Self-Service Drugs

Pharmacies are in the process of testing kiosks to distribute drugs to patients (WSJ 6/21/05, D1, D6). These systems aren't all inclusive. The customer must still call in their refill, but when the customer picks up the prescription, they use the self-service kiosk. By entering a user name and password, the customer can access the prescription, and then pay for it by swiping their credit or debit card. Benefits of the system include reduced waiting times for customers. Challenges to the system focus on the absence of face-to-face consultations between the pharmacist and customer. I see this challenge as odd, since if the primary segment this system is serving is refills, why would a customer want to waste time hearing the patient education spiel he heard when he first received the prescription?
(Copyright 2005, Honebein Associates, Inc.)