The customer in question has private insurance with Allianz and suffers from several illnesses. With other private insurers, direct billing works smoothly to relieve the burden on patients, says the pharmacist. This option is actually also available with Allianz. “We then tried to contact Allianz,” reports the pharmacist. However, Allianz initially explained that all processes had to be initiated by the patient themselves.
The pharmacy customer did just that – whereupon he received a letter from his insurance company. “It says that everything can be handled perfectly through the Shop Apotheke.” What’s more, the notice also included an information sheet, the first page of which outlines the advantages of the Shop Apotheke and compares them with those of the local pharmacy.
In the representation of the alliance in the flyer and on the website, the pharmacist recognizes a preferential treatment of Shop Apotheke.Screenshot: APOTHEKE ADHOC
Pharmacist recognizes discrimination
The local pharmacy is also mentioned in the text. “But what annoyed me is that Shop Apotheke states in its advantages that you can settle the prescription directly from the first euro. This means that patients have the option of easily settling private prescriptions with a low value at Shop Apotheke through their insurance.”
At the local pharmacy, this is only possible for orders over 750 euros. “That is of course a difference,” emphasises the pharmacist. Because: “The patient still has to pay for all low-priced prescriptions in cash. So I can only offer them the service for prescriptions that are worth over 750 euros,” she complains.
On-site pharmacy only as an alternative
At the beginning of the year, the competition authority took action against an advertisement by Allianz for Shop Apotheke in the same context. In the service section of the website, the supposed advantages of the mail order company were highlighted: “No advance payment for medication and home delivery for customers with private health insurance with Allianz Private Health Insurance,” it says.
Although the cooperation with the German Pharmacists Association (DAV) was also mentioned here, this was only an alternative: “Shop Apotheke delivers your medication free of charge and advises you over the phone. Alternatively, you can have prescriptions billed through your local pharmacy, provided that it has joined the cooperation via a DAV regional association,” it says on the website.
“Pharmacy in crisis: trade or medical profession?!” – this topic is the focus of VISION.A 2024. The future conference for pharmaceuticals and pharmacies, powered by APOTHEKE ADHOC, ARZ Haan AG, PTA IN LOVE and PHARMACY TOUR will present the answers on 10 September in Berlin. Click here for the program.
