Which retail pharmacy chain do you work for?

Are the drugs organized alphabetically (A-Z) or by brand name (generics next to the corresponding brand name)?

I work at CVS. We used to be brand-generic, but we we had to switch the entire inventory to alphabetical early this year.

I knew my brand-generics a whole lot better when the pharmacy was arranged brand-generic. Evidently, it's easier for new hires to find their way around (but they're not learning any brand-generic names in the meantime). It's bad when a tech has worked in the pharmacy for 6 months and doesn't know that Hydrocodone APAP is Lortab or Vicodin.

I work at walgreens and we do it by 3 alphabetical sections. We have a section above the filling counter for the most common rxs (about 30), then a shelf with the next most common rxs (100ish) then shelfs with the rest.

I recently worked for Wal-Mart, and we arranged alphabetically. Even though I'm familiar with brand names and their corresponding generics, I liked that method. Hopefully techs will learn brand/generics when they're typing labels.

When I worked at a hospital, it was so confusing. Everything was arranged alphabetically by generic name, even stuff that was brand name only. Not to mention the fact that there was a "hot section" with supposedly commonly used drugs, which would have been great if not for the fact that the drugs in the "hot section" must have been chosen 15 years ago because I never used any of them. Oh, and by the way, some little vials were mixed in with the tablets and capsules, but some were the counter, and some were on a shelf on the other side of the pharmacy. There were some syrups on the counter, some underneath the counter, and some hiding on a shelf in the back. Then there was the "eye section," the "ear section," the "OB section," and the "derm section." On top of all that, there were three huge refrigerators, but they were not arranged in any type of logical fashion, so you just had to memorize where everything was.

I did a rotation at a hospital that was alphabetical by brand name. There are some drugs, like atenolol, that have been brand for so long I had to look them up in a brand/generic book to find them. Also, some generics had multiple brand names. You had to learn which brand name they kept it under. Confusing for the first week.

The Rite Aid I intern at is organized by brand name. It really helps you to learn brand/generic names.

I am at Osco right now, they are arranged in brand-generic.:)

I don't care how it's organize as long as my staff can find it. But it really should be organized generically... so no one has to look for HCTZ under Oretic and Prednisone under Deltasone.

Alot of drugs have so many friggin brand names it'd be impossible. You might file HCTZ under Oretic, I might place it under Hydrodiuril, and some other person might like Microzide better.

At the hospital everything was generic, even the brand only drugs (Levaquin was under levofloxacin, etc). It really helped me to learn the drugs this way. We had no "weird" sections but the non-formulary section which was always a mess.

At Walgreens, everything was alphabetical (except the fast rack and the Parata). So brand Allegra was under A and it's generic was under F. It was easy for newbies to find their way around.

Alot of drugs have so many friggin brand names it'd be impossible. You might file HCTZ under Oretic, I might place it under Hydrodiuril, and some other person might like Microzide better.

That's what made it so difficult. I didn't know where to look until after working there for a week.

Well, all of our drugs are in alphabetical order, except for some, because somebody that I work with has a different alphabet than everybody else.

Well, all of our drugs are in alphabetical order, except for some, because somebody that I work with has a different alphabet than everybody else.

y'all finally using alphabet in Oklahoma?

y'all finally using alphabet in Oklahoma?

Those cuneiform tablets got too heavy....

Oh wait, you didnt mean using THE alphabet did you. :)

Those cuneiform tablets got too heavy....

Oh wait, you didnt mean using THE alphabet did you. :)


ok...so it hasn't made it yet.. look out for it. It's coming!