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Pharmacist John DiMaggio owns and operates Patio Drugs (5208 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, 889-7070), which opened in 1958 and now is the oldest independent pharmacy in Jefferson Parish. DiMaggio explains how his business has thrived by diversifying into medical equipment and ultra-personalized service.




Q: Patio Drugs does much more than fill prescriptions. What is your business philosophy?
A: We do have a number of specialties that are unique to our practice, although we are at heart a mom and pop, full-service drug store. We’ve developed the specialties over the years to meet the needs of the community, because not all the needs can be met with just a pharmacy.
Q: Explain compounding. Is it something of a lost art?
A: Actually, compounding is what early pharmacy was. Medicines were uniquely prescribed by the physician and filled by the pharmacy on an individual basis. If a patient had a malady or condition, you would tailor the dose, the strength and the form it was going to be administered in, whether a liquid, a pill or an ointment. For many years (later on), pharmacy was a choose-from-the-shelf practice … but when we saw a need in the community to tailor a specific prescription for a specific patient’s need, we made it a very integral part of what we offer. We have two compounding labs at Patio; we mix 30 or more prescriptions a day. Those vary from a capsule to a liquid to a suspension to an eye drop to an injection to an ointment.
Q: Do you also offer those services to vets?
A: We do a great deal of compounding for the veterinary community. In any one day, we may be faced with filling a prescription for chemotherapy for a ferret, something for birds or any kind of animal, you name it. Dogs and cats are the main patients. We flavor the medications according to the taste of the particular species. The vet might tell us “This dog really likes marshmallows” or “This cat will take it better if it has a tuna flavor.” For humans, we do everything from root beer to bubble gum to grape flavors.
Q: In addition to individualizing drugs, you also offer home infusion and respiratory therapy. What are those?
A: We actually provide IV fluids and IV nutrition for patients who are homebound, patients who find themselves able to be released from the hospital but still require a level of care at home. We are not a home health care agency, but we’re able to work with the prescribing physician and the home-care nurse. The types of things you can give in an IV are antibiotics, pain management drugs and nutrition. We also offer a complete array of respiratory services. We have on staff a licensed respiratory therapist who is available to work along with our pharmacist. We work with the other health care providers to meet the needs. We also provide apnea monitors and ventilators. Patio Drugs is uniquely the only full-service pharmacy-based home medical equipment provider who is Joint Commission on Health Care Organizations accredited.
Q: Your staff delivers and explains how to use home medical equipment?
A: We have a full compliment of service technicians and delivery personnel who go to patient homes to set up the equipment and to explain to the family how to use it for the full benefit of the patient. We provide everything from a Band-Aid to a hospital bed and everything in between: oxygen equipment, portable oxygen, wheelchairs, walkers, bed-side commodes, canes, patient lifts, trapeze apparatuses, nebulizers, lift chairs, suction machines.
Q: What are your “end-of-life” services?
A: Patio is the largest hospice pharmacy provider probably in all of Louisiana. We work along with the hospice physician and the hospice nurse in taking care of the end-of-life needs of the patient, mainly those with terminal illnesses. Those needs are primarily symptom control and to provide comfort; often it’s being able to answer questions. In the dying experience, it is dealt with as a family dynamic. We are able to work with the family members and caregivers just as closely as we work with the physician and the nurse to provide comfort. That’s really the hallmark of hospice: to provide comfort and allow that patient to experience death with dignity and with their symptoms controlled … symptoms such as pain, nausea, agitation, respiratory problems.
Q: Are most of the services you provide covered by health insurance?
A: We are on the lists of most insurance companies as well as Medicaid and Medicare. Because we have a very large billing staff, we are able to help patients secure their coverage through their health care providers.
Q: How have you stayed in business with only one store, considering the competition from discount chains and drug store giants?
A: Twelve years ago, we evaluated ourselves with respect to the community and began to identify needs that our staff was capable of providing services for. As we talked to more and more physicians and institutional clients, we found it was a need they wanted to be met by an independent-type pharmacy. When I took this location over 13 years ago, there were five employees; today we have 75; we actually occupy four buildings now.
Q: And you offer free delivery to anyone who asks?
A: Free delivery with an aging society is an extremely useful item. … It’s also good for moms with new babies. Probably 10 percent of the deliveries that we make are to patients’ offices; we’re able to get those prescriptions out to you while you are at work.

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