Patients With Several Prescriptions Find Comfort In 'PillPack'

BOSTON (CBS) -- Twenty percent of Americans take five or more prescription drugs and managing all of those medications can be a nightmare.

However, a new service takes all the pain out of the process, making patients' lives much easier.

TJ Parker's family owned a mom-and-pop pharmacy in Concord, New Hampshire.

As a kid, he delivered medications to people's homes.

"Everyone had this pile of pill bottles on the kitchen counter and an excel spreadsheet with medications crossed out and highlighted and a picture of each pill," Parker recalls.

"And so I knew there had to be a better way to do that."

So Parker became a pharmacist and 2 ½ years ago launched PillPack, a full-service pharmacy that will arrange refills through your doctor's office, contact your insurance company, and ship everything to your home at all no additional cost.

"It costs exactly the same as going to any other pharmacy," explains Parker.

"You're literally paying the copays. There are no shipping costs. There are no additional packaging fees."

That unique packaging arrives in the mail every two weeks with pills pre-sorted in multi-dose packs, each labeled with the date and time it should be taken.

Patients can see photos of their pills on the box to make sure they match what's inside and a real pharmacist is available to answer questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

David Reyes is a stay-at-home dad in Roslindale who has asthma and high cholesterol.

He's been a PillPack customer for more than year.

"It's a lot like opening your oatmeal if you eat oatmeal in the morning," Reyes says.

"I have not had to travel to a pharmacist in a while. My medications come to my front door. Just as I'm about to run out of my previous package, the new one comes in," he adds.

A far cry from how Parker used to help customers with their meds.

"I go back to being a 17-year-old kid in someone's home coloring on their pill caps," remembers Parker.

"To be able to do that for a lot more people all across the country…it's been a pretty awesome ride."

Available in 47 states, PillPack manages not only prescription pills, but inhalers, injections, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, even liquid medications for kids.

And if you're traveling, you can simply rip off the number of packs you need to get you through your trip.

For more information, visit the PillPack website.