For Susan the Paramedic, GoodRx is More than Just a Money-Saving Tool

We always appreciate it when doctors and pharmacists recommend GoodRx to their patients, but it was pretty awesome to learn that paramedics use it on the job, too. Here’s how one paramedic, Susan, serves her community of Coral Springs and Parkland, Florida, with the help of GoodRx.

Susan has been with the Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department for 20 years. She used to work alongside firefighters on the rescue truck up until three years ago, when she headed up their community paramedic program. Now, she splits her time between the office at the fire department and following up with folks after an emergency visit.

Susan visits people who might need extra help at home, especially if they’ve been taken to the hospital. They’re usually referred to Susan by the firefighters, and she makes six to eight home visits every month. They are well taken care of by Susan, who provides home or hospice care, transportation to and from hospitals or clinics, and food or groceries. Susan also makes sure their homes are set up properly to prevent accidents like falls.

Susan also brings her computer with her on home visits in case a patient doesn’t have a computer or smartphone of their own, or isn’t great at using them. She says it’s important to help senior patients register for things like hurricane evacuations. After a storm passes, the Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department will check up on those who’ve indicated they wanted to stay put.

During her visits, Susan also helps many of her patients look online for prescription drug discounts. Many of them are retired and on a fixed income. Some have Medicare, but others don’t have any sort of health insurance—meaning they often can’t afford their treatments. In these cases, Susan will show them how to download apps or visit websites to check the prices of their medications. She does this regardless of whether they are insured or not, since, as she points out, “Even with insurance, coupons like GoodRx can be cheaper.”

Susan was introduced to GoodRx two and a half years ago on a home visit with an 80-year-old patient. Ever since then, she uses it whenever she picks upphenobarbital (a seizure medication) for her dog. With GoodRx, she saves about 63% every month with the price being lowered from $30 to $11.

Besides saving money for herself and her patients, Susan uses GoodRx to keep her community on top of things like vaccine reminders and drug shortages. This, by the way, is how we discovered Susan – we noticed her sharing many of our blog posts on the CSFD Community Paramedic Program page. She says, “GoodRx provides valuable information about medication and some of the things going on in that world. People can save money and get educated at the same time.”

Susan works five days a week, but when she’s not busy saving people’s lives, she enjoys outdoor activities like camping, riding her bicycle, and going to the beach. We’re so grateful to have her as an advocate for affordable medications – the people of Coral Springs and Parkland are very lucky to have her looking out for them!