Corporate nonsense

[PushOvers]

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I understand pharmacy is a business but what I don't understand is how we let these corporate idiots control how we practice? We are the idiots, thats the only answer I can find. We quietly do whatever they tell us to do, like a bunch of cowards 😕

 

[omfgitslaura]

I work at CVS and I hate their policies. My pharmacist doesn't take it though, he gives the DM a piece of his mind.

 

[confettiflyer]

Gotta make shareholders happy. I don't care what you think, I want my stock to go up.

 

[Unchained]

Gotta make shareholders happy. I don't care what you think, I want my stock to go up.

It is much easier to say this when you don't work for CVS/Wags/RAD. I left that hell hole several years ago. I now work for a better company but I buy CVS stock. Bought shares back at 44. Good returns.

The chains of debt cause us to be yes men. Break those chains and maybe we can alter the way we are treated to some extent.

 

[pezdispenser]

I stopped caring about the ideal practice of pharmacy a long, long time ago. Now I just do my job, and if you take full advantage of the company stock plans, you will get financially rewarded so well, that maybe you will stop caring too.

My company lets us purchase $25k in stock at a 10% discount every year. They also used to give us 2 stock options for every 1 share purchased, which basically triples your gains. Pretty sweet when the stock price goes from $25 to $47. 🙂

 

[BMBiology]

I don't work for cvs but I do owe CVS stocks. They have been doing really well in the last year

 

[Farmercyst]

I work at CVS and I hate their policies. My pharmacist doesn't take it though, he gives the DM a piece of his mind.

I became PIC because of someone like your pharmacist (who lost his job over it.) I play the game and practice with some independence because of it. I take time to counsel my patients and the DM says as long as my WeCare #s are good PT/WT is a back burner issue. Now I get to prioritize my day without that hanging over my head.

 

[bob1234]

I work at CVS and I hate their policies. My pharmacist doesn't take it though, he gives the DM a piece of his mind.

Berating the DM is like telling off a police officer because you are not in agree with the law he is enforcing. The DM is just the muscle for the higher ups. The problem is being accountable to share holders who lose money if you are taking extra time to counsel patients instead of filling more prescriptions. If the company can cheat to make more money and get away with it (or if the fines for the cheat are less than what was procured) then the stock holders look the other way because the value of their assets is rising.

Retail is only going to put up with a "rebellious" pharmacist not meeting his metrics for so long. They can get a new grad to follow company directives with a smile all for less pay than the pharmacist who thought for him/herself and refused to put metrics ahead of patient care. It's dog eat dog and the chains win if pharmacists refuse to band together and say no to corporate metric policies.

 

[confettiflyer]

Berating the DM is like telling off a police officer because you are not in agree with the law he is enforcing. The DM is just the muscle for the higher ups. The problem is being accountable to share holders who lose money if you are taking extra time to counsel patients instead of filling more prescriptions. If the company can cheat to make more money and get away with it (or if the fines for the cheat are less than what was procured) then the stock holders look the other way because the value of their assets is rising.

Retail is only going to put up with a "rebellious" pharmacist not meeting his metrics for so long. They can get a new grad to follow company directives with a smile all for less pay than the pharmacist who thought for him/herself and refused to put metrics ahead of patient care. It's dog eat dog and the chains win if pharmacists refuse to band together and say no to corporate metric policies.

Yup.

 

[omfgitslaura]

I became PIC because of someone like your pharmacist (who lost his job over it.) I play the game and practice with some independence because of it. I take time to counsel my patients and the DM says as long as my WeCare #s are good PT/WT is a back burner issue. Now I get to prioritize my day without that hanging over my head.

My pharmacist is the PIC. Our store is a challenge store located in a pretty shady area so our customers aren't the best group of people (we have a lot of customers who abuse pain medications, forged prescriptions, etc). Anyway, he's turned the store around a lot from what it used to be but the DM (and I guess corporate) always want unrealistic numbers. We are understaffed 90% percent of the time because they don't give us enough hours and the majority of the customers don't even speak/understand English, so we have to spend a longer amount of time to translate to them. Don't know how they expect us to do everything they ask, when there is usually only 1 pharmacist and 2 techs at most at any given time. -_-

 

[omfgitslaura]

Berating the DM is like telling off a police officer because you are not in agree with the law he is enforcing. The DM is just the muscle for the higher ups. The problem is being accountable to share holders who lose money if you are taking extra time to counsel patients instead of filling more prescriptions. If the company can cheat to make more money and get away with it (or if the fines for the cheat are less than what was procured) then the stock holders look the other way because the value of their assets is rising.

Retail is only going to put up with a "rebellious" pharmacist not meeting his metrics for so long. They can get a new grad to follow company directives with a smile all for less pay than the pharmacist who thought for him/herself and refused to put metrics ahead of patient care. It's dog eat dog and the chains win if pharmacists refuse to band together and say no to corporate metric policies.

Our store has its fair share of new pharmacists (I've worked with 3 different ones already and I started working less than a year ago). They don't last long and usually transfer out because it's too stressful for them to handle, esp. being fresh out of school. I'd say it would be hard for the DM to find a willing pharmacist to take over as PIC and be in charge of such a hectic store.

 

[bob1234]

Our store has its fair share of new pharmacists (I've worked with 3 different ones already and I started working less than a year ago). They don't last long and usually transfer out because it's too stressful for them to handle, esp. being fresh out of school. I'd say it would be hard for the DM to find a willing pharmacist to take over as PIC and be in charge of such a hectic store.

Does any of this sound familiar? "it will be YOUR store", "this is a stepping stone to a regional supervisor position", "You will just be the pharmacy manager until we can find another pharmacist to step in. . . "

 

[zelman]

Does any of this sound familiar? "it will be YOUR store", "this is a stepping stone to a regional supervisor position", "You will just be the pharmacy manager until we can find another pharmacist to step in. . . "

When I asked to transfer to a different state last April:

Supervisor: "I just need you to stay a little longer until we can get a new manager."
Me: "No."
Spervisor: "It will be before August."
Me: "I don't want to leave the company, but my lease is ending and I am moving. This can be my 2 weeks notice if you decide not to transfer me."
Supervisor: "...fine"

Now it's 12 months later and I'm still technically the pharmacy manager of my old store.

p.s. That idiot screwed up my transfer and put me in a North Carolina store. I paid NC $334 in taxes, and then it cost me $82 to file my taxes there in order to recoup only $86.

 

[Farmercyst]

My pharmacist is the PIC. Our store is a challenge store located in a pretty shady area so our customers aren't the best group of people (we have a lot of customers who abuse pain medications, forged prescriptions, etc). Anyway, he's turned the store around a lot from what it used to be but the DM (and I guess corporate) always want unrealistic numbers. We are understaffed 90% percent of the time because they don't give us enough hours and the majority of the customers don't even speak/understand English, so we have to spend a longer amount of time to translate to them. Don't know how they expect us to do everything they ask, when there is usually only 1 pharmacist and 2 techs at most at any given time. -_-

How many rx/wk? I'm doing ~1500/wk with 1 rph x 10 hours and 3 techs m,t,th,f, 2 techs Sat 1.5 sun and 4 on weds for delivery day.

 

[omfgitslaura]

How many rx/wk? I'm doing ~1500/wk with 1 rph x 10 hours and 3 techs m,t,th,f, 2 techs Sat 1.5 sun and 4 on weds for delivery day.

We do about ~1300-1400/week. We only have 1 tech all day Saturday (used to have another morning person to do PCQ calls but not anymore) and 1 tech all day Sunday as well. Wednesday we have an extra tech for putting up truck. But keep in mind, majority of the patients when picking up can't even communicate their birthday or name correctly. What should be a simple transaction gets dragged out ten minutes because they have to call their relatives to translate/etc. Always makes me incredulous that people who are picking up for a family member does not know their birthdate. Its ridiculous and holds up the line because all I get is a name. Lemme tell you, I have a million "maria rodriguez" in my system.

 

[Farmercyst]

We do about ~1300-1400/week. We only have 1 tech all day Saturday (used to have another morning person to do PCQ calls but not anymore) and 1 tech all day Sunday as well. Wednesday we have an extra tech for putting up truck. But keep in mind, majority of the patients when picking up can't even communicate their birthday or name correctly. What should be a simple transaction gets dragged out ten minutes because they have to call their relatives to translate/etc. Always makes me incredulous that people who are picking up for a family member does not know their birthdate. Its ridiculous and holds up the line because all I get is a name. Lemme tell you, I have a million "maria rodriguez" in my system.

Makes me glad I took Spanish in HS and undergrad and had several encounters on rotation in Spanish. Calling the interpreting service is painful. We have a Chinese couple we have to use it for but most everyone else my Spanish is good enough for.

 

[Hello2000]

Those pharmacists who buy CVS stocks are just fuelling the race to the bottom for terms and conditions for the pharmacy profession in general. Any pharmacist worth their salt has no ethics at all if they purchase CVS shares. It's like buying shares in a company who employs slave labor and just endorses to CVS management that what they are doing is right.

 

[BenJammin]

How many rx/wk? I'm doing ~1500/wk with 1 rph x 10 hours and 3 techs m,t,th,f, 2 techs Sat 1.5 sun and 4 on weds for delivery day.

That's a good setup, hope you aren't complaining lol

 

[awval999]

Those pharmacists who buy CVS stocks are just fuelling the race to the bottom for terms and conditions for the pharmacy profession in general. Any pharmacist worth their salt has no ethics at all if they purchase CVS shares. It's like buying shares in a company who employs slave labor and just endorses to CVS management that what they are doing is right.

Oh please. Slave labor? Outrageous.

 

[Hello2000]

Oh please. Slave labor? Outrageous.

I really meant sweatshop style, unethical employment.

 

[awval999]

I really meant sweatshop style, unethical employment.

Yeah, I know you were just being descriptive 🙂

 

[Unchained]

Those pharmacists who buy CVS stocks are just fuelling the race to the bottom for terms and conditions for the pharmacy profession in general. Any pharmacist worth their salt has no ethics at all if they purchase CVS shares. It's like buying shares in a company who employs slave labor and just endorses to CVS management that what they are doing is right.

Has no ethics at all? A little dramatic. You would be hard pressed to find any major corporation to invest in that isn't involved in some sort of semi-criminal activity. I guess I could put my money under my bed or in the attic crawl space. If you can't beat them might as well make money off of them. Maybe I will take that money I make off of them and open my own pharmacy next to a CVS. Now wouldn't that be a nice pharmacy story.

 

[confettiflyer]

I should sell my GAP shares huh

If I kept up with every tom, dick, and harry hipster telling me to sell shares because of some inane morality issue, i'd end up with US treasuries only.

Actually no because the next hipster will tell me i'm supporting war by doing that.

:🙄:

 

[Hello2000]

I find it more than a tad hypocritical to slate a company for their working practices then go purchase shares in the company? But hey ho, if money is your god, why not?

 

[Unchained]

I find it more than a tad hypocritical to slate a company for their working practices then go purchase shares in the company? But hey ho, if money is your god, why not?

I'm not a ho. You're not going to change the world. You also have to choose your battles. Where would my 401k be right now if I chose not to invest over the last year in these evil companies. It would be 20% smaller and where does that get me? As I said earlier money breaks the debt chains that bind us. I don't worship money but do see it as a means to an end.

 

[BMBiology]

Lets be frank here, there are a lot of companies that are worse than CVS.

I am sure your 401 k owns a lot of these companies.

 

[rxlea]

Soon you'll only be able to use plastic scissors, plastic spatulas, and crayons so you can't hurt yourself.

I heard one store wanted to provide Stadium Pals to all their pharmacists because they were going through too many Depends and they want to cut costs.

 

[rxlea]

I really meant sweatshop style, unethical employment.

Yeah its totally harrowing lol

 

[Corpseman]

I think it is much closer to slavery than sweat shop conditions. The place I work for doesn't even let me go home at night, I just fill and fill and fill. I told them my hands hurt, so they put me on garbage detail. They take my paychecks from me and give them to some guy named FICA. I have to work all day in a cage where people walk by and laugh at me and taunt me with food.

It really is the worst conditions on the planet. Oh no, I have been caught playing on the internet! I never thought my life would end this way.......

 

[Digsbe]

It must be terrible to work in a climate controlled building making $50+ an hour and not having to work beyond 40 hours per week.

 

[Hello2000]

Ok sorry folks, I have just re-read my previous posts and I must apologise for everything I wrote.

I am now of the opinion that everything in pharmacy is awesome and I love going to work every day 🙂

 

[Old Timer]

I have never seen a collection of immature stupid whining babies with the perspective that makes a flea look like Einstein.


How long have any of you been in practice? 15 minutes? I have been doing this for 30 years, the last 12 for CVS. I will not stand here and blow smoke up your ass and tell you that CVS is pharmacy heaven. I will not tell you they are perfect and Larry Merlo walks on water.

What I can tell you is I worked for Independents for 18 years so let's compare.

Max 2 weeks vacation. Now I have three weeks coming up on four.
No stock options. No I have options that have netted me over 20K
No 401K or retirement plan. Now I have a 401K with a 5% match
No regular increases. Now I get annual increases.
No ESOP. Now I have an ESOP.
No short term disability Now I have short term disability
No life insurance now I have one X salary.

This is not exactly slave labor. And to top it off, I had a higher ******* quotient for bosses as an independent than I do working at CVS.

Unless you own your own place, you will always have a boss and bosses are a pain in the ass. I have more leeway now than I ever did with an independent.

So if you guys think you somehow had your freedom to practice real pharmacy taken away by the chains, you are failing one of the great maxims of life.

Better to say nothing and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

 

[Old Timer]

It must be terrible to work in a climate controlled building making $50+ an hour and not having to work beyond 40 hours per week.

You mean conditions are so bad that people coming over the border from Mexico refuse to be Pharmacists since it's inhuman to work 30 hours a week for $55/hr. Who in God's name would want to make 86K per year. Ask a cop or fireman who risk a certain amount of life or limb and start at around 40K.......

 

[Hello2000]

I have never seen a collection of immature stupid whining babies with the perspective that makes a flea look like Einstein.


How long have any of you been in practice? 15 minutes? I have been doing this for 30 years, the last 12 for CVS. I will not stand here and blow smoke up your ass and tell you that CVS is pharmacy heaven. I will not tell you they are perfect and Larry Merlo walks on water.

What I can tell you is I worked for Independents for 18 years so let's compare.

Max 2 weeks vacation. Now I have three weeks coming up on four.
No stock options. No I have options that have netted me over 20K
No 401K or retirement plan. Now I have a 401K with a 5% match
No regular increases. Now I get annual increases.
No ESOP. Now I have an ESOP.
No short term disability Now I have short term disability
No life insurance now I have one X salary.

This is not exactly slave labor. And to top it off, I had a higher ******* quotient for bosses as an independent than I do working at CVS.

Unless you own your own place, you will always have a boss and bosses are a pain in the ass. I have more leeway now than I ever did with an independent.

So if you guys think you somehow had your freedom to practice real pharmacy taken away by the chains, you are failing one of the great maxims of life.

Better to say nothing and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

I have been a pharmacist > 20 years. I have netted prob > $1.5m in that time, yet I still would not recommend pharmacy to a young person. The job itself sucks, the pressures to do stupid tasks instead of caring for patients sucks even bigger. The patient isn't a patient anymore, they are a walking cheque book and we have to extricate every last penny out of them we possibly can or else we get an interview with no coffee with the DM.

It has sucked the soul out of my body. I left to become an airline pilot but had an inner ear problem that only manifested itself at 37000ft so I was stuck with pharmacy.

Yes pharmacy has left me materially comfortable but spiritually dead. Good luck to all of you who pursue this pile of manure of a career.

 

[Old Timer]

I have been a pharmacist > 20 years. I have netted prob > $1.5m in that time, yet I still would not recommend pharmacy to a young person. The job itself sucks, the pressures to do stupid tasks instead of caring for patients sucks even bigger. The patient isn't a patient anymore, they are a walking cheque book and we have to extricate every last penny out of them we possibly can or else we get an interview with no coffee with the DM.

It has sucked the soul out of my body. I left to become an airline pilot but had an inner ear problem that only manifested itself at 37000ft so I was stuck with pharmacy.

Yes pharmacy has left me materially comfortable but spiritually dead. Good luck to all of you who pursue this pile of manure of a career.

You have an alternative. QUIT. stop performing stupid tasks and just quit. It's worth it to you to have your soul sucked out of your body?

The patient has always been a walking check book. Nothing has changed in that regard.

I don't deny it is harder now than it has ever been. But you can control a great deal of this, especially your reaction to it.

I suggest you pick up the following book and give it a good read,

Man's Search for Meaning,

Frankl concludes that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death. In a group therapy session during a mass fast inflicted on the camp's inmates trying to protect an anonymous fellow inmate from fatal retribution by authorities, Frankl offered the thought that for everyone in a dire condition there is someone looking down, a friend, family member, or even God, who would expect not to be disappointed. Frankl concludes from his experience that a prisoner's psychological reactions are not solely the result of the conditions of his life, but also from the freedom of choice he always has even in severe suffering. The inner hold a prisoner has on his spiritual self relies on having a hope in the future, and that once a prisoner loses that hope, he is doomed.

Wikipedia

It's just a job, man. Do the best you can and go home. If you are defined by your career than you are so lost there is nothing any of us here can do for you. If the first words of your obituary are going to be "Pharmacist", you already live a pretty meaningless life. Do the best you can, help as many patients as you can and call it a day.

An example of Frankl's idea of finding meaning in the midst of extreme suffering is found in his account of an experience he had while working in the harsh conditions of the Auschwitz concentration camp:

... We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road leading from the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor's arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his mouth behind his upturned collar, the man marching next to me whispered suddenly: "If our wives could see us now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and don't know what is happening to us."

That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth – that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way – an honorable way – in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory....

You really need to get some perspective on life. This guy survived Auschwitz and I think even you would agree that modern American Retail Pharmacy is tad less brutal than that,