This scenario repeats itself a dozen times per day.
Customer: I'm picking up prescriptions.
staff: OK, I have 3 prescriptions for you.
Customer: No, there should be 4.
staff: Well, I have these 3 here. Which one are you missing?
Customer: I don't know which one it was. I just know there should be 4 for me.
Pharmacy Mike in his head: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
You have no idea how much I hate this. My first instinct in this case is always to respond, "Well, if you don't know what it is, then I don't know what it is. Sorry." Of course, that would never go over well. Apparently, we're supposed to be mind readers among all the other tasks we have to do. We're supposed to keep track of what ALL of our hundreds (if not thousands) of patients need to have filled at all times.
In my dream world, my official policy would be that anyone picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy is responsible for knowing which prescriptions are being picked up. If one is missing, and you don't know what it is, tough luck.
The other thing that always makes me cringe is when I hear someone come to the counter and say, "My doctor was supposed to call in a prescription for me."
Is it just me, or does it seem like 90% of the time a customer says this, the doctor has not called in the prescription? Upon learning the office never called, the follow up question is always, "Can you call my doctor?"
HELL NO!!!!, I want to scream but never do. I hate calling the doctor's office in this case. Quite frankly, I think it's rude. Maybe the office staff just hasn't gotten a chance to do it yet. Maybe instead of it being 5 hours ago that the patient left the office (like the patient said), it was really 5 minutes ago. There could be any number of good, acceptable reasons why the prescription was not called in yet. I feel calling them on this issue is kind of like rushing them. I don't want someone calling in to rush me when I'm doing my job. Why would I do it to them?
Furthermore, I believe my responsibilities begin once I get a prescription. From there, I'll check it for accuracy, check for interactions, do whatever I can to get it to go through the insurance, and make sure it is filled correctly. However, I don't feel it's my job to track down a prescription that hasn't been called in yet... and this refers to a doctor calling in a new script or a customer calling in a refill.
If your doctor hasn't called in a prescription yet, YOU call the office. If you don't know what prescriptions were supposed to be filled, YOU go figure it out. Those are the customer's responsibilities. My responsibility (when it comes to prescriptions) is solely to fill every prescription I'm told to fill safely (I include counseling here) and accurately.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
you got my vote on this one. It makes me absolutely crazy when I hear the words "The dr said they would call something in for me" and its not here. But what sends me over the edge is when we get a fax from the office, and its barely cool off the fax before the patient is hot on his heels at my counter "is it ready". Hell NO, its not ready, we just got it. Its like people think I am just sitting there reading magazines waiting for this fax. The crummy expression I get when I ask them makes me want to bleed thru my eyes.
Nothing like receiving a fax with 24 discharge meds from the hospital, and family comes in after 10 minutes with the patient being discharged sitting in the car on his/her way home. "But the nurse said they would be ready!" Last thing I need to hear is "but you are just pouring pills into bottles and putting a labels on them!" This image of "count, pour, lick and stick" is still quite alive and well.
I'm not sure which is more annoying, this OR
Customer: I need to get my prescriptions filled
Me: Do you have the Rx numbers?
Customer: No, just open my file and you'll see them
Me: ok, what do you need?
Customer: ALL OF THEM
*looks at massive profile of multiple meds from multiple doctors on various days, etc.
Me: You'll need to tell me which ones, you have a lengthy profile.
Customer: THE ONES I GOT LAST MONTH, JUST FILL THEM ALL
Me: Ok, just the ones from last month
Fast Forward three hours
Customer's friend pics up the medications and leaves
Fast Forward 30 seconds
RING RING RING
"someone just picked up my medication and _____ isn't here, and he paid $45 for this one that I don't need, and where's MY lortab?"
Sucks for you buster.
Post a Comment