1. Retail pharmacy
- Your neighborhood or community pharmacy is generally thought of as a retail pharmacy.
- Osco's, Brook's, CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreen's are all examples of a retail pharmacy. This type can also be found in many department and grocery stores such as Walmart or Kroger.
- Retail pharmacies generally will carry (or stock) more prescription drugs than a hospital pharmacy. This is because the retail stocks drugs found on formularies of many private insurance companies.
2. Online/mail-order pharmacy
- This pharmacy fills prescriptions for transport through the mail or another delivery service. Their prices will usually be lower than the retail pharmacy because of buying in bulk to serve more customers. Prices will also be lower if the pharmacy is from outside the USA due to many reasons that are beyond the scope of this definition.
3. Hospital pharmacy
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Inpatient hospital pharmacy- This version willprepares injectables and medication for inpatients of a hospital. Doctors and nurses often will speak directly with the pharmacist or other personnel since patients do not directly interact with this store.
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Outpatient pharmacy - This version will provide service directly to patients but still in a hospital setting. Many patients have some type of government insurance or health coverage program.
4. Homecare pharmacy
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This version, also known as a home infusion pharmacy, mostly prepares injectables and then delivers them directly to critically ill patients at home (they don't provide oral or external-use medicines).
