How to approach "slow" patients in retail

[a student]

Hi all,

I am currently working as an intern in retail. I was wondering how do you guys deal with patients being really slow when there is a long line behind them. I know that working in retail I should be in the mindset of providing good customer service. But when some patients are holding up the line, I start to get frustrated on the inside even though it is not really their fault. For example, today i was trying to get rid of a long line so I could finish typing the prescriptions for all the waiters. Then came this elderly patient who I feel should really have someone pick up his meds for him. It took us a really long time to finish a simple transaction because of things like him not knowing what to do on each screen, not knowing how to swipe his credit card (even after I told him it should be the other way, he ended up swiping the other wrong way), and just his overall slow movements. I became a little frustrated on the inside and ended up telling him what button to press instead of having him answer the questions such as cash back, and punching in his phone number.

I find situations like this frustrating but at the same time I know it's not their fault. How do you guys handle these situations? Be patient with them and just pretend you're taking a little break or tell them what buttons to press to speed up the process?

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[SClENCE]

Sometime I just reach over and press the buttons and take their card and swipe it as if it was how I did all transactions... but when they decide that they have the 17 cents and want to dig it our of their purse or want to write a check then you are **** out of luck.

 

[Wheresmyaricept]

If they're still struggling and failing with verbal commands, how about you ask them if they would like you to do it. Quicker and easier. Most of the time people aren't offended. Especially the elderly. They hate technology and the less interactions they have with it, the happier they are.

 

[SClENCE]

What do you do when you ask them their date of birth and they say "I just want my damn pills!!!"

 

[trailerpark]

Walmart has easy pay. We sign them up for it so we just click easy pay and it automatically gets charged to whatever card we have on file and prints the receipt.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

What do you do when you ask them their date of birth and they say "I just want my damn pills!!!"

You get out of retail

 

[SClENCE]

Yeah I was surprised at how much more efficient it is at Walmart than CVS. I picked up my grandparents Rx and didn't have to sign or answer 10 questions or even swipe a card.

 

[Dyligently]

Honestly, I just multi-task. My terminal is right next to the cash register. I would be typing all of the waiter's / F1's while waiting for this patient. This "slow" patient is giving you a time frame to type some scripts in.
Most of the time it's [tab] 30 [tab] + qd or tk 1 t po qd [tab] 30 [tab] (npi number). At least at Walgreens it is. I just end up memorizing tk 1 t po qd/+ qd and it makes my typing 100x easier. If i'm not typing, I would be putting
away scripts in their correct bins, all while keeping an eye on the patient. I believe that they understand the urgency of the pharmacy so they don't mean to take a long time, so they shouldn't be mad if you multi-task.

 

[Sparda29]

You do it for them.

 

[Estrace]

Walgreens has express pay as well. With elderly patients, I normally help them through the process if I have a line. If they decides they want to dig in their purse for that 2 cents or want to write a check, I get the person behind them on another register while keeping an eye on them.

 

[SClENCE]

Walgreens has express pay as well. With elderly patients, I normally help them through the process if I have a line. If they decides they want to dig in their purse for that 2 cents or want to write a check, I get the person behind them on another register while keeping an eye on them.

Lol I tried rining up 2 customers at once one time... I don't think the first customer was too pleased.

Waiting on a drive through customer then getting a front counter customer started might work out but I don't think it's more efficient and doesn't look good when you just randomly walk away as they start to sign

 

[Dyligently]

Walgreens has express pay as well. With elderly patients, I normally help them through the process if I have a line. If they decides they want to dig in their purse for that 2 cents or want to write a check, I get the person behind them on another register while keeping an eye on them.

I wouldn't suggest ringing another patient up because you would lock yourself out on the other register... I would ask for help from the filler up front.

 

[gwarm01]

The quotation marks made me think this thread was about counseling the mentally handicapped.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Multi-tasking is a sure-fire way to make errors. Over the years I have learned to minimize multi-tasking by simply becoming more efficient at performing a single task correctly and quickly the first time around. Not an apples to apples comparison but http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20421552 shows one example of interruptions (aka interrupting yourself with another task).

 

[Dyligently]

Sure I agree, but everyone is different. Some are great with multitasking and some are not.

 

[mikejones123]

one of the keys to retail is to never multitask....I focus on one task at a time and do it efficiently....it is ok if people have to wait. I also let phone calls on hold for minutes until I have time to finish my task.

 

[PharmdA07]

Sorry to say this but I seem to often have problems with the ladies who never seem to get their stuffs ready. They take forever to dig into their purses, through all those on-sale make-ups and crackers and sometimes even maxi pads (??) and god-knows-what, just to find....another mini purse and the digging continues (!!!) to find 3 quarters for their copay or a visa gift card that ....(Drum roll please) is declined due to insufficient funds (!!); and then they go on to another multi-compartment clutch to dig out a bunch of pennies and start counting... Wait, I forgot to add that they also pull out a stack of coupons from their Saved-by-the-dime club and negotiate with me for credit toward their 1 cent copay !! I may have more sympathy toward the elderly patients with psych condition than these ladies. Guys seem to always have their stuffs ready to go (not to be impartial BTW)

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Sure I agree, but everyone is different. Some are great with multitasking and some are not.

Multi-tasking is the slowest way to get anything done with the lowest yield in quality. I don't know if you're a pharmacist or not, but as a student "multi-tasking" sounded cool but once you're in the real world, you'll see how ineffective it is.

 

[Dyligently]

Multi-tasking is the slowest way to get anything done with the lowest yield in quality. I don't know if you're a pharmacist or not, but as a student "multi-tasking" sounded cool but once you're in the real world, you'll see how ineffective it is.

Oh I'm sorry. I'm just a technician right now. I wouldn't multitask as a pharmacist.

 

[Rouelle]

Clearly the best option is to enact mandatory euthanasia laws. Problem solved.

 

[MyRealNameIs]

one of the keys to retail is to never multitask....I focus on one task at a time and do it efficiently....it is ok if people have to wait. I also let phone calls on hold for minutes until I have time to finish my task.

Wait
You work in a retail and don't have to multitask? I am so jealous
The pharmacists at my retail location is required to multitask. It does increase the risk of making a mistake. Probably why everyone is so stressed out.

It is common for patients to wait over 5 minutes at my store if they call. God forbid if everyone starts doing one task at a time. Wait time will probably jump to 10 minutes.

 

[KidPharmD]

I do recall that there have been studies that essentially say that no one really multi-tasks. You might be good a switching back and forth between tasks, but your brain is really doing one thing at a time. I also remember something like the better you think you are at multitasking, the worse you probably are.

I think the best thing is to be patient, help them where you can (like swiping their card, or filling out their check) and then acknowledge other customers as they come up with "I'll be with you as soon as I can"

 

[NateRobinson]

Call for backup. If there's no backup present in the pharmacy (all team members are busy), then call someone from the Front to help you. Pharmacy does 67% of the business in a retail setting. The FS only does 33%. That's why corporate clearly says the FS exists to support the pharmacy department and should jump at the oppurtunity to help you. Just paige manager to the pharmacy and tell him/her to jump on the register and help you.

And, if they give you a hard time (which has a 90% chance of probably happening), escalate it to the DM. District managers are fed this all day every day. THE FS HAS TO SUPPORT THE PHARMACY WHEN THE PICKUP LINE IS LONG. They do not have a choice. It's not about "oh its busy in the front and I can't right now" or "im counting money and i can't." They HAVE to.

 

[NateRobinson]

Honestly, I just multi-task. My terminal is right next to the cash register. I would be typing all of the waiter's / F1's while waiting for this patient. This "slow" patient is giving you a time frame to type some scripts in.
Most of the time it's [tab] 30 [tab] + qd or tk 1 t po qd [tab] 30 [tab] (npi number). At least at Walgreens it is. I just end up memorizing tk 1 t po qd/+ qd and it makes my typing 100x easier. If i'm not typing, I would be putting
away scripts in their correct bins, all while keeping an eye on the patient. I believe that they understand the urgency of the pharmacy so they don't mean to take a long time, so they shouldn't be mad if you multi-task.

Wow, you are the poster child of what NOT to do. I don't care if the line stretches out the door and ends at the nearest starbucks. DO NOT ring out two people at the same time. DO NOT type two different patients at the same time. DO NOT produce 2 different people's scripts at the same time and do not verify two separate scripts at the same time. It's not worth it. The chance of an error skyrockets when you do this.

I'd like to think I'm an extremely efficient pharmacist who can do 1000 things at once, can fly around the pharmacy and have a RWP percentage of 99%. But even I made a mistake once. I stapled 2 different patients on the same bag because it was just me and one tech and I was running around trying to do everything at once. It's not worth it. Who cares. Let them wait. Accuracy trumps all.

 

[NateRobinson]

I think the best thing is to be patient, help them where you can (like swiping their card, or filling out their check) and then acknowledge other customers as they come up with "I'll be with you as soon as I can"

This x 100,000. All you have to do is immediately acknowledge people and they will be willing to wait. Believe me. If you tell someone "I'll be right with you!", they will wait up to 5 minutes. If you don't acknowledge someone's existence, waiting even 1 minute will frustrate them.

 

[owlegrad]

This x 100,000. All you have to do is immediately acknowledge people and they will be willing to wait. Believe me. If you tell someone "I'll be right with you!", they will wait up to 5 minutes. If you don't acknowledge someone's existence, waiting even 1 minute will frustrate them.

This is not my experience. Acknowledging helps but people are still impatient.

 

[SClENCE]

This is not my experience. Acknowledging helps but people are still impatient.

We pretty much acknowledge every patient really loud so the pick up tech hears and come out from pulling drugs/putting away truck/checking in order. It's gotten to the point where patients have started to complain "every time I go to CVS they say they will be right with you an then I wait for 5 minutes while they ignore me/talk on the phone". In reality it's like 30 seconds but people apparently get annoyed that we do this consistently. I guess from their point of view there are 2-3 people just standing there behind a counter and they are trained to believe that customer service trumps everything so the complaints are understandable but frustrating.