just worked at a Walgreen's Power store

[gotgame740]

It was pretty cool. The customers were nicer. Didn't have to count any pills. The lighting was better. DIDN'T HAVE TO TYPE ANY SCRIPTS!!

Before today I said I wouldn't do retail, but I would definitely work at one of these stores.

Feel free to chime in with any input

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[Corpseman]

It was pretty cool. The customers were nicer. Didn't have to count any pills. The lighting was better. DIDN'T HAVE TO TYPE ANY SCRIPTS!!

Before today I said I wouldn't do retail, but I would definitely work at one of these stores.

Feel free to chime in with any input

Walgreen's that I call for transfers all the time is a power store and they are still extremely busy.

I think it all depends on the store.

 

[grumps]

I don't want to pop your bubble, but all those scripts you did product check for, guess whose initials show on the microfiche 13 months down the road? Guess what records walgreens gives the plaintiff in a civil suit.

 

[tablet]

It was pretty cool. The customers were nicer. Didn't have to count any pills. The lighting was better. DIDN'T HAVE TO TYPE ANY SCRIPTS!!

Before today I said I wouldn't do retail, but I would definitely work at one of these stores.

Feel free to chime in with any input

If you didnt count pills or type scripts, what were you doing?

 

[ancienbon]

It was pretty cool. The customers were nicer. Didn't have to count any pills. The lighting was better. DIDN'T HAVE TO TYPE ANY SCRIPTS!!

Before today I said I wouldn't do retail, but I would definitely work at one of these stores.

Feel free to chime in with any input

First of all, power stores does not have nicer customer than regular stores. All retail pharmacies have mean customer . May be it has to see with location.
Second of all, you have to count pill even though you work at at a power store.
You have to work with less help and you will end up spending more time ringing register and drive thru.

 

[Travex]

Saw this thread and didn't know what a WAG Power store was so I did a quick Google search and came across the SDN topic about it way back back in '08 here. Also a random blog post here that describes it pretty well. A few questions for everyone...

1. Is it still confined to Florida and Arizona only? It's been five years but I have not heard of it in my area (Northeast) so I assume it's not expanding until they work out more kinks...
2. Are you still forced to send scripts to the CPO for input? That seemed to be a major source of complaints. Most of the time it is an asset but at times I can see how it can be a detriment at times. If they wanted to, the in-store rph should be allowed override it and input in-store instead of waiting 15 minutes for the CPO.
3. What "pharmacist only" duties do the rphs actually perform? Counseling and vaccinations? Verifying Rxs is like 75% of their duties in most other community pharmacies... Basically my main concern with it is that the power store model seems to be forcing them to take on a lot of tech duties.

Overall I would agree with what others are saying that this "call center/central fill" idea sounds great on paper but was very poorly executed by WAG.

 

[TonyRx]

I've worked in Power stores since 2008 when it was rolled out. Lots of glitches and issues initially, but now it's fairly efficient and nice. Don't get me wrong, there is always room for improvement and some days our CPO people are idiots.

Overall, some stores are worse than others, that's a no-brainer and just life. We are freed up to engage patients more, which boils down to being a very high paid cashier at the point-of-sale. Downside is, despite having to not type ~90% of our scripts, corporate gives us barebone help so a Power store doing 400+ a day will operate with 1 RPh and 1 maybe 2 techs on any given shift. Having to man 2-3 front registers, a drive-thru, phone calls, fill scripts, give immunizations, call insurances, etc etc with 1 RPh and 1 tech does become a struggle at times. All the while making sure the CPO peeps who are remotely typing/verifying our scripts are doing so accurately.

It has it's pros and cons, personally I like it, but improvements are needed across the board.

 

[farmadiazepine]

I've worked in Power stores since 2008 when it was rolled out. Lots of glitches and issues initially, but now it's fairly efficient and nice. Don't get me wrong, there is always room for improvement and some days our CPO people are idiots.

Overall, some stores are worse than others, that's a no-brainer and just life. We are freed up to engage patients more, which boils down to being a very high paid cashier at the point-of-sale. Downside is, despite having to not type ~90% of our scripts, corporate gives us barebone help so a Power store doing 400+ a day will operate with 1 RPh and 1 maybe 2 techs on any given shift. Having to man 2-3 front registers, a drive-thru, phone calls, fill scripts, give immunizations, call insurances, etc etc with 1 RPh and 1 tech does become a struggle at times. All the while making sure the CPO peeps who are remotely typing/verifying our scripts are doing so accurately.

It has it's pros and cons, personally I like it, but improvements are needed across the board.

This is why WAGs and CVS seriously suck. You guys and girls should be working somewhere else. That's a joke what you just mentioned above.

The independent I work for, fills 350-400 prescriptions a day. We have 2 pharmacists on all day and we have 8 technicians on all day.

The pharmacists do what pharmacists should be doing. Checking prescriptions to make sure they are correct, checking to see if we are reimbursed enough, counseling patients who need it.

And I would never ever ever let someone else verify my prescriptions and let it go out in my store under my name when I did absolutely nothing for the Rx. If something serious happens or a mistake is made, WAGs puts your name and your license on the line.

 

[grumps]

This is why WAGs and CVS seriously suck. You guys and girls should be working somewhere else. That's a joke what you just mentioned above.

The independent I work for, fills 350-400 prescriptions a day. We have 2 pharmacists on all day and we have 8 technicians on all day.

The pharmacists do what pharmacists should be doing. Checking prescriptions to make sure they are correct, checking to see if we are reimbursed enough, counseling patients who need it.

And I would never ever ever let someone else verify my prescriptions and let it go out in my store under my name when I did absolutely nothing for the Rx. If something serious happens or a mistake is made, WAGs puts your name and your license on the line.

That's the fact Jack.

 

[TonyRx]

This is why WAGs and CVS seriously suck. You guys and girls should be working somewhere else. That's a joke what you just mentioned above.

The independent I work for, fills 350-400 prescriptions a day. We have 2 pharmacists on all day and we have 8 technicians on all day.

The pharmacists do what pharmacists should be doing. Checking prescriptions to make sure they are correct, checking to see if we are reimbursed enough, counseling patients who need it.

And I would never ever ever let someone else verify my prescriptions and let it go out in my store under my name when I did absolutely nothing for the Rx. If something serious happens or a mistake is made, WAGs puts your name and your license on the line.

You do make valid points, can't argue with that.

 

[BMBiology]

wait, why would your name be on the bottle? you didn't dispense it

 

[pezdispenser]

Florida Board of Pharmacy rules say:

64B16-28.451 Pharmacy Common Database.
(3) Each pharmacist that performs a specific function within the prescription drug processing process via use of a common database shall be responsible for any errors or omissions committed by that pharmacist during the performance of that specific function.

So, Walgreens splits up the dispensing process and there are multiple initials (up to five) recorded for each prescription, with each person only being responsible for the step they did.

Basically the Power RPhs are responsible for the data review, and the store RPhs are responsible for the product review and selling to the right patient.

 

[gotgame740]

If you didnt count pills or type scripts, what were you doing?

mostly ringing people up. i did fill a few scripts, though. and with the e-scribes, i just had to match up the script to the patient and then the centralization center typed them

 

[gotgame740]

First of all, power stores does not have nicer customer than regular stores. All retail pharmacies have mean customer . May be it has to see with location.
Second of all, you have to count pill even though you work at at a power store.
You have to work with less help and you will end up spending more time ringing register and drive thru.

nope. don't have to count pills. there's a machine that does that for you, you just scan the correct bottle

 

[grumps]

Not so. I was subpoeaned as a witness to clarify the microfiche records.I got to see the sausage being made in a civil suit. Guess what. Only the pharmacist of record is on the microfiche. What you see in Intercom Plus under the detailed refill history is not translated to the microfiche when the records are purged. The defense for the company doesn't care who was responsible. They want to present as small as target as possible. The defense doesn't want a case with too many moving parts that can be attacked by the plaintiff. It's your name as RPH of record that will be named as a defendent as well as Wags. There etched in the public record in all its glory will be your name no matter if you had nothing to do with the misfill.

 

[hizentra]

Not so. I was subpoeaned as a witness to clarify the microfiche records.I got to see the sausage being made in a civil suit. Guess what. Only the pharmacist of record is on the microfiche. What you see in Intercom Plus under the detailed refill history is not translated to the microfiche when the records are purged. The defense for the company doesn't care who was responsible. They want to present as small as target as possible. The defense doesn't want a case with too many moving parts that can be attacked by the plaintiff. It's your name as RPH of record that will be named as a defendent as well as Wags. There etched in the public record in all its glory will be your name no matter if you had nothing to do with the misfill.

This doesn't make sense! Why is it your fault if someone else made the mistake?

What happened in the civil suit? Were you responsible?

 

[grumps]

Common sense and justice are not paramount in the legal system. In this case if the plaintiff prevails, the charging order will be against the company whose underwriter will pick up the tab. However your name is still on the lawsuit in the public record. This could pose a problem in future state board discipline or civil suits.

 

[pezdispenser]

Not so. I was subpoeaned as a witness to clarify the microfiche records.I got to see the sausage being made in a civil suit. Guess what. Only the pharmacist of record is on the microfiche. What you see in Intercom Plus under the detailed refill history is not translated to the microfiche when the records are purged. The defense for the company doesn't care who was responsible. They want to present as small as target as possible. The defense doesn't want a case with too many moving parts that can be attacked by the plaintiff. It's your name as RPH of record that will be named as a defendent as well as Wags. There etched in the public record in all its glory will be your name no matter if you had nothing to do with the misfill.

This sounds unusual that they would have to dig all the way back to microfiche records. Not saying that it can't happen, but it must've been very serious.

IC+ should keep the refill history for the required two years. And the RPh/tech's initials for each step are printed on the prescription label. Some store RPh's also manually write their own initials on the label if, for example, another RPh is on duty at the same time. So the proper way, when a misfill occurs, is that only the RPh of the responsible step gets blamed. Power RPhs have been disciplined by the board for data review mistakes which the store RPh has nothing to do with.

 

[grumps]

It was serious. It was a wrongful death suit. IC+ keeps records for 13 months after last fill. If it is a C2 involved then 13 months after filling. What happens usually is that the family files the lawsuit long after the incident, so physical evidence is lost and the records have gone to microfiche.

 

[Tonyg89]

http://drugmonkey.blogspot.com/2011/11/walgreens-power-outages-continue.html

 

[knight on horse]

I imagined something like this during my wild daydreams, before ever hearing of a POWER store

Wonder if I can get myself paid somehow for ideas like this