year under a new method of payment operating at Hamilton Pharmacy.

Customers with the appropriate insurance coverage no longer have to pay the whole cost of prescriptions up front and then make a claim to their insurer at a later date.

Under the new system, the burden of making a claim has been removed from the customer and transferred to the pharmacy.

The prescription-user must pay only the amount for which they are not insured, with the pharmacy claiming the difference directly from the customer's insurance company.

It is the first time that such a system has been used to pay for prescriptions in Bermuda, although the same system has been in use for many years to pay for other medical services, such as doctor's fees.

It is understood that there was a lot of opposition to the scheme from other pharmacies, which delayed its introduction.

The only beneficiaries of the old system were the insurance companies. Not only were administrative costs lower, but they saved themselves large amounts of money as clients either lost receipts, making it more difficult to claim, or did not get around to claiming.

One local insurance company, for example, requires some clients to make an annual claim, which means people have to save prescription receipts for up to a whole year.

Only people who are insured with Colonial Medical can currently subscribe to Hamilton Pharmacy's new "Co-Pay'' service, although attempts are being made to win other insurers around to the idea.

Colonial's clients must pay 25 percent of the cost at the pharmacy, with Colonial paying the remainder.

Mr. Paul DeSousa, who part owns the pharmacy, said he believed it was a major step forward in customer service.

"It is long overdue,'' he said. "It is something I have wanted to do for a long time but I had to wait until the moment was right.

"Previously, clients had to pay 100 percent of the cost and it was entirely up to them to claim back anything they were due. Some never got around to doing so.'' Hamilton Pharmacy, which is owned by Mr. DeSousa, his father Edward, and his uncle, Mike Sousa, has a reputation for being innovative. In June, 1986, the business became the first retail outlet to successfully implement point-of-sales scanning as a method of calculating bills.

Mr. DeSousa does all the in-house computer programming, including setting up the new payment system, himself.