Trilingual business prescribes personal service

At the corner of North Lamar Boulevard and Braker Lane, a neighborhood pharmacy prides itself on knowing its patients by name, symptom and medication.

Vina Pharmacy, owned by Debbie Huynh, is a full-service pharmacy that offers medication compounding and flavoring, free multivitamins for children age 10 and younger and several mediums for requesting prescriptions to be filled.

Employees are able to provide more personal interaction by taking the time to get to know their patients and help them with special needs, Huynh said. Vina Pharmacy's staff speaks English, Spanish and Vietnamese, which helps to better communicate with patients, she said.

"I started the business when I worked for H-E-B in 2002 in this area—the one on Rundberg [Lane]—and I saw the need of the patients to have a pharmacy and a pharmacist and a staff that speaks their own language so we can prevent a lot of miscommunication," she said.

The pharmacy, located next door to North Lamar Family Medicine, has a drive-thru window and offers free delivery of medications. In 2011, Huynh moved the pharmacy from Payton Gin Road to 11207 N. Lamar Blvd., Ste. A. The business accepts almost all health insurance, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, Medicaid and United Healthcare. Huynh expects to open a second location in downtown Elgin in October.

Vina gets its products from the same manufacturer as many national chain stores but strives to offer more personable service, Huynh said. Staff at Vina ensure that an employee answers the phone quickly so that patients do not have to be put on hold or put through an automated system, she said. The pharmacy also regularly calls distributors to locate hard-to-find or specialty medications for patients.

Huynh said one reason she wanted to open her own business was because she wanted people to feel positively about their experiences with pharmacies.

"At the chain pharmacies, the pharmacists are really busy, and they don't have much time for patient counseling or to take care of patient needs," she said. "If I can take care of people, make them feel better, help them get better, that is my happiness."

Requesting medication

• Vina Pharmacy offers patients a variety of ways to request and refill their medications.
• RX 2 Go: Patients with Android smartphones can request medication through the RX 2 Go application.
• Phone: Call 512-977-8844 and request medication by speaking to a Vina Pharmacy staff member. Depending on the type and availability of medication at the time requested, the pharmacy can offer customers same- or next-day delivery if they call before noon.
• On the website: Request new medications or refills and transfer prescriptions through www.vinapharmacyaustin.com.

Benefits of compounding

Prescriptions can often be tailored to a patient's needs through medication compounding. Compounding is the process of making medications from scratch by mixing individual ingredients together to personalize medications for patients. Compounding is beneficial for:

• Special dosages that are prescribed by a patient's doctor and are not premade
• Patients who need medication for pain relief such as topical creams, suppositories and caplets
• Children with illnesses who may prefer flavoring
• Veterinary medicines that need to be tailored for pets
• Patients who have difficulty swallowing pills because medications may be compounded to liquid form.

Vina Pharmacy

11207 N. Lamar Blvd., Ste. A

512-977-8844

www.vinapharmacyaustin.com

Hours: Mon.–Fri. 9 a.m.–6:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.–2:30 p.m., closed Sundays