Getting PrEP requires a prescription from a doctor or other prescribing clinician.
Here is some advice for seeing the doctor/clinician, getting labs drawn, and picking
up your prescription from the pharmacy.
The Doctor/Clinician
Find someone who already prescribes PrEP. Visit The PrEP Locator to find a PrEP Provider.
If there are no local clinicians available who already prescribe, or no one is
in your insurance network, consider talking to your current doctor about PrEP. You
may need to help your doctor learn about PrEP if he/she hasn't prescribed it to anyone
else yet. Here's a couple of resources to help out:
The easiest option for labs is finding a doctor/clinic where labs are incorporated into
the practice, meaning you do not have to go somewhere else for labs and your copay for the doctor/
clinic also covers the lab. Check with your doctor/clinic beforehand to see if this is the case.
If you do have to visit the lab on a separate visit with a separate copay, determine how much
your copay will be beforehand so you are prepared. Some labs will allow you to set up billing for the
visit and allow you to make smaller payments over time.
The Pharmacy
Consider an HIV-specialty pharmacy. Since Truvada is also used for HIV treatment,
if you go to an HIV-specialty pharmacy you are guaranteed they'll be able to fill your
prescription and will know how to work with any payment assistance programs you might be
using. Use your preferred internet search engine to find one close to you.
Think about location. Even if you can't find a local HIV-specialty pharmacy, consider
using a pharmacy you can access when you travel out of town. That way if you forget your
prescription at home, you might be able to get a refill while travelling.
If you're not using any payment assistance programs, all you have to
consider at the pharmacy is whether they generally have Truvada on hand. If
they do, you can use the same pharmacy you use for other prescriptions.
Project Inform has a great flowchart that can help walk you through the process of
getting on PrEP. Click the image to the right to visit their site.
Finally, you've got PrEP. Here's how to stick with it.
» » »
