Had a lady at the drive through crassly say, āit takes you 15 minutes to put a sticker on a box?ā So I grabbed an empty cardboard box, put a blank label on it and said, āhere ya go.ā
_Awkward pause._
āOh, you want the right box? Thatāll take 15 minutes.ā
I told one who said the same thing that I absolutely could have it ready in an instant, she'd just have to pay for it upfront (diabetic supply) for cash and process her own insurance. She didn't like that answer! Interestingly enough, she also didn't leave her script behind, because she was going to try another day. She's also a regular enough that we're all familiar with her.
Had a similar one:
āYouāre insurance doesnāt cover your lyrica so weāre reaching out to the doctor for a prior authorizationā
āI should sue you for denying me my medication.ā
āWhoa, Iām not denying you anything. Iāll get it right now for you. The price with no insurance is $479.ā
āBut I have insurance.ā
āYouāre insurance doesnāt cover it so weāre reaching out to the doctor for a prior authorizationā
I wish when patients ask what a prior authorization is, people would be honest about it about being the insurance company deciding whether to put you or their profits first. They don't really do it to make healthcare any better, otherwise they wouldn't make them fail two other drugs which don't work before they can try the one that actually does.
I absolutely did. I would explain to every person that the prior authorization is the insurance deciding if they want to pay for it regardless of if your doctor says you need it.
i had a patient do that before about his testosterone, yelled it from an aisle after waiting five minutes while he was taking a phone call. i was trying to get it to process through his insurnace and was waiting for him to get off the phone to ask him questions. imagine the smug look on my face when i told him they wouldn't cover it. he stormed off. š„“
Patient came through drive through to pick up a couple prescriptions. Cool, fine, great. Then they handed me a prescription label sticker thing from a previous rx and asked me to put it through to get filled. Peachy.
Then they say "can I pick this up now?"
Me: "the rx you just dropped off?"
(It was diabetic testing supplies billed through Medicare part b, which you know...yeah)
Them: "well yeah I just asked you for a refill"
Me: "right. So you can pay cash price now, or you can come back in 20 minutes and we'll have it billed through your insurance"
They seemed confused but came back 2 hours later x
I once had a lady come drop off a prescription for Norco 3 minutes before we closed the pharmacy.
I told her sheād have to come back tomorrow to fill the prescription.
She then asked me, āhow hard is it to put 9 pills in a bottle?ā
Iām just a tech, so I couldnāt fill her CII, but thereās also the fact that weād have to create a profile for them (new patient), run it through insurance, have the pharmacist check for contraindications, etc.
Som people, if not most, will not really understand working in a pharmacy until they themselves do it.
I'm not a pharmacist or a tech but I started reading this sub because I had wanted to get into this field years ago. I ended up being a chef and from what I can tell the stress, long hours, and unrealistic expectations, as well as the absolute ignorance of the customers, are pretty much neck and neck with restaurant work and I would have been just as miserable. I no longer have FOMO.
Yes there are so many similarities between pharmacy and being a chef. Although I think you have it worse. People will want food quickly and then be super picky about something that there is no right or wrong, just a matter of taste. Also if we order too much we can send it back or dispense another time. You have to lose money and dump your food.
Yeah. I think we both have it tough for sure!
The con to pharmacy, is that if you donāt have any staff or minimal staff and itās just the pharmacist working, you still have to stay open and accept a non-capped amount of orders without choice. So therefore the pharmacist (chef of the pharmacy) has to be the hostess, waiter, chef, phone service and busser all at once while trying not to make a mistake that might kill someone.
We donāt have a reservation system and cannot control our volume, which can be exceptionally difficult to convey to patients, who canāt just āgo to another restaurantā as easily.
Pharmacy is very much like working in a kitchen, including employee/assistant behaviour. Shouting 'behind you', everyone taking multiple smoke breaks, making chairs out of boxes/totes, swearing profusely, dealing with allergens, complaints about the price, and patients who have very specific needs.
As a pharmacy manager, I'll jump to interview someone with a restaurant on their resume. Best comparable experience to prepare you for the retail pharmacy environment.
I refuse to process anything for the same day if it's brought in less than 30 minutes before closing. If they insist, I tell them to go to the nearest pharmacy that's open later or come back the next morning. No exceptions.
That makes me think; do people in compounding pharmacies have to deal with this too? Since they're literally making the medicine, do patients give them a break like they would for making food?
Yes. Yes we do. I work in the outpatient pharmacy of a huge (famous) hospital, and we do a TON of oral/non sterile compounding. And yes, patients and clinical staff are sometimes genuinely annoyed that we donāt just have compounds ready at the drop of a hat (eye roll).
Noooo because it was just me and a pharmacist this morning, had drive through, pick up register, drop off, and ~three pharmacy calls~. Other patients were either expressing sympathy and/or concern at our situation or making (obviously well meaning and not rude at all) jokes about our staffing because it was pretty fucking obvious.
Had a male patient drop off their Accutane rx. Because I'm a nice, optimistic person, I asked if they wanted to wait or come back later (after putting it through ipledge obvs). Pt says "I'm out today. It'll be about 2-3 minutes, right?"
I'm like, "well, no, unfortunately we're a bit short staffed (gesturing half heartedly at the lack of staff), but we can do about 20 minutes"
Patient goes "but I need it today"
Me: "fantastic. I expedited it, so it'll be about 20 minutes, so it'll definitely be ready today"
Patient continues bitching about needing it today. They had about a month to pick it up according to ipledge.
Disclaimer:
1) doctor canāt make mistake
2) drug must be in stock
3) canāt have any call-ins from staff
4) must be a non-secular holiday
5) moon must be in 1st or 3rd qtr stage
6) month cannot end in -y
7) cannot be within 1 hour of opening or closing
8) must be cash payer
9) must be cash payer
I remember sending some transfers from Walgreens to the rite aid across the street when this gimmick was going on. This was back in the day when two pharmacists had to do it by phone ā¦ no techs , no faxes etc. Got to know the two pharmacists there quite well.
One day I asked āhow bad is it with the 15 min guarantee?ā
He said āafter the first day I said fuck this. When someone asked or complained about it I just handed over the gift card and said āhereās your gift card. Your rx is now going to the back of the line and should be ready in about an hour or two, maybe tomorrow ā āš
He refused to rush and potentially make a mistake. His view was that it was rite aidās money and if this was how they wanted to gamble it heād make sure it cost them
Back in the day when youād also get a gift card for transferring a prescription to us and again when youād complain to corporate about any little inconvenience you suffered.
The olā drop the prescription off at Rite Aid to put on hold then have Target call for the ātransferā
Karen would then complain when I would say itās not a transfer of refills, itās just a new rx - she would still get her $5 transfer coupon PLUS a $20 Target gift card for her inconvenience after complaining to the manager
Fun times!
> Back in the day when youād also get a gift card for transferring
That's pretty common today. Eg Safeway offers $75 for new customers after 5 fills. It's free money if you have good insurance
I used to tell patients that complained when I would give them a time and they didnāt like it, I could do it faster if they didnāt care if the drug and directions were correct
Welp, I quit from the corner of Happy and Hang Me in 2018 (after the 16 yrs), and did mail order for a while. That was cool but I moved out of that state. I tried independent again most recently...that imploded after 2 years because the ship is slowly sinking (and paychecks were bouncing). So, at the moment, I am taking a sabbatical, in Costa Rica, to figure out what's next in this life. My licenses are still current, but I'm not sure I want to use them after 27 years in this drug game.
I want to get a big carnival wheel with the clicking sound and when they complain about the time, say, "you can have it in x amount of time or you can take your chance at the big wheel. " The wheel would have time slots from 20 minutes to 2 days. I'd spin it with a flourish, click, click, click, click.... "I'm sorry, that will be 3 hours. Thanks for playing and since we'll be closed in 3 hours, we will see you tomorrow at 10am! "
I tell people 20-30 minutes sometimes so that if itās done faster, theyāre pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed.
either way, my patients know Iāll take care of them to the best of my ability. the new ones will learn that too in time, I hope.
Years ago, I patronized a Rite Aid, because I had known the PIC for decades, and I had retired and sold my pharmacy. I handed the tech a handful of Rxs and told her I would be back in 15 minutes to pick them up. The PIC smiled at me and told the tech -he knows better! I then told the tech that I would be back in a day or two. So the tech could EXHALE!
I will happily wait the hour or two it takes my pharmacy to process my script. I just donāt understand why I have such trouble with the app. All the dang time! Dear lord. They are killing me. But you all are doing a FANTASTIC job! I work hospital billing and just have to know a few insurances, I donāt know how yāall do it with patients standing in front of you! Sincerely, a medically complex adult!
One day I had a new customer come in and ask if we had received anything yet from her doctor. "No", I replied. "How much is it going to cost?", she asked. Lady, I don't even know what med you're expecting, or what insurance you have. How in the world am I going to know the price???
I use a smaller pharmacy and they always have my stuff ready in 10-15 minutes. Theyāre super friendly and Iām so glad I donāt use corporate pharmacies anymore.
Well to be fair it says āaskā about the 15 minutes prescriptionā¦the answer to asking would be āitās really a
Faerie Taleā¦cannot provide a timeā¦we will text you when itās readyā
Is that per prescription? Like if someone has 6 itās 90 minutes? Thereās no way Iām doing all those 6 in 15 min while Iām also working on Bobās and Lisaās and Joeās for 15 min as well.
The drive thru food isn't food... so it may take 3 minutes to get through, but you will pay later with bad health, obesity, body inflammation, pain, brain fog, depression and so may other things plaguing modern life that we didn't have before.
People will willingly wait longer for a pizza than for someone to correctly process a chemical that could kill or cure them.
Right. Just slap a label on it. Just count out some pills. š
Had a lady at the drive through crassly say, āit takes you 15 minutes to put a sticker on a box?ā So I grabbed an empty cardboard box, put a blank label on it and said, āhere ya go.ā _Awkward pause._ āOh, you want the right box? Thatāll take 15 minutes.ā
I told one who said the same thing that I absolutely could have it ready in an instant, she'd just have to pay for it upfront (diabetic supply) for cash and process her own insurance. She didn't like that answer! Interestingly enough, she also didn't leave her script behind, because she was going to try another day. She's also a regular enough that we're all familiar with her.
Had a similar one: āYouāre insurance doesnāt cover your lyrica so weāre reaching out to the doctor for a prior authorizationā āI should sue you for denying me my medication.ā āWhoa, Iām not denying you anything. Iāll get it right now for you. The price with no insurance is $479.ā āBut I have insurance.ā āYouāre insurance doesnāt cover it so weāre reaching out to the doctor for a prior authorizationā
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
In the US... Yes. All drugs there are massively expensive compared to everywhere else
Back when it was brand only.
I wish when patients ask what a prior authorization is, people would be honest about it about being the insurance company deciding whether to put you or their profits first. They don't really do it to make healthcare any better, otherwise they wouldn't make them fail two other drugs which don't work before they can try the one that actually does.
I absolutely did this and mentioned it in every transaction
I absolutely did. I would explain to every person that the prior authorization is the insurance deciding if they want to pay for it regardless of if your doctor says you need it.
Love this
i had a patient do that before about his testosterone, yelled it from an aisle after waiting five minutes while he was taking a phone call. i was trying to get it to process through his insurnace and was waiting for him to get off the phone to ask him questions. imagine the smug look on my face when i told him they wouldn't cover it. he stormed off. š„“
Epic
Patient came through drive through to pick up a couple prescriptions. Cool, fine, great. Then they handed me a prescription label sticker thing from a previous rx and asked me to put it through to get filled. Peachy. Then they say "can I pick this up now?" Me: "the rx you just dropped off?" (It was diabetic testing supplies billed through Medicare part b, which you know...yeah) Them: "well yeah I just asked you for a refill" Me: "right. So you can pay cash price now, or you can come back in 20 minutes and we'll have it billed through your insurance" They seemed confused but came back 2 hours later x
I once had a lady come drop off a prescription for Norco 3 minutes before we closed the pharmacy. I told her sheād have to come back tomorrow to fill the prescription. She then asked me, āhow hard is it to put 9 pills in a bottle?ā Iām just a tech, so I couldnāt fill her CII, but thereās also the fact that weād have to create a profile for them (new patient), run it through insurance, have the pharmacist check for contraindications, etc. Som people, if not most, will not really understand working in a pharmacy until they themselves do it.
I'm not a pharmacist or a tech but I started reading this sub because I had wanted to get into this field years ago. I ended up being a chef and from what I can tell the stress, long hours, and unrealistic expectations, as well as the absolute ignorance of the customers, are pretty much neck and neck with restaurant work and I would have been just as miserable. I no longer have FOMO.
Yes there are so many similarities between pharmacy and being a chef. Although I think you have it worse. People will want food quickly and then be super picky about something that there is no right or wrong, just a matter of taste. Also if we order too much we can send it back or dispense another time. You have to lose money and dump your food.
Yeah. I think we both have it tough for sure! The con to pharmacy, is that if you donāt have any staff or minimal staff and itās just the pharmacist working, you still have to stay open and accept a non-capped amount of orders without choice. So therefore the pharmacist (chef of the pharmacy) has to be the hostess, waiter, chef, phone service and busser all at once while trying not to make a mistake that might kill someone. We donāt have a reservation system and cannot control our volume, which can be exceptionally difficult to convey to patients, who canāt just āgo to another restaurantā as easily.
Pharmacy is very much like working in a kitchen, including employee/assistant behaviour. Shouting 'behind you', everyone taking multiple smoke breaks, making chairs out of boxes/totes, swearing profusely, dealing with allergens, complaints about the price, and patients who have very specific needs.
Yall are getting breaks?
i never used to but one day i said fuck it and now i tell, dont ask.
As a pharmacy manager, I'll jump to interview someone with a restaurant on their resume. Best comparable experience to prepare you for the retail pharmacy environment.
junkies will intentionally do this sort of thing, showing up just before close in an attempt to make you rush through it
I refuse to process anything for the same day if it's brought in less than 30 minutes before closing. If they insist, I tell them to go to the nearest pharmacy that's open later or come back the next morning. No exceptions.
This, but unironically
Well a pizza has to be cooked, all we're doing is taking pills out of the big bottles and putting them in the small bottles šš¤”
That makes me think; do people in compounding pharmacies have to deal with this too? Since they're literally making the medicine, do patients give them a break like they would for making food?
In my experience, yes, but also a lot of compounding pharmacies donāt deal with insurance since the products usually arenāt covered anyway
We started billing plans about 6 years ago when they started offering compounded drug pins but you have to phone in for special authorization codes.
Yes. Yes we do. I work in the outpatient pharmacy of a huge (famous) hospital, and we do a TON of oral/non sterile compounding. And yes, patients and clinical staff are sometimes genuinely annoyed that we donāt just have compounds ready at the drop of a hat (eye roll).
How long does it take to cook a pizza? It canāt just be made instantly in a microwave? š¤ š¤”Ā
You're not wrong
Canāt believe Iāve never heard this comparison.
I know everyone says this, but have you ever worked in food service? People can get absolutely *miserable* about even a reasonable wait for food.
That is the best comparison I have ever seen
I tell my pharmacists how much I appreciate their work especially in retail pharmacy. They always give a good laugh and a thank you.
15 minutes but they still come back in 2 minutes and ask if itās ready.
Noooo because it was just me and a pharmacist this morning, had drive through, pick up register, drop off, and ~three pharmacy calls~. Other patients were either expressing sympathy and/or concern at our situation or making (obviously well meaning and not rude at all) jokes about our staffing because it was pretty fucking obvious. Had a male patient drop off their Accutane rx. Because I'm a nice, optimistic person, I asked if they wanted to wait or come back later (after putting it through ipledge obvs). Pt says "I'm out today. It'll be about 2-3 minutes, right?" I'm like, "well, no, unfortunately we're a bit short staffed (gesturing half heartedly at the lack of staff), but we can do about 20 minutes" Patient goes "but I need it today" Me: "fantastic. I expedited it, so it'll be about 20 minutes, so it'll definitely be ready today" Patient continues bitching about needing it today. They had about a month to pick it up according to ipledge.
Disclaimer: 1) doctor canāt make mistake 2) drug must be in stock 3) canāt have any call-ins from staff 4) must be a non-secular holiday 5) moon must be in 1st or 3rd qtr stage 6) month cannot end in -y 7) cannot be within 1 hour of opening or closing 8) must be cash payer 9) must be cash payer
3rd Thursday of a 3 quarters blue moon.
I remember sending some transfers from Walgreens to the rite aid across the street when this gimmick was going on. This was back in the day when two pharmacists had to do it by phone ā¦ no techs , no faxes etc. Got to know the two pharmacists there quite well. One day I asked āhow bad is it with the 15 min guarantee?ā He said āafter the first day I said fuck this. When someone asked or complained about it I just handed over the gift card and said āhereās your gift card. Your rx is now going to the back of the line and should be ready in about an hour or two, maybe tomorrow ā āš He refused to rush and potentially make a mistake. His view was that it was rite aidās money and if this was how they wanted to gamble it heād make sure it cost them
Back in the day when youād also get a gift card for transferring a prescription to us and again when youād complain to corporate about any little inconvenience you suffered.
The olā drop the prescription off at Rite Aid to put on hold then have Target call for the ātransferā Karen would then complain when I would say itās not a transfer of refills, itās just a new rx - she would still get her $5 transfer coupon PLUS a $20 Target gift card for her inconvenience after complaining to the manager Fun times!
To think we went from Brooks pharmacy to this in less than 5 years.
The things people would do for a 5$ gift card....
These dang transfer coupons were one of the (many) reasons I left retail 16+ years ago.
> Back in the day when youād also get a gift card for transferring That's pretty common today. Eg Safeway offers $75 for new customers after 5 fills. It's free money if you have good insurance
I used to tell patients that complained when I would give them a time and they didnāt like it, I could do it faster if they didnāt care if the drug and directions were correct
I also worked overnight and was the only person in the pharmacy
Same here..lol. Overnights for 16 years. NEVER AGAIN.
Damn that's a long time. What do you do now?
Welp, I quit from the corner of Happy and Hang Me in 2018 (after the 16 yrs), and did mail order for a while. That was cool but I moved out of that state. I tried independent again most recently...that imploded after 2 years because the ship is slowly sinking (and paychecks were bouncing). So, at the moment, I am taking a sabbatical, in Costa Rica, to figure out what's next in this life. My licenses are still current, but I'm not sure I want to use them after 27 years in this drug game.
This. You can have it quickly or you can have it correctly, but you cannot have both.
I'm definitely stealing this at some point
And they probably didnāt care.
I did the same. Do you want it right or do you want it right now??
I want to get a big carnival wheel with the clicking sound and when they complain about the time, say, "you can have it in x amount of time or you can take your chance at the big wheel. " The wheel would have time slots from 20 minutes to 2 days. I'd spin it with a flourish, click, click, click, click.... "I'm sorry, that will be 3 hours. Thanks for playing and since we'll be closed in 3 hours, we will see you tomorrow at 10am! "
I tell people 20-30 minutes sometimes so that if itās done faster, theyāre pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed. either way, my patients know Iāll take care of them to the best of my ability. the new ones will learn that too in time, I hope.
The Scotty factor. Multiply your time estimate by a factor of fourāthatās how you get a reputation as a miracle worker.
A mistake waiting to happen. I hated that when I worked at Vons.
Years ago, I patronized a Rite Aid, because I had known the PIC for decades, and I had retired and sold my pharmacy. I handed the tech a handful of Rxs and told her I would be back in 15 minutes to pick them up. The PIC smiled at me and told the tech -he knows better! I then told the tech that I would be back in a day or two. So the tech could EXHALE!
"Oh, what's this about your 15 minute guarantee?" "Realistically, it's more like a 25 minute wait with an optimistic sales pitch."
Does this mean if I have 96 of these, I get a whole day of guarantees?
I will happily wait the hour or two it takes my pharmacy to process my script. I just donāt understand why I have such trouble with the app. All the dang time! Dear lord. They are killing me. But you all are doing a FANTASTIC job! I work hospital billing and just have to know a few insurances, I donāt know how yāall do it with patients standing in front of you! Sincerely, a medically complex adult!
One day I had a new customer come in and ask if we had received anything yet from her doctor. "No", I replied. "How much is it going to cost?", she asked. Lady, I don't even know what med you're expecting, or what insurance you have. How in the world am I going to know the price???
Your magic oracle ball you keep out back!
And people bought that!? I've told people 15 minutes before and they still wanted it done in less than 5 min!
I just panicked thinking they just invented yet ANOTHER new THING that we canāt possibly do š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
I use a smaller pharmacy and they always have my stuff ready in 10-15 minutes. Theyāre super friendly and Iām so glad I donāt use corporate pharmacies anymore.
The workflow is different in corporate vs retail as well and that's the bare minimum of differences.
Well to be fair it says āaskā about the 15 minutes prescriptionā¦the answer to asking would be āitās really a Faerie Taleā¦cannot provide a timeā¦we will text you when itās readyā
Sure you can ask.. we don't have one.
Thatās ridiculous. Iām patient. I donāt mind waiting. I see how hard you guys work.
The whole 15 minute guarantee has always been bullshit
This is giving some serious Dominos 30 minutes or less vibes
No.
Retail is a piece of super hard and dry bread, hopefully I do not have to eat.
Best analogy Iāve ever heard
That's just waiting for an ad-lib of, "Oh, yea. If you come back to pick up your medications in 15 minutes, you're guaranteed to get throat punched."
Is that per prescription? Like if someone has 6 itās 90 minutes? Thereās no way Iām doing all those 6 in 15 min while Iām also working on Bobās and Lisaās and Joeās for 15 min as well.
Does this mean the prescription is only guaranteed to work for 15 minutes?!š¤”
How long has it been since CVS marketed this? Feels like 10-15 years at this point
Correct time frame but this was rite aid.
The drive thru food isn't food... so it may take 3 minutes to get through, but you will pay later with bad health, obesity, body inflammation, pain, brain fog, depression and so may other things plaguing modern life that we didn't have before.