Mail Order Pharmacy? vs retail

[jyso]

Does anyone have any experience as a mail order pharmacist? What are usually the day-to-day tasks like? And do you know what the average salary is?

Ive worked as a retail pharmacist for 3 years for CVS and to be honest I finally got burnt out! I had only one other partner and we both had rotating 44 hour schedules (would work 14 hour shifts with no overlap, except for one day of the week we overlap for only 2 hours).

I wouldn't mind working behind the desk and not interacting with patients anymore. Really after having people yelling at my face everyday finally took a toll on me because I found myself becoming short-tempered around the ones I cared for and honestly felt like a human punching bag at times!

One of the perks of the offer I got from a mail order company is a 8-4pm shift and no weekends. As a retail pharmacist my schedule was just all over the place and I never had the same day of the week off during the week, which prevented me from doing any extracurricular activities. Plus I worked every other weekend which I also disliked (whereas some of my other retail rph friends had a third partner to at least work some weekends so that they'd only work every 2 weekends).

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[n64bomb]

I feel very similarly to you except I started with CVS after graduation and have about 1.7 years with them and am hell bent on leaving them. They treat people like ****, complete ****. Mail order is a step down in pay; depends on the facility. Probably around 30k ish difference in salary, plus stock options and other fringes. You probably lose 40-50k when all is said and done per year in compensation going to mail, when you consider everything. I have interviews scheduled and really hope I get an offer. I already decided; if I get another offer, I'm taking it. My dad was a little taken aback when I said that. Then he laughed and said "if you are going to leave, just leave." Im doing exactly that He isnt a phamacist and hasn't worked for CVS in the past 5 years, so I dont expect him to understand what Im talking about, and if I actually had to explain myself to an rph working for CVS, then Id be speechless. Apparently, things used to be a lot different in CVS before the metrics got out of hand (or at least a lifer told me that)

 

[gwarm01]

As a retail pharmacist my schedule was just all over the place and I never had the same day of the week off during the week, which prevented me from doing any extracurricular activities. Plus I worked every other weekend which I also disliked (whereas some of my other retail rph friends had a third partner to at least work some weekends so that they'd only work every 2 weekends).

I'm a hospital pharmacist in the exact same situation with my schedule. I like my job, but only having every other weekend off plus working only evening shifts has been really rough on me. Best of luck to you. I really think the difference in pay would be negligible in comparison in the increase in quality of life.

 

[CuriousPharmD]

I'm not sure if the difference in pay is that great...I work in mail order 2nd shift m-f from 330-midnight with weekends off almost making 61/hr with great benefits.

 

[jyso]

I'm not sure if the difference in pay is that great...I work in mail order 2nd shift m-f from 330-midnight with weekends off almost making 61/hr with great benefits.

I really dont know much about mail order. What is your daily routine like?

People have told me that you dont get much interaction even with other rph or technicians, which doesnt bother me too much because Im tired of having to micromanage everyone (since I was pic at my old position and my old partner was a little hard to get along with at times). So in my mindset, it seems like you work more as an individual.

 

[pezdispenser]

A quick list off the top of my head:

Pros
- Opportunity to work from home
- Sit-down desk jobs
- Breaks and lunch breaks
- Good, fixed schedules
- No face to face patient contact
- No interruptions and ability to focus

Cons
- Single-tasking can become boring and monotonous
- High output expectations

Typical day:
- Our schedules are fixed for 6 months. Currently I work 8:30-7 Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri.
- I do work from home so I could wake up at 8:25am and just go log on to my computer... but I do still prefer a relaxed routine with breakfast and to make myself a caffe latte because the caffeine helps a lot to concentrate and work faster
- Then we just verify that the scripts were typed correctly, or do prospective drug utilization review (checking for interactions, etc of the drug with the patient profile).
- We do this for 2.5 hr blocks with 2 x 15 min breaks and a 30 min lunch in between. We can also go to the bathroom at any time, and I usually log out for a few minutes just to get up and stretch my legs.
- For lunch I just go to my kitchen and make myself a toasted sandwich or something, and another coffee of course
- At 7pm on the dot, I just log off my computer and I'm done. No customers to hold me back after closing or blocking my parked car so I can't leave (true story )
- We have separate departments for the call center and for filling the prescriptions, and staff do not rotate between departments. This may be different at other companies.

Now, this job is pretty much made for burnt out retail pharmacists like you. Almost everyone in my department came from retail and got sick of it. But having the retail experience is still very important because we are dispensing the same products but may not get to see them, yet we still need to know all of the issues that can arise and idiosyncrasies.

I get paid low $50s/hr but it's easy for me to pick up overtime to bring it up to $130k/yr. I also get a healthy 401(k) match and ESPP. Plus I save a lot of time and money by not having to drive, maintain professional dress, or buy lunch.

Before working from home, I did work in the main facility, and actually found that I interacted a lot with hundreds of other pharmacists on lunch breaks and in meetings, etc, so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[BMBiology]

- Our schedules are fixed for 6 months. Currently I work 8:30-7 Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri.

how do they monitor you?

 

[pezdispenser]

how do they monitor you?

You have to be logged onto the computer during your schedule. When you are logged in, prescriptions will just pop up on your screen and they time you on how long it takes to verify them.

 

[BMBiology]

You have to be logged onto the computer during your schedule. When you are logged in, prescriptions will just pop up on your screen and they time you on how long it takes to verify them.

i am assuming the dispensing pharmacy is in the same state? can you verify a RX that is being dispensed in another state?

 

[Waffle Houzen]

terd sandwich vs. poop hot dog?

 

[pharmerjohn]

I'm not sure if the difference in pay is that great...I work in mail order 2nd shift m-f from 330-midnight with weekends off almost making 61/hr with great benefits.

What's the starting pay like at your mail order? Do you get a differential for the evening as well? Thanks!

 

[pharmerjohn]

i am assuming the dispensing pharmacy is in the same state? can you verify a RX that is being dispensed in another state?

Yes, some mail orders vfy in one state and dispense medications in a different state. However, depending on the contract that they have, they might have to dispense in the same state to satisfy certain contract requirements.

 

[CuriousPharmD]

I really dont know much about mail order. What is your daily routine like?

People have told me that you dont get much interaction even with other rph or technicians, which doesnt bother me too much because Im tired of having to micromanage everyone (since I was pic at my old position and my old partner was a little hard to get along with at times). So in my mindset, it seems like you work more as an individual.

I come in at 330...verify scripts til 8pm where I eat then go back at 9pm when dinner is over and verify some more and go home at midnight...easiest job there is for a rph...all my coworkers are burnt out rphs or semi retired

 

[CuriousPharmD]

What's the starting pay like at your mail order? Do you get a differential for the evening as well? Thanks!

yea my pay includes a 10 percent differential...if you work during the day starting pay is about 53/hr

 

[HouTX]

how do they monitor you?

you log in and set your task and the timer starts. regular verifying, DUR, etc. also, you can verify Rx for other states and have to follow local laws! so New York was a pain in the ass with controls. they provide a wiki to walk you thru millions of scenarios. not really millions but a large database nonetheless. I quit after 6 weeks being a PV1 rph. I was averaging 43 Rx/hr the first week out of training. the goal after 8 weeks of going live was 50/hr. so definitely not due to performance issues. I didn't enjoy sitting 7.5 hrs a day and literally having to slap myself after lunch to stay awake. of course, I had another job lined up before I put in my 2 weeks

 

[pharmerjohn]

literally having to slap myself after lunch to stay awake.

This is quite true and is one reason why some people despise mail order. It can be quite boring...

 

[aznjeff07]

I worked a year at walmart out of school making 108k working 36 hours a week; plus about a 1.5k bonus prorated for my partial year when bonuses came out. After that year I took a vacation and started at a government contracted mail order facility. I work 40 hour weeks and make $105k (I get a 1k differential for working graveyard...woohoo...no bonus either....) If I worked the same amount of hours at walmart I would have gotten around $120k give or take 3k after my raise.

The differences are drastic. At my mail order job the work never ends...pretty much ever...That being said, since I'm graveyard and there are no supervisors, I can take breaks and mess around if I feel the need. I trained on days and they are basically constantly verifying scripts; this is unless you are one of the few pharmacists boxing meds to ship or in the control room. You answer some phone calls but they're generally simple. Metrics are kept on how many you verify and etc...

The big big positive about my mail order job is I started with 25 days vacation; I can also use all of my vacation at once if I please. I have to use 6 of those days for holidays, but that is much better than the 7 days walmart gave me. Also I'm pretty much never stressed and I can subtract about 45 min average a day from verifying orders to do some things like receiving the drug order.

That being said my schedule sucks. It is 930pm to 600am Sun-Fri; I don't get 7 on 7 off. Also unlike retail I don't get to stand around and do nothing when I run out of work, since that never happens. Also the work is soul killing imo...just verifying rxs over and over..

Overall I like my new job better even though it is around a 15k paycut. My commute is 7 minutes each way with no traffic and I am the top dog until the morning shift arrives...

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

Does anyone have any experience as a mail order pharmacist? What are usually the day-to-day tasks like? And do you know what the average salary is?

Ive worked as a retail pharmacist for 3 years for CVS and to be honest I finally got burnt out! I had only one other partner and we both had rotating 44 hour schedules (would work 14 hour shifts with no overlap, except for one day of the week we overlap for only 2 hours).

I wouldn't mind working behind the desk and not interacting with patients anymore. Really after having people yelling at my face everyday finally took a toll on me because I found myself becoming short-tempered around the ones I cared for and honestly felt like a human punching bag at times!

One of the perks of the offer I got from a mail order company is a 8-4pm shift and no weekends. As a retail pharmacist my schedule was just all over the place and I never had the same day of the week off during the week, which prevented me from doing any extracurricular activities. Plus I worked every other weekend which I also disliked (whereas some of my other retail rph friends had a third partner to at least work some weekends so that they'd only work every 2 weekends).

When I was working on the side for temping agency, I worked for a government mail order pharmacy. It was the most relaxed pharmacy job around. Pharmacists spend pretty much the entire day sitting at a desk verifying prescriptions and chatting with other people in the office. Breaks and lunches were flexible but you always got them and the day was 7-4pm, with no weekends. It was a great job for burnt out retail, whioch most of them were but honestly I found it mind numbing. That does not mean other pharmacists may not find enjoyment in this position, just not for me.