LTC Pharmacist Position

[Codegreyk]

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Hi everyone, I am starting a new position as a LTC pharmacist in 2 weeks, I work in an independent store now, any advise on how to prepare for the new position, kindly share your experience if you worked or working at LTC now.
TIA

 

[JustFillIt]

Hi everyone, I am starting a new position as a LTC pharmacist in 2 weeks, I work in an independent store now, any advise on how to prepare for the new position, kindly share your experience if you worked or working at LTC now.
TIA

Rule number one - bow down to the nurse

 

[owlegrad]

Get along with everyone. Know what your boss wants and do that. Try to placate the nurses as much as possible (most of their problems are self-inflicted but you won’t win any points trying to make them see that).

Mostly just enjoy how much nicer LTC is than retail! Remember to keep annoyances in perspective.

 

[JustFillIt]

Rule number 2 - the nurse is always right. Even when you clearly understand that their frustration is their own fault.

*breaking rule number 2 will result in a threat to move to omnicare and/or some other pharmacy that will probably do worse

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

Rule number 2 - the nurse is always right. Even when you clearly understand that their frustration is their own fault.

*breaking rule number 2 will result in a threat to move to omnicare and/or some other pharmacy that will probably do worse

the worst thing that ever happened to omnicare (and the best thing for its competitors) was getting purchased by CVS

 

[owlegrad]

the worst thing that ever happened to omnicare (and the best thing for its competitors) was getting purchased by CVS

And yet my pharmacy hasn't gotten even a single contract from omni :/

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

And yet my pharmacy hasn't gotten even a single contract from omni :/

As of Feb 2020 our company's market share in the ltc space is 18%, so there's definitely opportunities out there to expand. With the pandemic causing nursing home occupancy rates to drop, I feel like a lot of the smaller ltc pharmacies are struggling. Hopefully we'll see some meaningful M&As materialize in the near future.

 

[JustFillIt]

As of Feb 2020 our company's market share in the ltc space is 18%, so there's definitely opportunities out there to expand. With the pandemic causing nursing home occupancy rates to drop, I feel like a lot of the smaller ltc pharmacies are struggling. Hopefully we'll see some meaningful M&As materialize in the near future.

All of the facilities in my little chunk of the world are all back up to 100% census. At at least +\- 5% from what they were in 2019

 

[Codegreyk]

Guys, I really appreciate your comments, but the question was about the switch from retail to LTC in terms of workflow … etc

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

Guys, I really appreciate your comments, but the question was about the switch from retail to LTC in terms of workflow … etc

Yes! Try to learn as much as you can. Once you've gotten the hang of verifying and the workflow try to learn order entry and running refills. It will make your life a lot easier

 

[owlegrad]

Guys, I really appreciate your comments, but the question was about the switch from retail to LTC in terms of workflow … etc

Workflow is going to be radically different from one LTC pharmacy to another so it is hard to generalize. Some have dedicated pharmacists to handle specific functions and others go for a generalist approach where the workload is spread out 'evenly' to everyone.

It is different from retail in the sense that you don't have waiters and everything is built around getting a run out. You will get used to it very quickly though.

At a very high level, it is basically the same as retail - orders come in, get typed, filled, checked, and then a driver takes it to the home. But there is a million times more drama around that process than in retail, in my experience. Also (perhaps related) LTC is orders of magnitude easier than retail. Although it is more time-consuming to fill a prescription in LTC due to how the medications have to be packed. That affects the techs more than you and you get used to it pretty quickly anyway.

 

[Codegreyk]

Workflow is going to be radically different from one LTC pharmacy to another so it is hard to generalize. Some have dedicated pharmacists to handle specific functions and others go for a generalist approach where the workload is spread out 'evenly' to everyone.

It is different from retail in the sense that you don't have waiters and everything is built around getting a run out. You will get used to it very quickly though.

At a very high level, it is basically the same as retail - orders come in, get typed, filled, checked, and then a driver takes it to the home. But there is a million times more drama around that process than in retail, in my experience. Also (perhaps related) LTC is orders of magnitude easier than retail. Although it is more time-consuming to fill a prescription in LTC due to how the medications have to be packed. That affects the techs more than you and you get used to it pretty quickly anyway.

Thank you so much 👍

 

[grizzlesgrizzlies]

At a very high level, it is basically the same as retail - orders come in, get typed, filled, checked, and then a driver takes it to the home. But there is a million times more drama around that process than in retail, in my experience.

At my location the fill techs don't even have to answer the phone. All they do is fill and complain about each other about petty stuff like leaving bottles/labels on the counter or some other nonsense... 😏

 

[owlegrad]

At my location the fill techs don't even have to answer the phone. All they do is fill and complain about each other about petty stuff like leaving bottles/labels on the counter or some other nonsense... 😏

This times one million.

 

[mentos]

Just chill, you will feel like you're on vacation compared to retail.

You'll have a nice comfy chair to sit in, bathroom breaks, lunch breaks, an army of techs (compared to retail), a break room, etc. Things that are taken for granted in any other profession.