cvs / script sales

[sosoo]

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http://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/5-most-lucrative-retail-pharmacies-in-rx-revenues

as expected, script sales count for 70% of the cvs health business. yet, the entire district is full of "challenged" stores and severely understaffed, and they have no desire to provide better customer service. i don't expect them to value their customers or provide a valued service. but honestly if the pharmacy is a big bulk of your business, why not put more effort into running it? who's the idiot running this company? it makes no business sense.

 

[doublehh03]

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/5-most-lucrative-retail-pharmacies-in-rx-revenues

as expected, script sales count for 70% of the cvs health business. yet, the entire district is full of "challenged" stores and severely understaffed, and they have no desire to provide better customer service. i don't expect them to value their customers or provide a valued service. but honestly if the pharmacy is a big bulk of your business, why not put more effort into running it? who's the idiot running this company? it makes no business sense.

A pharmacist actually lol.

 

[Sine Cura]

Just verify scripts in 10 seconds or less. Then you should have better WeCare scores and enough time to do whatever you need /s

 

[BMBiology]

CVS has to cut pharmacy staff to make up for the loss in tobacco sell.

 

[NateRobinson]

NOBODY is cutting tech help. You have to be a full on asinine ****** to think that a company would risk everything they have by cutting tech help in their pharmacies that make $$$ for them. There's no reason for CVS corporate to do that. Having less tech help creates errors which may result in lawsuits which may result in millions in losses.

Whenever spoiled, baby, coddled pharmacists are told to schedule to demand and not go ape**** scheduling 40 hours over budget every week, they start crying on websites and on forums and talking nonsense like "CVS CUTS TECH HELP TO MAKE UP FOR TOBACCO LOSS." That couldn't be further from the truth. Every store has exactly the right amount of tech help that they need in order to do what they do. Do you have so much tech help that the pharmacist can just stand in a corner all day, not move, play candy crush, make personal phone calls and take a 30 minute lunch? No. Do you have enough tech help so that you can do what you need to do, take a 10-15 minute lunch break, and actually move around? Yes. Does CVS expect you to verify scripts in 10 seconds or less like SIne Cura says? No. You have 15 minutes to verify a ZPAK, a flonase, etc. I verify FLONASE scripts in 30 seconds. CVS gives me 15 minutes. How someone can actually think that that is not enough time is BEYOND me. I personally take in a prescription for a cream, flonase, zpak, whatever, do the production on it , verify it, and hand it to my tech to ring the customer out all in 5 minutes max, if that. Learn to be efficient.

If you think you don't have enough tech hours, there's either 1 of 3 things going. I've said it before, I'll say it again, until guys like BMBiology who talk out of their asses understand.

1. There's a technical problem with mySchedule for your store that has to be corrected (very, very, very low chance of this actually being true.)

2. You have pharmacy technicians who move like snails, who are incompetent, who create more work for you to do indirectly because they are very inefficient

3. You have pharmacists who spend long periods of time verifying Zpaks, don't like to move around, just stand in corners and bull**** all day.

I've worked in 30 stores in my CVS career. Since myschedule came out, I've been a PIC in 3. MySchedule gives you the demand you need to run your business. You just have to move. You can't stand around all day. Move. Do production. Help with QT. Make doctor calls WHILE verifying. Learn to be efficient, Learn to multitask, learn to be better at your job.

And before anyone says this is exactly what corporate wants, pharmacists who multitask and are efficient, keep in mind that mySchedule wasn't made using demand with very efficient pharmacists in mind. It was made with demand that accounts for employees who are slow. My staff and I are amazing, we are very, very efficient, and we have alot of downtime. We schedule to demand, and we have periods of time where we stand around looking at each other, talking, BSING. It works. Just learn to move, move, move. I don't know how else to explain it.

 

[Son_Goku]

NOBODY is cutting tech help. You have to be a full on asinine ****** to think that a company would risk everything they have by cutting tech help in their pharmacies that make $$$ for them. There's no reason for CVS corporate to do that. Having less tech help creates errors which may result in lawsuits which may result in millions in losses.

Whenever spoiled, baby, coddled pharmacists are told to schedule to demand and not go ape**** scheduling 40 hours over budget every week, they start crying on websites and on forums and talking nonsense like "CVS CUTS TECH HELP TO MAKE UP FOR TOBACCO LOSS." That couldn't be further from the truth. Every store has exactly the right amount of tech help that they need in order to do what they do. Do you have so much tech help that the pharmacist can just stand in a corner all day, not move, play candy crush, make personal phone calls and take a 30 minute lunch? No. Do you have enough tech help so that you can do what you need to do, take a 10-15 minute lunch break, and actually move around? Yes. Does CVS expect you to verify scripts in 10 seconds or less like SIne Cura says? No. You have 15 minutes to verify a ZPAK, a flonase, etc. I verify FLONASE scripts in 30 seconds. CVS gives me 15 minutes. How someone can actually think that that is not enough time is BEYOND me. I personally take in a prescription for a cream, flonase, zpak, whatever, do the production on it , verify it, and hand it to my tech to ring the customer out all in 5 minutes max, if that. Learn to be efficient.

If you think you don't have enough tech hours, there's either 1 of 3 things going. I've said it before, I'll say it again, until guys like BMBiology who talk out of their asses understand.

1. There's a technical problem with mySchedule for your store that has to be corrected (very, very, very low chance of this actually being true.)

2. You have pharmacy technicians who move like snails, who are incompetent, who create more work for you to do indirectly because they are very inefficient

3. You have pharmacists who spend long periods of time verifying Zpaks, don't like to move around, just stand in corners and bull**** all day.

I've worked in 30 stores in my CVS career. Since myschedule came out, I've been a PIC in 3. MySchedule gives you the demand you need to run your business. You just have to move. You can't stand around all day. Move. Do production. Help with QT. Make doctor calls WHILE verifying. Learn to be efficient, Learn to multitask, learn to be better at your job.

And before anyone says this is exactly what corporate wants, pharmacists who multitask and are efficient, keep in mind that mySchedule wasn't made using demand with very efficient pharmacists in mind. It was made with demand that accounts for employees who are slow. My staff and I are amazing, we are very, very efficient, and we have alot of downtime. We schedule to demand, and we have periods of time where we stand around looking at each other, talking, BSING. It works. Just learn to move, move, move. I don't know how else to explain it.

How much is CVS paying you to spew all of this nonsense?

 

[NateRobinson]

Why is it nonsense? Engage me in proper debate. Don't make things up, don't lie and say because CVS makes us verify scripts in 10 seconds, because that's a blatant lie.

CVS could pay me $10 an hour and I would still say what I'm saying, because it's the truth. The truth is hard for a lot of people to deal with. But don't attack me because I don't complain and cry about how unfair the world is.

 

[BMBiology]

Did I just hit a nerve? I don't need to work for CVS to know their culture and to know how crappy they treat their employees. People just don't leave a good company that treats their employees fairly.

Why haven't you moved up yet? Why are you still working in the store? A guy like yourself who has done so much and who believes everything CVS tells him should be working at the corporate level by now.

You don't have the political skill to move up. They are playing you like a fool and laughing behind your back. That is why you are stuck there. Sooner or later, like other fools, you will realize you have given so much to this company and got nothing to show for it.

 

[NateRobinson]

Did I just hit a nerve?

Why haven't you moved up yet? Why are you still working in the store? A guy like yourself who has done so much and who believes everything CVS tells him should be working at the corporate level by now.

You don't have the political skill to move up. They are playing you like a fool and laughing behind your back. That is why you are stuck there. Sooner or later, like other fools, you will realize you have given so much to this company and got nothing to show for it.

I don't want to move up just yet. If I do, I'll make the same salary, and will have to work 5-7 days a week. Right now I'm 3 on, 4 off and then 4 on, 3 off. I enjoy having 4 days off every other week and making bank. I'll move up eventually, hopefully, but not now. I'm still in my 30's and fairly young.

Who's "they?" You say "they" are playing me like a fool. IS "they" larry merlo? Is it my SUP? is it my RM? mY DM? I doubt its any of the latter 3 since they've been asking me to move up for quite some time. I enjoy patient care however and I think I would miss it if I move up just now. I have a lot of regulars and enjoy talking to them and have them look up to me.

 

[BMBiology]

I don't want to move up just yet. If I do, I'll make the same salary, and will have to work 5-7 days a week. Right now I'm 3 on, 4 off and then 4 on, 3 off. I enjoy having 4 days off every other week and making bank. I'll move up eventually, hopefully, but not now. I'm still in my 30's and fairly young.

Who's "they?" You say "they" are playing me like a fool. IS "they" larry merlo? Is it my SUP? is it my RM? mY DM? I doubt its any of the latter 3 since they've been asking me to move up for quite some time. I enjoy patient care however and I think I would miss it if I move up just now. I have a lot of regulars and enjoy talking to them and have them look up to me.

You don't want to move up right now? Give me a break. You complained about how everything is political with CVS and now you are bashing others for complaining?

What are you waiting for? You are already way behind a lot of people. Most of us didn't graduate from pharmacy school in our 30s. So don't think you are a "better" pharmacist. You are just another lost soul.

 

[NateRobinson]

You can say what you want, but you don't know me and you don't know how I think. I just told you, I don't want to work 5-7 days a week right now. My kids are young. I love being off 4 days a week every other week, I love picking them up from school, I love being Dad. If I was an RXSUP, I would be at work from 8 to 5 every weekday, and I would be on my laptop every ****ing day answering emails and harassing stores. That's not for me right now.

When my Kids are in high school 6 years from now, I won't mind doing that. I've already told my region manager this and he understands. It'll probably happen one day, but for now I'm perfectly content where I am.

The reason why I'm pro CVS is because I think complaining is bad for your soul. Stop complaining so much, see the positives in every situation. Is CVS perfect? No. They do some things wrong. If you really want me to say a negative, i will. I think its asinine how corproate is going bat**** insane about flu shots right now in August, when it's 80 degrees here in NJ every day. That doesn't make any sense to me.

But when it comes to demand and tech hours, you're wrong. And that's it.

 

[wagrxm2000]

NOBODY is cutting tech help. You have to be a full on asinine ****** to think that a company would risk everything they have by cutting tech help in their pharmacies that make $$$ for them. There's no reason for CVS corporate to do that. Having less tech help creates errors which may result in lawsuits which may result in millions in losses.

Whenever spoiled, baby, coddled pharmacists are told to schedule to demand and not go ape**** scheduling 40 hours over budget every week, they start crying on websites and on forums and talking nonsense like "CVS CUTS TECH HELP TO MAKE UP FOR TOBACCO LOSS." That couldn't be further from the truth. Every store has exactly the right amount of tech help that they need in order to do what they do. Do you have so much tech help that the pharmacist can just stand in a corner all day, not move, play candy crush, make personal phone calls and take a 30 minute lunch? No. Do you have enough tech help so that you can do what you need to do, take a 10-15 minute lunch break, and actually move around? Yes. Does CVS expect you to verify scripts in 10 seconds or less like SIne Cura says? No. You have 15 minutes to verify a ZPAK, a flonase, etc. I verify FLONASE scripts in 30 seconds. CVS gives me 15 minutes. How someone can actually think that that is not enough time is BEYOND me. I personally take in a prescription for a cream, flonase, zpak, whatever, do the production on it , verify it, and hand it to my tech to ring the customer out all in 5 minutes max, if that. Learn to be efficient.

If you think you don't have enough tech hours, there's either 1 of 3 things going. I've said it before, I'll say it again, until guys like BMBiology who talk out of their asses understand.

1. There's a technical problem with mySchedule for your store that has to be corrected (very, very, very low chance of this actually being true.)

2. You have pharmacy technicians who move like snails, who are incompetent, who create more work for you to do indirectly because they are very inefficient

3. You have pharmacists who spend long periods of time verifying Zpaks, don't like to move around, just stand in corners and bull**** all day.

I've worked in 30 stores in my CVS career. Since myschedule came out, I've been a PIC in 3. MySchedule gives you the demand you need to run your business. You just have to move. You can't stand around all day. Move. Do production. Help with QT. Make doctor calls WHILE verifying. Learn to be efficient, Learn to multitask, learn to be better at your job.

And before anyone says this is exactly what corporate wants, pharmacists who multitask and are efficient, keep in mind that mySchedule wasn't made using demand with very efficient pharmacists in mind. It was made with demand that accounts for employees who are slow. My staff and I are amazing, we are very, very efficient, and we have alot of downtime. We schedule to demand, and we have periods of time where we stand around looking at each other, talking, BSING. It works. Just learn to move, move, move. I don't know how else to explain it.

While I don't work for cvs I agree with everything here. Everyone complains but why is it my store runs smoothly and I have plenty of time to take care of my patients, sit down to eat and manage my pharmacy? My store doesn't get more hours then others, its all about using your time efficiently.

 

[BMBiology]

Man, when are you going to stop living a lie? Look at you...you didn't even want to work as a pharmacist. So don't tell people they shouldn't complain. You certainly did.

I just finished P3 and am going into fourth year of pharmacy school next year but I already decided I don't just want to be a pharmacist. I've heard a lot of things about pharmacist-lawyers making a lot of money, and I was thinking of going to st johns in queens (I go to LIU right now) so what are your opinions on the matter? Is it worth it, do you make more money? Or would you guys reccomend going to medical school right after?

 

[NateRobinson]

I don't see anything wrong with what I said. It's very well documented that If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't be an RPH. I would do law or go to medical school.

But alas, I'm stuck now, I have a pharmD. I have to do pharmacy now.

I don't think you quite understand what a lie is. Maybe that's why you're banned now.

 

[owlegrad]

He's not banned, he just likes to pretend for some reason.

You can look at your blue sheets, I would give strong odds that you are being given less hours this year than last year. Are you doing less scripts than last year? Is the system more effecient than last year? No. It's always do more with less help. It gets old.

I am glad you are the fastest pharmacist on earth with the best staff on earth. Really. Not everyone can be as good as you or have a staff as good as yours.

Also how are you getting away with not splitting shifts? I really missed my 3-4 weeks when they took that away.

 

[NateRobinson]

24 hour stores are the key to happiness 🙂

 

[M0df]

Not sure what a proper debate is. You are either an outlier or delusional. I agree in positive thinking but you are trying to convince good number of people who also have first hand experience of current situation. I would say that with your level of energy, efficiency, and conviction, you can be rewarded more elsewhere.

 

[owlegrad]

Here even 24 hour stores have to split the day shifts (not the overnight shifts).

 

[Sine Cura]

Does CVS expect you to verify scripts in 10 seconds or less like SIne Cura says? No. You have 15 minutes to verify a ZPAK, a flonase, etc. I verify FLONASE scripts in 30 seconds. CVS gives me 15 minutes. How someone can actually think that that is not enough time is BEYOND me. I personally take in a prescription for a cream, flonase, zpak, whatever, do the production on it , verify it, and hand it to my tech to ring the customer out all in 5 minutes max, if that. Learn to be efficient.

My Rx sup literally said, "if you're taking more than 10 seconds to verify you're too slow" to a pharmacist new to CVS (who previously worked at another chain) who was struggling to get scripts out the door (this store is last in WeCare in my district) within earshot of other RxM at one of our uncompensated monthly meetings. Also you sound like an ignorant patient oblivious to all the potential landmines that can blow up leading to a delay in a waiter script being processed. Personally I would get my own scripts filled at Kroger or Walmart since there is more of an emphasis on safety there.

While I'm not really anti or pro CVS (just my store is not good demographically although there isn't outright criminality), some things I would have liked to see are: 1) my store made a "transient" store or even set different KPM targets like what's done for MCE. Doesn't make sense for techs to make 5-6 calls on AO and get dinged just because of demographics; 2) provide visibility to workflow metrics that really matter like INPUT ACCURACY so I can fire ****ty techs easier even after I told them a million times to enter prescriber by DEA number or check written date; 3) more pharmacist overlap so I can actually do manager **** and not be stuck doing distribution for 12-13 hours a day; 4) didn't they just give RxM access to StarSource now? Hmm, who would know more about hiring for the pharmacy, some ****face fat**** store manager or the guy who is held accountable for regulatory compliance and the performance of the pharmacy.

 

[RX2090]

I'm so glad they gave RXM's access to star source now. You're right, that was complete idiocy on their part not having them do that beforehand.

Although, I DID hear that the reason they had the SM do it all this time was because Store operations wanted the pharmacy manager to simply focus on the pharmacy and nothing else. They figured they could make the store manager hire the techs and do the dirty work so that the PM could just focus on scripts and service. Good intentions, but didn't work out so well

 

[pillpharmer14]

NOBODY is cutting tech help. You have to be a full on asinine ****** to think that a company would risk everything they have by cutting tech help in their pharmacies that make $$$ for them. There's no reason for CVS corporate to do that. Having less tech help creates errors which may result in lawsuits which may result in millions in losses.

Whenever spoiled, baby, coddled pharmacists are told to schedule to demand and not go ape**** scheduling 40 hours over budget every week, they start crying on websites and on forums and talking nonsense like "CVS CUTS TECH HELP TO MAKE UP FOR TOBACCO LOSS." That couldn't be further from the truth. Every store has exactly the right amount of tech help that they need in order to do what they do. Do you have so much tech help that the pharmacist can just stand in a corner all day, not move, play candy crush, make personal phone calls and take a 30 minute lunch? No. Do you have enough tech help so that you can do what you need to do, take a 10-15 minute lunch break, and actually move around? Yes. Does CVS expect you to verify scripts in 10 seconds or less like SIne Cura says? No. You have 15 minutes to verify a ZPAK, a flonase, etc. I verify FLONASE scripts in 30 seconds. CVS gives me 15 minutes. How someone can actually think that that is not enough time is BEYOND me. I personally take in a prescription for a cream, flonase, zpak, whatever, do the production on it , verify it, and hand it to my tech to ring the customer out all in 5 minutes max, if that. Learn to be efficient.

If you think you don't have enough tech hours, there's either 1 of 3 things going. I've said it before, I'll say it again, until guys like BMBiology who talk out of their asses understand.

1. There's a technical problem with mySchedule for your store that has to be corrected (very, very, very low chance of this actually being true.)

2. You have pharmacy technicians who move like snails, who are incompetent, who create more work for you to do indirectly because they are very inefficient

3. You have pharmacists who spend long periods of time verifying Zpaks, don't like to move around, just stand in corners and bull**** all day.

I've worked in 30 stores in my CVS career. Since myschedule came out, I've been a PIC in 3. MySchedule gives you the demand you need to run your business. You just have to move. You can't stand around all day. Move. Do production. Help with QT. Make doctor calls WHILE verifying. Learn to be efficient, Learn to multitask, learn to be better at your job.

And before anyone says this is exactly what corporate wants, pharmacists who multitask and are efficient, keep in mind that mySchedule wasn't made using demand with very efficient pharmacists in mind. It was made with demand that accounts for employees who are slow. My staff and I are amazing, we are very, very efficient, and we have alot of downtime. We schedule to demand, and we have periods of time where we stand around looking at each other, talking, BSING. It works. Just learn to move, move, move. I don't know how else to explain it.

I realize it's just piling on at this point but hey, I've got time.

Where are these pharmacists who stand in the corner and play candy crush that you keep talking about? Calling people lazy seems to be to your go to defense mechanism but we've already been there. This forum is full of current and former CVS pharmacists who have performed at the top of the districts. We aren't the "candy crushers", so stop with that nonsense. And my God, 30 stores? haha dude that's just CVS knowing they can play you and you're too loyal to leave. As a shareholder, I appreciate your dedication.

In response to this thread, there is a reason CVS came in 12th on the fortune 500 list. I may not have liked working for CVS, but I never thought I knew more about MAKING MONEY than they did. CVS's strategies are genius in regards to driving profits. From splitting pharmacist shifts to dialing back tech hours to "optimize", it all makes them more and more profitable. Reimbursement rates are declining, what do you expect Larry to do in order to keep his company soaring higher?

 

[wagrxm2000]

Why can't anti-retail people tell the truth instead of complain and say they expect too much? It's either the pharmacist or techs or both that cause a store to be a mess not the expectations.

 

[owlegrad]

Also you sound like an ignorant patient oblivious to all the potential landmines that can blow up leading to a delay in a waiter script being processed.

I thought the same thing. No, you do not have 15 minutes to verify a zpak. First of all if you follow WeCare to the letter, one waiter gets 10 minutes. So that cuts the time by 1/3. But the real kicker is what everyone here already knows. You have 10 minutes to verify that zpak plus do everything else that needs to get done before it goes red not to mention taking care of everyone at the counter, drive thru, and phones. It's not like everything stops while you get that zpak done.

Also if you are following WeCare work flow, the pharmacist will basically never be the one typing in that script. The only time the pharmacist is DropOff 1 is when there are no techs at all. I am willing to bet that when Nate types the script he skips data review when verifying in the name of "not standing around playing candy crush".

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

Nate,

Do you really expect anyone to believe your RM is begging you to be a supervisor and you turn them down because you like your schedule better?

And the pay for a Sup is not the same. The salary, bonus, and stock options are all significantly higher.

 

[HouTX]

not everybody can work at a 24 hr store which provides enough tech hours for every station to be manned. the reality for your CVS colleagues is that they don't have enough help so they are running around working multiple workstations including cash register. Great you can multitask while verifying because you can stand in one spot. try QVing in one spot when you only have one tech and there's a line at drop off, pick up, and drive thru. how often does that happen? every f--king day. yes, there are some lazy pharmacists out there but the majority is busting their balls

 

[Ackj]

If you're given 10-15 minutes to verify a script, that means you're filling sub-100 rx per day. I know that isn't the case, especially if you're a 24 hour store. If you're doing a 12 hour day, 400 rx, that's less than 2 minutes per rx. Plus all of the other things that go with it, phones, clarifications, questions, counseling, shots, etc.

 

[doublehh03]

I notice the stores that do the best at WeCare are the stores that do not get a lot of e-scripts. With more in person drop off, you can generate your own wait ti

NOBODY is cutting tech help. You have to be a full on asinine ****** to think that a company would risk everything they have by cutting tech help in their pharmacies that make $$$ for them. There's no reason for CVS corporate to do that. Having less tech help creates errors which may result in lawsuits which may result in millions in losses.

Whenever spoiled, baby, coddled pharmacists are told to schedule to demand and not go ape**** scheduling 40 hours over budget every week, they start crying on websites and on forums and talking nonsense like "CVS CUTS TECH HELP TO MAKE UP FOR TOBACCO LOSS." That couldn't be further from the truth. Every store has exactly the right amount of tech help that they need in order to do what they do. Do you have so much tech help that the pharmacist can just stand in a corner all day, not move, play candy crush, make personal phone calls and take a 30 minute lunch? No. Do you have enough tech help so that you can do what you need to do, take a 10-15 minute lunch break, and actually move around? Yes. Does CVS expect you to verify scripts in 10 seconds or less like SIne Cura says? No. You have 15 minutes to verify a ZPAK, a flonase, etc. I verify FLONASE scripts in 30 seconds. CVS gives me 15 minutes. How someone can actually think that that is not enough time is BEYOND me. I personally take in a prescription for a cream, flonase, zpak, whatever, do the production on it , verify it, and hand it to my tech to ring the customer out all in 5 minutes max, if that. Learn to be efficient.

If you think you don't have enough tech hours, there's either 1 of 3 things going. I've said it before, I'll say it again, until guys like BMBiology who talk out of their asses understand.

1. There's a technical problem with mySchedule for your store that has to be corrected (very, very, very low chance of this actually being true.)

2. You have pharmacy technicians who move like snails, who are incompetent, who create more work for you to do indirectly because they are very inefficient

3. You have pharmacists who spend long periods of time verifying Zpaks, don't like to move around, just stand in corners and bull**** all day.

I've worked in 30 stores in my CVS career. Since myschedule came out, I've been a PIC in 3. MySchedule gives you the demand you need to run your business. You just have to move. You can't stand around all day. Move. Do production. Help with QT. Make doctor calls WHILE verifying. Learn to be efficient, Learn to multitask, learn to be better at your job.

And before anyone says this is exactly what corporate wants, pharmacists who multitask and are efficient, keep in mind that mySchedule wasn't made using demand with very efficient pharmacists in mind. It was made with demand that accounts for employees who are slow. My staff and I are amazing, we are very, very efficient, and we have alot of downtime. We schedule to demand, and we have periods of time where we stand around looking at each other, talking, BSING. It works. Just learn to move, move, move. I don't know how else to explain it.

You are so delusional. CVS has its pros, but cutting hours IS something they are doing.

 

[doublehh03]

Nate,

Do you really expect anyone to believe your RM is begging you to be a supervisor and you turn them down because you like your schedule better?

And the pay for a Sup is not the same. The salary, bonus, and stock options are all significantly higher.

No, the pay actually can be less (since sups are salaried, and RXM can have a higher base salary if you have a high hourly wage like above $75/hr) . But obviously bonus and stock options are where it's at.

So if you're a RXM with a good hourly wage, no point in being a sup at all.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

No, the pay actually can be less (since sups are salaried, and RXM can have a higher base salary if you have a high hourly wage like above $75/hr) . But obviously bonus and stock options are where it's at.

So if you're a RXM with a good hourly wage, no point in being a sup at all.

That would be top of the salary range in an "A" market and also red circle (no raise) for a PIC. It is bottom of the range for a Sup.

 

[doublehh03]

That would be top of the salary range in an "A" market and also red circle (no raise) for a PIC. It is bottom of the range for a Sup.

Sups are salaried. They're not hourly wages. Most sups base salary are around $150k (or even less).

Where sups (and DMs and other field managers) make their money is on bonus (hence they drive metrics and payroll) and stock options, and obviously other perks.

 

[BMBiology]

Nate,

Do you really expect anyone to believe your RM is begging you to be a supervisor and you turn them down because you like your schedule better?

And the pay for a Sup is not the same. The salary, bonus, and stock options are all significantly higher.

You can tell from his posts he is money hungry. Nothing is wrong with that but I doubt he would turn down that kind of money because of his schedule.

With CVS, either you move up fast or you don't. They identify them early and move them up within 2 years to a top regional position (supervisor, vp). The fact that this guy has not moved up yet tells me there is something wrong with him that upper management does not like. Maybe he doesn't have the political skill. Maybe he is just a good work horse. Maybe he had rubbed them the wrong way.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

I can't fault Nate for his attitude- he's exactly the type of pharmacist the company wants, and if he's content with that who am I to judge?

 

[ancienbon]

I think nate is a not real. Must be a troll

 

[CUpharmD2013]

The store I left behind recently got a 100 on We Care and is over 90 on a weekly basis. They also get 85% optimization on My Schedule. Yet they got a 1.7 on SOS last month despite a 5 on Community Responsibly. This is because the store is in a low income area where no one picks up their medications. So apparently it's about more than We Care and My Schedule. I finally realized the metrics were unobtainable and was able to get out before it killed me.

 

[StallionRx]

What do you think the average bonus is for a supervisor considering the difficulty of actually reaching goals on certain metrics?

 

[wickedone]

Did I just hit a nerve? I don't need to work for CVS to know their culture and to know how crappy they treat their employees. People just don't leave a good company that treats their employees fairly.

Why haven't you moved up yet? Why are you still working in the store? A guy like yourself who has done so much and who believes everything CVS tells him should be working at the corporate level by now.

You don't have the political skill to move up. They are playing you like a fool and laughing behind your back. That is why you are stuck there. Sooner or later, like other fools, you will realize you have given so much to this company and got nothing to show for it.

Yeah this guy is dead on. You are speaking to lifer pharmacist who saw the future pass by him. I remember going out to dinner with a CVS exec and they ordered expensive wine. Thats when you realize its about the money. CVS is extremely profitable and can easily put money back into stores however you pharmacists need your jobs and they understand the more desperate you are the more you will do.

CVS/WAG/WMT all retail is the same. Our profession is a joke.

 

[pillpharmer14]

Some great points in this thread. Whether intentional or not, CVS has struck gold with the pharmacist surplus. As several people have pointed out, the surplus of pharmacists combined with the heavy loan burden allows them to treat their employees like garbage with limited repercussion. We simply need the jobs too bad...

 

[kittenlover]

Well thats interesting, because in the last 2 years my store has gained about 800 scripts a week and we have lost 80 tech hours. But i guess that couldn't possibly be true, so I'm a liar.

NOBODY is cutting tech help. You have to be a full on asinine ****** to think that a company would risk everything they have by cutting tech help in their pharmacies that make $$$ for them. There's no reason for CVS corporate to do that. Having less tech help creates errors which may result in lawsuits which may result in millions in losses.

Whenever spoiled, baby, coddled pharmacists are told to schedule to demand and not go ape**** scheduling 40 hours over budget every week, they start crying on websites and on forums and talking nonsense like "CVS CUTS TECH HELP TO MAKE UP FOR TOBACCO LOSS." That couldn't be further from the truth. Every store has exactly the right amount of tech help that they need in order to do what they do. Do you have so much tech help that the pharmacist can just stand in a corner all day, not move, play candy crush, make personal phone calls and take a 30 minute lunch? No. Do you have enough tech help so that you can do what you need to do, take a 10-15 minute lunch break, and actually move around? Yes. Does CVS expect you to verify scripts in 10 seconds or less like SIne Cura says? No. You have 15 minutes to verify a ZPAK, a flonase, etc. I verify FLONASE scripts in 30 seconds. CVS gives me 15 minutes. How someone can actually think that that is not enough time is BEYOND me. I personally take in a prescription for a cream, flonase, zpak, whatever, do the production on it , verify it, and hand it to my tech to ring the customer out all in 5 minutes max, if that. Learn to be efficient.

If you think you don't have enough tech hours, there's either 1 of 3 things going. I've said it before, I'll say it again, until guys like BMBiology who talk out of their asses understand.

1. There's a technical problem with mySchedule for your store that has to be corrected (very, very, very low chance of this actually being true.)

2. You have pharmacy technicians who move like snails, who are incompetent, who create more work for you to do indirectly because they are very inefficient

3. You have pharmacists who spend long periods of time verifying Zpaks, don't like to move around, just stand in corners and bull**** all day.

I've worked in 30 stores in my CVS career. Since myschedule came out, I've been a PIC in 3. MySchedule gives you the demand you need to run your business. You just have to move. You can't stand around all day. Move. Do production. Help with QT. Make doctor calls WHILE verifying. Learn to be efficient, Learn to multitask, learn to be better at your job.

And before anyone says this is exactly what corporate wants, pharmacists who multitask and are efficient, keep in mind that mySchedule wasn't made using demand with very efficient pharmacists in mind. It was made with demand that accounts for employees who are slow. My staff and I are amazing, we are very, very efficient, and we have alot of downtime. We schedule to demand, and we have periods of time where we stand around looking at each other, talking, BSING. It works. Just learn to move, move, move. I don't know how else to explain it.

 

[Dr Wario]

Well thats interesting, because in the last 2 years my store has gained about 800 scripts a week and we have lost 80 tech hours. But i guess that couldn't possibly be true, so I'm a liar.

With the amazing new advancements of Wecare and MySchedule, you can now optimize your workflow and use of tech hours so that it will make it seem as if you have even more help than before!

/sarcasm

 

[Dr Wario]

That would be top of the salary range in an "A" market and also red circle (no raise) for a PIC. It is bottom of the range for a Sup.

It is the bottom of the range for a salaried sup working 40 hours per week...how often does that actually happen? I believe I remember you before saying that you work 50 hours in the office and 10-15 hours per week from home, so what exactly is your true hourly rate? Also, the way I have seen targets going up and up, those coveted bonuses are drying up quite fast for the middle managers (most sups and DMs in my region have had sub 15k bonuses and quite small raises in the last 4-5 years).

The only real benefit I see in being a sup or DM is if you plan (and can) to be promoted to region or area VP where your salary on a per hour basis actually starts to be greater than a typical pharmacist. Really though, by the time anyone actually gets to that level, they could have used their skills for their own side-business and made quite a bit more.

 

[StallionRx]

It is the bottom of the range for a salaried sup working 40 hours per week...how often does that actually happen? I believe I remember you before saying that you work 50 hours in the office and 10-15 hours per week from home, so what exactly is your true hourly rate? Also, the way I have seen targets going up and up, those coveted bonuses are drying up quite fast for the middle managers (most sups and DMs in my region have had sub 15k bonuses and quite small raises in the last 4-5 years).

The only real benefit I see in being a sup or DM is if you plan (and can) to be promoted to region or area VP where your salary on a per hour basis actually starts to be greater than a typical pharmacist. Really though, by the time anyone actually gets to that level, they could have used their skills for their own side-business and made quite a bit more.

I have also heard the same in regards to bonuses. I know of one DM who said he doesnt expect a bonus this year due to metric targets.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

It is the bottom of the range for a salaried sup working 40 hours per week...how often does that actually happen? I believe I remember you before saying that you work 50 hours in the office and 10-15 hours per week from home, so what exactly is your true hourly rate? Also, the way I have seen targets going up and up, those coveted bonuses are drying up quite fast for the middle managers (most sups and DMs in my region have had sub 15k bonuses and quite small raises in the last 4-5 years).

The only real benefit I see in being a sup or DM is if you plan (and can) to be promoted to region or area VP where your salary on a per hour basis actually starts to be greater than a typical pharmacist. Really though, by the time anyone actually gets to that level, they could have used their skills for their own side-business and made quite a bit more.

My job is nothing like a field supervisor. If I was still in retail I would want to be a supervisor. They will tell you they work 60 hours a week and get paid less than you but it's BS. I never saw corporate bonuses pay out less than 70%. My second choice would be overnight pharmacist, followed by staff, then PIC.

 

[sosoo]

i been a night shift at a 24 hr store for past 2 years. whether i work 12 hours or 10 hours, i never had time for 30 mins break. some days its so bad that when i leave at 7 am in the morning, there are scripts in red from previous day! yes, we have a lot of inexperienced techs. and yes we have 1 uber slow pharmacist. when i float at other 24 hr stores in the district, they're a lot better. though i heard extraordinary tales that the PIC stay after hours, and come in on her days off. .... CVS is modern day slavery.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

I can confirm that total compensation for supervisors is significantly higher than pharmacy managers. As a pharmacy manager, I make ~160k salary but my sup. definitely makes a lot more.

About MySchedule, CVS definitely drop the ball on this one. I still have not met anyone from corporate who believes this tool works unless they are complete ditz who were hired externally... I can honestly say that my supervisor and the supervisors who I am friends with or used to work for feels the as we do and gets the same pressure. While CVS continues to do a lot of sales, profit wise, margin reimbursement as independents will tell you, is getting lower and lower. And it is because of this that payroll pressure will continue.

The money is in the PBM and Specialty drugs now which they took away from us. If we are left filling amoxicillin and aspirins, there is not much profit to go around after factoring in expenses.

There still continues to be a lot of positives about CVS including compensation, job stability, benefits, great colleagues to work with, etc. Most of my classmates are still working for CVS 6-7 years out. I can not say the same for Duane Reade, Walgreens, or Rite Aid.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

It is the bottom of the range for a salaried sup working 40 hours per week...how often does that actually happen? I believe I remember you before saying that you work 50 hours in the office and 10-15 hours per week from home, so what exactly is your true hourly rate? Also, the way I have seen targets going up and up, those coveted bonuses are drying up quite fast for the middle managers (most sups and DMs in my region have had sub 15k bonuses and quite small raises in the last 4-5 years).

The only real benefit I see in being a sup or DM is if you plan (and can) to be promoted to region or area VP where your salary on a per hour basis actually starts to be greater than a typical pharmacist. Really though, by the time anyone actually gets to that level, they could have used their skills for their own side-business and made quite a bit more.

In my opinion, regional managers do not make significantly more than sups or DM salary wise, and their cash bonus is 32 percent bonus versus 28.... or 5 percent difference.

In fact, DMs don't make that much more than Sups but have a lot more responsibilities.

The path to RM or AVP is not easy either...

 

[StallionRx]

How much more do you think a sup makes on average? 200k+?

 

[doublehh03]

How much more do you think a sup makes on average? 200k+?

If you include stocks/bonuses... (total compensation), easily (if they hit target).

Base, nowhere close (they're salaried though).

People don't understand when they get position bumps, it also depends on what their salary was prior to the promotion.