First day at a CVS

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Shnurek said:
Old Timer, do you have any advice when it comes to the profession of Optometry? A lot of our graduates are being forced to work commercial because of high student debts and of course they are offered hefty starting salaries (100k-110k) at places like Sear's optical, walmart, cohen's fashion optical, lenscrafters, america's best etc. I am not sure how much of the profession works in this way but it is about 25% I'd say. Also our matriculants are about 67% women and they prefer to be employed. Do you think the same thing will happen to optometry as what happened with pharmacy?
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As long as insurance controls your practice the exact same thing will happen to you...
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So the chains rescued the "profession" of pharmacy....got it. Argument closed.
 
kvl1027 said:
So the chains rescued the "profession" of pharmacy....got it. Argument closed.
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No, that's not what I said at all. I said they rescued individual independents who were doing poorly, owed their wholesalers a fortune and had dim prospects for selling their business at a good price. They did nothing for the "Profession of Pharmacy", of course the business owners of that time didn't distinguish themselves either.
 
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I'm pretty sure I've had a conversation like this with you before, pharmB, but all things considered, taking it on here is more convenient given our current situations.

Like it was mentioned somewhere in the middle of the first page, the way CVS currently directs workflow used to be standard practice. Hell, during my internship at Kroger, it was still the way they did it until they switched systems on me in my last two weeks. It took time getting used to, but we thought it was a better idea overall.

It boils down to a "Do I spend a few more seconds on each script or shave off those seconds while risking having to send these scripts all the way back to data entry?" With the most optimal staff, I think it should about equal out. Only issue is, do CVS employees want to work optimum when they are paid a lower standard compared to most other chains?

I for one find it far too stressful an environment for what I was paid and the company continues to pile on us. They keep piling initiatives that work in theory, but they never seem to realize how much they put on the workers. For example, the Customer Adherence Calls (I forget what they're called at the moment) were put in place about a year after I started working for CVS. It was a pain because you'd have to check the system to make sure the report was generated and that the server wasn't down. Then you'd have to make all those calls by (what my district mandated) noon (or was it 2pm? I forget). Either way, during my shifts, it was usually a 5 pager while I was the only technician on duty. They also wanted you to make 3 calls per person if they don't pick up. If they're not there, they could waste well over a minute depending on whether they have voicemail or not. Meanwhile, my pharmacist is having to pick up on my technician duties to make sure she can get the medications out to the patients in time and so forth. It was inconceivable. When I moved here, they finally put that damned calling list solely on the computer and streamlining the process a bit. It's still a pain, but it is better. They also upgraded the systems down here from RX2000, but with that "upgrade" came a slower reaction from the computers (It's like putting Vista on a machine built for WinME).

Don't get me started on how slow they are to properly compensate or adjust compensation for their employees. Just... don't.

The whole misrepresentation of drug prices, improper release of pseudoephedrine, etc. etc. I'm just hoping I can find a job somewhere else with a company that can think of something other than money when they are already pulling cash out of their asses in profits.
 
What's the end result when it comes to CVS and other chains? Are they all going to eventually merge into one mega-chain that competes with Wal-Mart? And with increasing technology utilization, paired with demand for greater technician : pharmacist ratios, it seems like our jobs will be less significant, even if the chains expand.

IPPE. Opening eyes since whenever it was implemented. :smuggrin:
 
Old Timer said:
No he got tired of speaking to irrational people whose knowledge of how pharmacy got into this mess would be hard pressed to be found in a thimble with a scanning electron microscope.

You can't have a rational discussion with irrational people who have no frame of reference and think the good old days were when you worked for an independent at $12.50 per hour with limited health insurance, no pension and your boss on your ass like a wet diaper were really the good old days.

These people fail to understand that modern chain pharmacy is the result not the cause of the problem. It was not the chain industry that turned pharmacy into piece work. The same thing has happened to medicine and there is no national medical chains enslaving doctors, yet they suffer from the same problems that pharmacy faces. Inadequate reimbursement for the value of the service rendered. There is a slight difference in that we sell a "product" and for the most part physicians don't. But the same problems are facing the solo medical practitioner as faces the solo pharmacy practitioner. If you fail to see that well, what can I say. You be blind.

The chain industry is the whipping boy around here. That's all well and good. It's the story we tell ourselves so we as a profession don't have to take responsibility for the state we are in. CVS and Walgreens are run by the Devil in order to enslave the poor pharmacists. It's a nice simple narrative.

I have been doing this for almost thirty years and I remember when there was almost no third party insurance and 90% of the patients paid cash. I watched as an industry failed to come together to protect itself from the enemy. I remember when labels had to licked and the self sticking labels were an upgrade. I lived through typewriters and universal claim forms. I also remember being in a meeting with the suits from I.B.M. when my step father wanted to computerize and he handed them the Red Book and said we needed that in the computer and they said "You can't afford that."

I have seen a great deal over the last thirty years. If you want to blame what has happened on the chain drug industry, you are free to have your own delusions. Just remember it has nothing to do with reality.

Correlation is not causation.......
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I'm thinking of casting a write-in vote for Old Timer for president on election day.
 
StevePerry said:
He would be at least as good as the Chickenhawk, the Robot, or the Speech-Maker.
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He would fit right in with all the corrupt politicians. After all he works for CVS. The company with zero ethics that does what ever necessary to make a profit legal or illegal. By the number of fines and penalties they have paid it seems they would rather break the law than follow it. It seems to be more profitable. Yep, you are right. Oldtimer would be a good politician.
 
MountainPharmD said:
they would rather break the law than follow it. It seems to be more profitable.
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I recently read about an antitrust lawsuit for CVS, and they had to pay something like $5 million. Considering the revenue of just one store, and then extrapolating that nationwide.... yeah $5mil is really punitive.
 
Ackj said:
I recently read about an antitrust lawsuit for CVS, and they had to pay something like $5 million. Considering the revenue of just one store, and then extrapolating that nationwide.... yeah $5mil is really punitive.
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Part of the judgement was that they were no longer permitted to defraud their customers or file false insurance claims, etc....

CVS Caremark Paying $5 Million To Settle Charges Of Misrepresenting Drug Prices.
The New York Times (1/13, B1, Abelson, Singer, Subscription Publication) reports, "After more than two years of investigation, CVS Caremark agreed on Thursday to pay $5 million to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that the company had misrepresented the price of certain prescription drugs in one of its Medicare drug plans, causing many older consumers to pay significantly higher prices than advertised." This"settlement comes at a time of intensive government scrutiny of
pharmacy benefit managers like CVS Caremark, which run prescription drug plans for employers and insurers." Currently, "the F.T.C. is reviewing the proposed merger of the two main competitors to CVS Caremark: Medco Health and Express Scripts."
The Washington Post (1/13, Elboghdady) reports, "The FTC charged that the mispriced drugs were bought by RxAmerica beneficiaries at CVS and Walgreens pharmacies from 2007 through at least November 2008." The incorrect "prices were posted on several Web sites, including one run by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has a tool that enables people to calculate estimated drug-plan costs and figure out which one willhelp them avoid the doughnut hole for the longest period."
The AP (1/13) reports that the settlement "will be used to reimburse Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries who paid more than they expected for the drugs."
Bloomberg News (1/13, Forden) reports, "The settlement, which requires CVS to reimburse consumers who overpaid for certain prescription drugs, also bars CVS Caremark from making deceptive claims with regard to Medicare Part D drug prices, the FTC said today in an e-mailed statement." Also covering the story are the Wall Street Journal (1/13, Kendall, Subscription Publication) and Reuters (1/13).
 
Ackj said:
I recently read about an antitrust lawsuit for CVS, and they had to pay something like $5 million. Considering the revenue of just one store, and then extrapolating that nationwide.... yeah $5mil is really punitive.
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Exactly the problem. A tiny slap on the wrist. Which is why the company continues to wrecklessly break the law. There are no consequeces for their illegal, unethical business model.
 
MountainPharmD said:
Exactly the problem. A tiny slap on the wrist. Which is why the company continues to wrecklessly break the law. There are no consequeces for their illegal, unethical business model.
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You do understand of course that this claim was for RX American from BEFORE THEY WERE OWNED BY CVS. Since CVS is the current owner, they have to pay the fine, but these actions took place before CVS owned the company. Not like you ever let the facts get in the way of a good story.

This is how you make an ass of yourself by recklessly misrepresenting the facts.
 
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Did somebody drop a big giant bag of dark roast coffee beans? Because it just got suuuper bitter in here

Old Timer said:
First I am aware of the Sherman Antitrust Act. More aware that you will ever be. You never met with lawyers, formed the groups and fought that battle. You did not meet with congressman and state representatives to fight the cause of independent pharmacy. Those who cannot understand history cannot comprehend it.
You were not involved in the suit against U.S. Healthcare (Now Aetna) for ripping off the pharmacists in their capitation plan. You probably don't even know what capitation is.
You have not a single clue of what was going on the pharmacy world in the 1980's You were probably playing with your own poop. By the time the 90's rolled around, the chains rescued these guys that were struggling. They threw vast amounts of money at them paying way more than they should to buy files. In the case of the store I was going to buy, Thrift (to become Eckerds and then go bankrupt) offered 250,000.00 more than the price I had agreed to pay.
During this time the store I was at was constantly increasing volume in scripts and sales. It just didn't grow fast enough.....
I was there and I know what happened.
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Old Timer said:
You do understand of course that this claim was for RX American from BEFORE THEY WERE OWNED BY CVS. Since CVS is the current owner, they have to pay the fine, but these actions took place before CVS owned the company. Not like you ever let the facts get in the way of a good story.

This is how you make an ass of yourself by recklessly misrepresenting the facts.
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It pains me to say this, but this is correct. Rx America was over-charging and CVS is responsible because they now own RX-America. The anti-trust stuff is a different issue all together and CVS may take a fall for it in the future, but not yet. I guess it will depend on ho wmany more PBM's they buy up. People will do something when they own them all.

What is it now Old-Timer, they Own Caremark, Rx American, and Community Care RX?
 
Old Timer said:
You do understand of course that this claim was for RX American from BEFORE THEY WERE OWNED BY CVS. Since CVS is the current owner, they have to pay the fine, but these actions took place before CVS owned the company. Not like you ever let the facts get in the way of a good story.

This is how you make an ass of yourself by recklessly misrepresenting the facts.
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What does that have to do with anything? What is your excuse for the hundreds of other laws they have broken and the tens of millions of dollars in fines they have paid? Oh wait I think we are in the hundreds of millions of dollars in fines now. Oh, it's not their fault? I have never seen a company have more "temporary breaches" of their outstanding quality control measures than CVS. Then there is the paying off senators and going to jail bribery scandal....again another "temporary breach" of CVS fine ethics and moral standards that have since been fixed after being caught and paying a huge fine.

The point is as long as CVS gets a minor slap on the wrist for their illegal and unethical behaviors they will continue to break the law.
 
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