Since 2016, Alto has supported over 100,000 patients through their fertility journey. In this post we’ll provide guidance on how to select the right fertility pharmacy. In addition, we’ll share the benefits of selecting Alto as your fertility pharmacy.

What to Consider When Selecting a Fertility Pharmacy | Alto Pharmacy

The reliability of a pharmacy is especially important during fertility treatment, which involves an intensive and often changing medication protocol. Late deliveries of your fertility medications are more than an inconvenience — they can impact the effectiveness of treatment. And medication delivery is only part of fertility pharmacy care: your pharmacy partner can also affect the emotional and financial aspects of your fertility journey depending on their resources and accessibility.

Just as it’s important to do your research on fertility clinics and make sure you’ve found the right fit, give yourself time to make an informed decision about which pharmacy you use. Here are the key factors to consider as you explore your fertility pharmacy options.

How do I know if I’m administering an injection correctly? My clinic just changed my medications, what do I do? These are just a few of the medication-related questions that may arise during fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF) or egg freezing. There’s no substitute for expert answers. A credible fertility pharmacy will have a team of pharmacists who are experienced in the nuances of fertility treatment, including medications, dosing, and side effects.

At Alto, not only do we provide personalized support from expert pharmacists, we also offer additional resources to help you deepen your understanding of treatment and fully benefit from our team’s expertise. In injection guide videos, fertility-trained pharmacists share all the information you need to feel confident about administering your injections. Some medications have different administration methods, including subcutaneous and intramuscular injections. We’ve developed guides for each method.

We also have an extensive library of fertility-focused content, offering a deeper dive into various aspects of treatment from navigating IVF side effects to managing finances and more.

A pharmacy’s fertility expertise and resources are only as valuable as they are accessible. In addition to making sure that your pharmacy partner has experience with fertility treatment, consider how easy it is to get in touch with their team, the communication channels they offer, and their hours. Pharmacies with weekend and evening availability will be best equipped to provide support when you actually need it.

As an Alto customer, you’ll have a direct line to a fertility-trained pharmacist via in-app messaging seven days a week. Since our pharmacists are available until 9 pm PST (12 midnight EST) on weeknights, you can get the answers you need as you take your injections.

Additionally, we created all of our fertility resources with accessibility in mind. For example, you won’t have to sift through dozens of injection guide videos to find the ones that are relevant to you. Each Alto customer has their own unique playlist with videos for their specific medications in the app.

During fertility treatment, fast and reliable delivery isn’t an additional convenience that a pharmacy offers — it’s a must-have.

Since your medications and doses are based on your hormone levels, your protocol can change even after you start your injections. You can avoid a lot of stress during these instances — and reduce wasted medication — by choosing a pharmacy that can guarantee fast same-day delivery.

Alto offers same-day delivery seven days a week to customers within our courier zones, and you can choose the delivery window that’s most convenient for your schedule. Once your delivery is scheduled, you’ll be able to see where your courier is and get text updates on their ETA, so there’s no worrying about when your medications will arrive.

Your fertility medications need to arrive on time and in the right condition. Proper temperature-controlled packaging is another non-negotiable requirement during fertility treatment: medications can lose their efficacy if they aren’t shipped or stored at the proper temperature.

Alto ensures that refrigerated medications are held at the right temperature while in transit with temperature-controlled packaging. Clear labeling and stickers indicate which medications require refrigeration to ensure proper storage at home, too. Our packaging was also designed with discretion in mind to ensure privacy.

It can be difficult to understand just how much you’ll need to spend on fertility medications given the complexities of fertility benefits. A good fertility pharmacy will work with leading fertility lenders and can apply manufacturer discount programs if asked. A great fertility pharmacy will proactively connect you with financial assistance programs for qualifying prescriptions. Alto makes your medications as affordable as possible by proactively searching for savings and connecting you with outside programs that may require an application.

Since 2016, Alto has supported more than 120,000 fertility journeys. We understand that treatment is a significant investment — physically, emotionally, and financially — and we’re with you every step of the way.

We offer a convenient and supported pharmacy experience, with fast, reliable delivery of your medications and fertility resources like personalized injection guide videos and access to fertility-trained pharmacists.

In addition to local service offerings at our brick-and-mortar locations, we’re now serving more patients throughout the United States through our mail order service. We offer free FedEx next-day delivery of all fertility medications and supplies to patients served via mail order.

Interested in learning more about how Alto can support your treatment? Request a price quote online or reach out through secure in-app messaging or by phone at 1-800-874-5881.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2020 and has been updated for accuracy and completeness.
This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. 

What to Consider When Selecting a Fertility Pharmacy 

The Founding Story of Alto

Mattieu Gamache-Asselin, CEO & Co-founder

On August 1st, 2015, I was so excited to move into my shiny, new office: a storage closet. I looked across to my co-founder, Jamie, and wondered how two engineers from Facebook ended up in the back of a small, family-run pharmacy in the Mission.

Earlier that summer, Jamie and I had left our jobs to start a company that could create lasting change in the world and have massive impact on people’s lives. We were drawn to healthcare and shocked to learn that in the U.S., 50% of people don’t get or take their medications as prescribed. This problem, referred to as medication non-adherence, is one of the country’s leading causes of hospitalization and deaths, and is often due to the high costs and friction in the pharmacy experience. We’d both been at big, retail pharmacies and saw how broken the system was — deeply inefficient and in many ways, inhumane. So, we decided to start by tackling pharmacy.

We ran some Facebook ads, offering a pretty simple service that would pick up your prescriptions and deliver them to your doorstep. That first week, we succeeded in delivering medications to our first happy, paying customers. We thought speed was the key benefit, so we named the company “ScriptDash.” Little did we know, we would need to build so much more (including a new company name, Alto — a nod to a higher, elevated experience).

We heard about a small, beloved community pharmacy, called AG. Located at Army & Guerrero in the Mission district, AG had been owned by pharmacist Vivian Cheung for over 30 years. We befriended Vivian, and she let us follow her around and learn. As weeks went by, we became more curious and amazed by all the backend steps required to make things work — not only behind the counter at the pharmacy, but also between the doctor, the insurance companies and the patient. Vivian was very kind and patiently explained every step to her two newest ‘interns.’

One day, we were watching Vivian prepare a prescription for a patient, Walter, when she noticed that the copay increased from last month’s copay by a few dollars. Vivian knew that for Walter, a few dollars would matter to him. We watched Vivian pick up the phone to call Walter and explain the copay change. Walter was thankful for Vivian’s call and ultimately came in to pick up his meds that evening. It was that day when I realized that what patients need is for their pharmacist to really know them — the way Vivian knew Walter’s health conditions, medication history and his preferences — so that pharmacists can help patients navigate the complexities of healthcare and get the medication they need. I was excited to think about how technology, alongside a caring, patient-focused pharmacy team, could help us bring this type of experience to millions of patients who desperately need an expert pharmacist like Vivian in their corner. It quickly became clear to us that what patients needed was way more than just delivery, that in order to do this right, we needed to be a fully-fledged pharmacy.

Looking back, one of the most important moments in Alto’s history was raising enough capital to purchase AG pharmacy, allowing us to continue partnering with Vivian and her team. We were fully aligned on our mission, and couldn’t have imagined doing this with anyone else.

Being fully immersed in the pharmacy and working alongside pharmacists every day allowed us to more deeply understand the issues with the existing pharmacy experience and why so many patients don’t get or take their medications as needed. We quickly built out our team, bringing together even more expertise across both technology and healthcare, grounded by the core values and caring ways we learned from AG. That first year, we also built the core pieces of our technology stack — our pharmacy operating system, our physician collaboration tool and an app for Alto patients.

Fast-forward to today. We’ve far outgrown that storage closet. We now serve tens of thousands of patients across multiple cities and multiple specialties, all made possible by our incredible team of nearly 300 and the technology platform we’ve built. We’re able to better educate patients about their medication and pricing, deliver medication to their doorstep and provide expert pharmacist advice on an ongoing basis. We are thrilled when customers tell us that they are happy (our NPS satisfaction rate is 80+, compared to pharmacy chains with 5 points) and healthier (we’ve seen our patient’s medication adherence rise to 70% from the industry norm of 50%). That first year with AG really shaped our vision for what a great pharmacy could be and the type of multidisciplinary team we’d need to build it. It’s amazing to think about how far we’ve come, but in many ways, it still feels like the early days. There’s so much more we need to do to bring this type of caring, community pharmacy experience to all the patients who need and deserve it. We are still just getting started!

We answer common questions about insurance coverage for prescription medications, including how we go above and beyond to ensure that you’re receiving your medications on time and at the lowest price possible.

How does Alto Pharmacy work with insurance?

Getting the medication you need often involves more than just receiving a prescription from your doctor and filling it at a pharmacy. And navigating the complexities of insurance coverage, from copays and deductibles to formularies and medication tiers, can be a particularly big source of stress.

A great pharmacy partner makes sure you’re never alone in working through the details of your insurance plan’s pharmacy benefits. At Alto, we tackle all of the insurance-related legwork for you and give you the information you need to understand the process.

Below, we’ve answered some common questions about insurance coverage for prescription medications, including how we go above and beyond to ensure that you’re receiving your medications on time and at the lowest price possible.

How do I know how much my medication will cost at Alto?

When you get started with Alto, we’ll automatically pull in any insurance information we can find. If you have additional coverage, just let us know and we’ll add it to your profile. For each prescription, we’ll check with your primary (and secondary) insurance plan to pull your copay amount — the amount you owe out of pocket for your medications — including any possible savings. (More about that below!)

Sometimes paying cash for your medications, separate from insurance benefits, will be cheaper than your copay. If that’s the case, we’ll let you know the different pricing options so you can make an informed choice.

By checking every available savings option, automatically, every time! Unlike traditional pharmacies, Alto is proactive about applying potential sources of savings like manufacturer coupons, patient assistant programs, and copay cards wherever applicable. We’ll automatically start looking for these opportunities the minute we receive your prescription, and we’ll keep you informed of any savings options that require you to apply directly with the program or manufacturer.

Learn more about how Alto saves you money on your prescriptions.

Here’s another way we’re different from traditional pharmacies: we’ll continue searching for less expensive medication options even after we’ve researched savings opportunities.  You’re in the driver’s seat, and if you would like support in identifying other medication options that may be covered by your insurance at better rates, we’ll work with your doctor to evaluate those choices.

Insurance companies categorize medications into tiers based on various factors such as whether the medications are generic or brand-name and how frequently they are prescribed. Medications in higher tiers generally include non-preferred brands and specialty medications for rare conditions, and these typically cost more than medications from a lower formulary tier.

Keep in mind that generic medications use the same active ingredients as their brand-name counterparts, and they must meet the same standards for safety, quality, and results in order to get FDA approval.

I’ve heard of an insurance “formulary.” What does that mean?

Every health insurance plan has a list of covered generic and brand-name medications, called a formulary, which you can locate online or by calling your plan. It includes the tiers mentioned above, indicating which medications are preferred by your insurer and therefore offered at a lower out-of-pocket cost.

When deciding whether to renew your current health insurance coverage or select a different plan for the new year, you may want to check the formularies to determine if your current medications will be covered. Read our previous blog to learn more about what to consider when reviewing insurance coverage options every year.

What if my insurance denies coverage of my medication?

If a medication isn’t on the formulary at all, you may have the option of submitting a prior authorization to prove the medical necessity of the medication and gain coverage from your insurance plan.

If a prior authorization is needed, we can work with your doctor to submit the necessary paperwork. We’ll keep both you and your doctor in the loop throughout the process so you know the current status of the request until your insurance provider has made a decision. If your prior authorization request is denied, we will work with your doctor to either process an appeal or find a different treatment option.

Read our previous post, ‘What is a Prior Authorization?’ to learn more about how Alto can help you navigate this process.

A pharmacy partner that’s always on your side

At Alto, we go above and beyond to help you stay on track with your doctor’s recommendations, getting you the medication you need at the best price possible.

Switch to a better pharmacy for free same-day delivery and support with insurance and savings opportunities. Reach out any time by phone at 1-800-874-5881 or in-app messaging.

This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

How Does Alto Pharmacy Work with Health Insurance? We Answer Your Top Questions.

How Alto Pharmacy works with health insurance

How does Alto Pharmacy work with insurance? We answer your top questions.

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Alto Pharmacist

Starting Monday, August 16, residents of the San Diego metro area can now choose Alto's same-day doorstep delivery for their pharmacy needs.

Hello, San Diego!

Alto's launch in San Diego extends our free, same-day pharmacy delivery model to even more Californians.

Starting today, August 15th, residents of the San Diego metro area can now choose Alto’s same-day doorstep delivery for their pharmacy needs. 

At Alto, we believe it’s our job to ensure you have your medications at the best price, on time and with the support you need. We bring pharmacy to you - no more waiting in line, making an extra trip, or finding out your prescription isn’t ready to be picked up after you’ve already arrived. Our free doorstep delivery means your medications come directly to you on the day and time you select, and most medications are available the same-day. Stay up to date on your courier’s progress with text alerts or in our mobile app. 

Starting a new medication or doing an injection for the first time? Message a pharmacist with your questions, even in the evenings and on weekends. And we’re a full service pharmacy - we stock all major brand, generic, over-the-counter and specialty medications, meaning your entire family’s pharmacy needs can be managed in the Alto app and coordinated into one delivery.

Courier delivery windows
Monday - Friday: 6 - 9 pm PT (6:30 - 9:30 pm PT for outlying areas)
Saturday - Sunday: 2 - 5 pm PT (2:30 - 5:30 pm PT for outlying areas)

Walk-in hours
Monday - Friday: 9 am – 7 pm PT
Saturday - Sunday: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm pT

San Diego residents interested in using Alto’s services for their medication needs can ask their doctor’s office to send all prescriptions to Alto Pharmacy (via ePrescribe, phone or fax). 

Have existing prescriptions at another pharmacy? Start a transfer online or give us a call at 1 (800) 874-5881, and we’ll handle the switch. 

Need to pick up? Our pharmacy is located at 4240 Kearny Mesa Road, Suite 107.

General customer support hours are Monday - Friday 6 am - 9 pm PT and Saturday - Sunday 7 am - 6 pm PT. Patients can reach out to Alto via phone at 1 (800) 874-5881 or app.

Founded in 2015, Alto is a patient-centric digital pharmacy based committed to the health and wellbeing of you and your family. We provide free same-day delivery to your door seven days a week for prescriptions, but, more importantly, offer cost transparency, personalized in-app and phone support, and real-time coordination with doctors and insurance companies to get you the care that you need. Alto is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver and Dallas, and currently delivers across the greater Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Seattle, Denver, Las Vegas, New York City, Houston, Dallas, and Austin.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2021 and has been updated for accuracy and completeness.

Hello, San Diego!

A Better Pharmacy Experience

More from Alto

What to Consider When Selecting a Fertility Pharmacy

How Does Alto Pharmacy Work with Health Insurance? We Answer Your Top Questions.

The Founding Story of Alto

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