if your new puppy is still eating everyone’s shoes. They might congratulate your son on the game-winning touchdown from last Friday night’s game. They’ll definitely celebrate with anyone who comes in for a Tdap vaccine to protect a new baby in the family.

Wellness and service are the cornerstones of DePietro’s foundation, and we can serve with attentive, thoughtful care because we get to know your face and your family and make time to answer any and all questions.

Every person who walks through our doors is so much more than a name and a date of birth in our computer system. Being a part of your health and wellness is a privilege we never take lightly.

The independent pharmacy business model was built to grow lasting, trusting relationships — and we absolutely love it.

Our independent pharmacists are here for you.

Truly. Community wellness is a shared endeavor, and independent pharmacies go above and beyond more often than most people realize.

You might be surprised — or even shocked — if I told you that we lose money when we fill certain prescriptions for medications our customers need consistently. But, we do it because it’s the right thing to do.

We certainly don’t turn a hot profit when we deploy a pharmacist to a high-rise and vaccinate fifteen seniors on a fixed income. But it is the right thing to do and we show up.

Our front-of-house team members are obsessed with identifying savings for customers. A few years back, Michele Pusateri, one of our pharmacists, saved a customer $900 by taking time to compare Part D Drug Plans — at no cost to the customer, of course. We look into our peoples’ eyes daily and know for sure that every single one of them could use some extra cash in their lives. I know I could!

Last week, we helped a customer save $70 on her prescription.

Yesterday, $125. We think it’s great.

Our team members spend hours on the phones each week navigating insurance plans, confirming copay amounts, verifying deductible details, and validating prescription dosages so our customers don’t have to. You guessed it — because it’s the right thing to do.

Making our customers’ lives easier and supporting their health and wellness is our job. Doing it well is the right thing to do. So when you spend your money at an independent pharmacy like ours, we can do even more of the right things.

Our pharmacists are a wealth of health and wellness guidance — and we’ll be around for the long term.

Independent pharmacies are much more than a drive-thru resource for medications, bandages, or greeting cards. If your current pharmacy isn’t relevant to your health and wellness story, it’s time to change that.

You deserve a health advocate who communicates clearly and is experienced enough to guide you in the right direction. I bet you chose your doctor and your dentist. You can — and should — actively choose your pharmacy; at DePietro’s, you can even choose your pharmacist! Three of our four pharmacists have been with us for ten years or more, and we all know I’m not going anywhere soon. With our robust staff of pharmacists and pharmacy specialists at your fingertips, you will surely find a health advocate who is just what you’re looking for.

Don’t get pushed into a mail-order prescription arrangement because your insurance company or employer sent you a carefully worded form letter insinuating that’s the only option. You do have a choice.

We believe a pharmacy’s first obligation is to nurture the well-being of its patients and we can do that because we get to know you. Building a relationship with you and your family over the long term means we can be a consistent resource as your medications, needs, or life situations change.

From confirming how many pills to take and when to answering confidential and complex questions, our pharmacists are ready to help. Talk to us about your life, and let us know if you’re experiencing challenges when it comes to maintaining or improving your health.

Are your brand name prescriptions too expensive?

Do you get confused about which medications to take and when?

Is it hard for you to get to the pharmacy each month?

Have you experienced odd side effects after a dosage change?

We want to work with you and pinpoint solutions that work. Please ask!

You should never be embarrassed or rushed; at DePietro’s you will feel heard, supported, and understood. We will not only listen, but we will help you figure it out.

We don’t answer to stockholders or corporate leaders. We have the time to help you with questions, large or small.

Independent pharmacy owners answer to you — literally — and that’s just how we like it.

We’ll keep evolving to better serve the customers we know and love.

Independent pharmacies like ours don’t bow down to a C-suite executive in another state. We never have to justify a customer-centric process change to seven different layers of management.

Our chief decision-maker works here. Spoiler alert: it’s me. I’m embedded in day-to-day operations — elbow-to-elbow with our team members and face-to-face with customers all the time. Keeping this community-centric small business relevant and walking in step with our mission of service means the world to me.

So when we implemented a slick medication organization machine with error-free, automated pill counting, we knew the benefit of more face time with customers would outweigh the cost.

Even though gas was expensive, we expanded the DePietro’s delivery area. For some of our customers, their delivery driver is not only a lifeline to their medications but the only friend they chat with over the course of weeks. No one can put a price on human connection.

Some unique services we offer, like compounding, might take longer but the medication can meet exact prescription specifications. We researched and implemented an entire Weight Management Program with compounded and affordable GLP-1 drugs to help our customers struggling with obesity and trying to prevent diabetes. On-site vaccination clinics, a pet-friendly storefront, pet prescriptions, and free medication flavoring for kids also set DePietro’s apart from chain stores or online pharmacies.

Karissa -- young woman with long brown hair showing off a box of toys to be donated to community children

We live and breathe NEPA — more specifically, the community of Dumnore.

When you choose DePietro’s — or any other independent pharmacy for that matter — you are taking care of your health and actively supporting a local community. Over the past ten-plus years, we have been proud to support more than fifty organizations through donations, sponsorships, in-kind contributions, and team member volunteer hours.

“Keeping your Bucks in Bucktown” is more than a catchy phrase. When we say, “You shop, we give back,” we mean it.

Because of this community — the people who choose to support our independent pharmacy when the glut of advertising campaigns are actively trying to convince them to pop into a chain store — we have been welcomed and are firmly planted in Dunmore.

For us, community give-backs are more than just an obligatory corporate responsibility or a “check the box” exercise. Reciprocating the support this community has shown us is incredibly rewarding.

Giving back will always be a cornerstone of our mission.

We actively support local healthcare workforce development.

Outside of donations and contributions, we’re actively committed to building a strong healthcare workforce in NEPA. We’ve welcomed countless healthcare students from one-day job shadow opportunities to longer-term internships to help them experience what we believe the incredible pharmacy profession could — and should — be like after graduation.

Through a partnership with Lackawanna College, our employees can pursue a bachelor’s or associate degree tuition-free. Just as we want to treat our customers like family, we treat our team members like family, too.

When you support our independent pharmacy, we have more opportunities to support people.

We’re relentless advocates for customer-centric processes and policies.

Did you know we had to push and push and push some more to receive COVID-19 vaccine dosages in 2021? At a time when deliveries were predominantly shuttled to chain pharmacies and hospital systems and when horror stories of vaccine waste and unadministered dosages found in garbage cans swirled around the region — we advocated hard to ensure independent pharmacies were included in the mix.

When we finally got our first shipment of a few hundred vaccines, we moved fast to administer every single dose — to elderly individuals in high rises, retired priests and nuns, residents at a community center, and low-income, homebound seniors — within a few business days.

I personally met a high-risk patient at his home to administer his vaccine. I don’t share this tidbit to brag but because I think about the experience often. I could never have done it if I was still employed at the big box pharmacy.

Every one of my pharmacy colleagues working in chain stores has had a desperate moment of wanting to do more for the customer in front of them. But within the rules and boundaries governing larger, tightly structured systems, their hands are tied. I always welcome referral calls from colleagues whose customers can benefit from the personal attention DePietro’s is structured to provide.

Over the past few years, I’ve met with legislators, influential government officials, and journalists to highlight significant gaps and inconsistencies in the healthcare industry. I’m an outspoken critic of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) because I see firsthand how the PBM machines are driving medication access challenges, deploying nebulous pricing strategies, and exploiting the public trust of people in our beloved community and beyond.

Nothing about this is a secret — a quick Google search for “What is the controversy with Pharmacy Benefit Managers?” will take you right to a Federal Trade Commission press release titled, “FTC Sues Prescription Drug Middlemen for Artificially Inflating Insulin Drug Prices.” I welcome you to dive down the internet rabbit hole from there and see what you find. Stop in and let’s have a chat once you do!

You see, as an independent pharmacy owner, I don’t have to ask a communications expert to “approve” my words. I’m not afraid of speaking the truth even if it goes against the grain. So many pharmacists want to talk more openly about patient-centric issues, but restrictions and potential repercussions stop them in their tracks.

On behalf of the pharmacists who can’t raise their voice and the customers who need pharmacy owners to be a professional voice of reason, I will keep talking, posting, writing, and advocating for the widespread, systemic shakeup of the convoluted PBM, healthcare, and insurance industry matrix.