TARGET'S new prescription bottles (clearRX)

Started by Spartan676
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Superflyjsc said:
wow thats pretty interesting. Seems more expensive to mass produce tho.
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Exactly... our cost for vials is maybe 4 cents each. I'm sure these "revolutionary" vials are what, 25 cents each?

My slow store alone does 37,000 rx's/year. (.25-.4)*37000=$7770 increase in Rx cost (that has to be paid by someone).

Worried about Rx costs?
How many Rxs are filled annually nationwide? 20 million/year? So...

(.25-.4)*20,000,000=$$4,200,000 increase in Rx costs annually to somebody for PILL BOTTLES!! Looks like a step in the right direction... 🙄

Medicare/Medicaid will LOVE that one. 😉

Edit: Acutally, it's 3 billion rxs/year.. so the cost is an additional $630 million/year. 🙂
 
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Well if that extra "$0.25" could possibly save "millions" in treating the outcomes of inappropriate med use, then what's the problem with it? Besides, the these new vials can't really cost that much more than regular vials.
 
AmandaRxs said:
Well if that extra "$0.25" could possibly save "millions" in treating the outcomes of inappropriate med use, then what's the problem with it? Besides, the these new vials can't really cost that much more than regular vials.
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You mean the extra $630,000,000 annually, right? Not the $0.25 (unless only one patient ever is going to get the new bottle). The fact is; it still comes down to the patient even caring to read the bottle in the first place, or listen to the pharmacist's counseling. ALL of the info on the "new and improved" bottles is contained with every new RX that any pharmacy dispenses... it's just packaged differently!

Pt: "Hell, I've got one of them new fangled bottles with the patient information on it, I won't even bother to call my pharmacist or doctor, since I have all the information that they have right here" ...and on it goes.
 
jdpharmd? said:
You mean the extra $630,000,000 annually, right? Not the $0.25 (unless only one patient ever is going to get the new bottle). The fact is; it still comes down to the patient even caring to read the bottle in the first place, or listen to the pharmacist's counseling.
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Target customers don't make up 100% of the market so, no, it doesn't come to an extra $630,000,000 anually. And you're right that nothing can replace proper counseling, but the fact is that counseling isn't always proper and maybe Target's trying to cover their ass from multiple angles.

JD, sounds like you would have been one of those corporate Firestone jerks, who waited until 1000's of people died before recalling their tires.
 
AmandaRxs said:
Target customers don't make up 100% of the market so, no, it doesn't come to an extra $630,000,000 anually. And you're right that nothing can replace proper counseling, but the fact is that counseling isn't always proper and maybe Target's trying to cover their ass from multiple angles.

JD, sounds like you would have been one of those corporate Firestone jerks, who waited until 1000's of people died before recalling their tires.
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People around here saw those vials on the news and immediatly came into my pharmacy raving about how "revolutionary" they are. (we are not target). The consumers want all of the bells and whistles, without PAYING FOR IT. If target is a success, the vials will likely be used by other chains as well.

In response to your firestone comment: Would you like me to sell you a Volvo instead? It's $10,000 more money, but it's "safer". How about an abrams Tank?

Pt: "My copay is $5.00, NOT 5.20!!!!!!! You are WRONG!"
Pharmacist: "Well, your insurance doesn't want to pay the extra cost for these gimick vials, so they pass it on to you. It's 20 cents"
Pt: This is BS!! Just dump the pills in my pocket, here's your $5.00! By the way, this Prednisone is an antibiotic, right? I think I read that on the internet... 😉
 
I gotta say...I really do like those bottles. I am esp thinking of the frantic mother with 2+ crying kids at the pharmacy who has to pick up amox for 1 with an ear infection. She may not really be able to remember everyhting you tell her, no matter how good at counseling you are. Now, it's all there! And, it may help you when you are counselining, good triggers for important points. Also, I know some pharmacies that SHOULD use them, since they NEVER counsel (begins with a W). At least I would feel a little more at easy knowing that the patient is actually getting info. (this is all coming from me who is on rotation in a peds unit at a hospital. it would make me feel a lot more comfortable knowing that the pt will get some info that will stay with the rx, not be on the reciept that will probably be thrown out). Just my 2 cents 🙂
 
Methinks its Walgreen's :meanie:

You must admit though they are rather cute and less morbid looking than the ancient amber cylinders. I like the colored rubber band idea, but my worry is what would happen if something was given out with the wrong rubberband (assuming the patient doesn't read the label at all)?
 
bananaface said:
I don't like the color coded ring system. Patients need to look at the drug name, not the color of ring on the bottle.
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The rings actually refer to the individual ("green is for grandma") so, its more like they need to look for their name on the bottle! I agree with you though - you shouldn't need little balloons and flags to indicate whom/what the medication is for - but that will only happen in utopia.. 🙄 Until then we are forced to find other clever ways to get the patient's attention especially if we are going to be held liable.
 
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I have a rotation at Target starting in August. It'll be interesting to see what the patients really think of these new bottles. Maybe that'll be part of my project. :idea:
 
We had a lecture from some Target pharmacists about it a few months ago. They showed us the bottles. The design is pretty neat.

What I don't like is the drug information insert on the bottle is pretty stupid. The example they gave was for fluoxetine and listed the uses. That's a nice idea and all, people looking at it trying to remember what it's used for. However, the dang insert had listed 40 uses or so... not just simple depression, but for all sorts of disorders. How the heck is the average person supposed to figure out which disorder yours was that fluoxetine was treating among all of those listed?
 
Sosumi said:
We had a lecture from some Target pharmacists about it a few months ago. They showed us the bottles. The design is pretty neat.

What I don't like is the drug information insert on the bottle is pretty stupid. The example they gave was for fluoxetine and listed the uses. That's a nice idea and all, people looking at it trying to remember what it's used for. However, the dang insert had listed 40 uses or so... not just simple depression, but for all sorts of disorders. How the heck is the average person supposed to figure out which disorder yours was that fluoxetine was treating among all of those listed?
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Yah it'd be more useful to just have only the patient-specific indication on there; otherwise it's more confusing than helpful.
When will Target start using their new rx bottle?
 
Its amazing h ow they have to DUMB something down that requires an elementary school education and that is READING. I would really like to know who is paying for this. Is target eating the cost for those that are insured b/c I cannot see HMOs and medicaid/medicare raising their reimbursement.
 
They started using them already. I had a transfer rx from Target in the DC area and the pcist and I oohed and aahed at the bottle.
 
raptor5 said:
Its amazing h ow they have to DUMB something down that requires an elementary school education and that is READING. I would really like to know who is paying for this. Is target eating the cost for those that are insured b/c I cannot see HMOs and medicaid/medicare raising their reimbursement.
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Dude...The majority of patients have an 8th grade comprehension level. It's a good thing to dumb things down to ensure patient compliance.
 
raptor5 said:
Its amazing h ow they have to DUMB something down that requires an elementary school education and that is READING. I would really like to know who is paying for this. Is target eating the cost for those that are insured b/c I cannot see HMOs and medicaid/medicare raising their reimbursement.
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One of the requirements for a class I took was to make a patient education guide at a 6th grade level, because that's the national reading level average. It was a hundred times harder writing at a 6th grade level rather than trying to write a regular paper. It helped me realize that most things a health professional says are incomprehensible to patients.
 
"One of the requirements for a class I took was to make a patient education guide at a 6th grade level,"

I dumbed my paper down pretty well I thought and checked the grade level. It was still at a 12th grade level. I found that part of the assignment hard. I saw that part was only worth a few points so I just took the hit on it instead of spending any more time on it.
 
Just to add some misc info to the 6th grade reading level. On one of our patient compliance lecture, only 12% of people having an education higher than a B.S. will understand something like the following: "Take one tablet three times a day with meals".

Back to the original topic: I kinda like the new bottle. If the pictures are to scale it would really help the elderly b/c of the larger font. Also even if it cost 25 cents to make this bottle, I think HMOs might pay for it given there is evidence of higher compliance and/or lower rates of admission to hospital for ADE or non-compliance.
 
Takeum 3 heap bigum pills andum two pills thatum be small like tiny pebble.

marvellum at new bottle shapum like papoose
 
as a target pharmacy tech i can honestly say that these bottles have helped a lot of people that come in to get scripts from us. we are a moderately busy pharmacy and see all "sorts." it's our job to help the patient understand how to take their meds to the best of our abilities and i think that these bottles will help out a lot (and they have helped). we have had families come in that have two children that are on the same medication. it is a big help to them to see that their son's medication has an orange color code and their daughter's med has purple on it. then, when they are trying to get both children to take the medicine they will have an extra safety measure in place to ensure that they are taking their meds correctly (i.e. they are able to see that they are getting the correct medicine from the correct bottle). with regard to older patients, the writing on traditional bottles is much smaller than the writing we have on the spine of our new bottles. with the new bottle they are able to read what med it is they have in their hands and then be able to check to make sure that they have the correct bottle by looking at the color code.

i thought it was our job to make sure that our patients stay healthy... so what does it matter if target chose to take it a step further and set up other safety measures? it might cost a little more money in the long run to start up the program, but when it comes to the safety of our patients, i think it's worth it. so what if people need a little extra help with the directions on their med's? we aren't all at the same intelligence level and it's our job to make sure that a patient know's what s/he is doing.
 
the bottles are kind of cool but i doubt they will catch on at other pharmacies. we fill a lot of scripts and use a scriptpro for most of it. those vials would never fit in the machine.
 
The only thing I wouldn't like about these bottles is no more easy labelling with ready to label bottles such as Zocor and Nexium which come in 30s.
 
while each person MUST read all of their labels prior to taking meds, the color coded bottles make it easier for family members to find the right bottles or distinguish between other's drugs quickly. a few years ago i was faced with a family emergency where i needed to gather up all of someone's prescription meds and bring them with me to the emergency room. the color code system would have made my life a bit easier at that time. there are definitely two sides to this story. yes, the bottles are more expensive and someone needs to pay for them. but if they can prevent misuse i think it would be worth the extra cost.
 
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Color-code EVERYTHING! I hate to read!
 
I think at a busy pharmacy, or a pharmacy where the patients don't like to wait 10 to 15 minutes.. color coding to family members will just be another pain in the neck for technicians. The bottles seem wasteful and silly. Customers complain about anything that they possibly can. "the music on hold is too loud" "my e-z open cap fell off" "i can't find pills, did you forget to bag them" (actually customer left them in car) What will they do if you accidentaly give someone the wrong color ring on thier rx? They'll probably sue. Target is innovative... but they are also a pain for other pharmacies. When they offered $10 for transfer RX's all our el-chepo customers went over there, then they came back when they realized they couldn't possibly live without our drive thru or the excelent service our pharmacist gives them (she goes WAY out of the way for everyone). these people didn't care what a pain it was to do transfers.. and they didn't stay at Target anyway. everyone likes new gizmos, but i don' t think it will pan out in the end. People who really care about color rings are going to end up being super high maintance anyway.. let em go to target!
 
adding the color code onto the bottle only takes a second... and with the way the label is printed out, it is very hard to make a mistake. so far we've had nothing but compliments, and "thank you's" from our patients about the new bottle system.

i'm not sure what pharmacy you work at, but we don't have a lot of complaints from our guests, and we've had people come in just to see the new system. if you don't like the system because you're afraid that it will give you more work to do, that is fine. but in the end it will make things safer for the patient, and that should be our main focus. thinking that a patient is "super high maintance" because they want to be safer about how they take their meds is kind of harsh.

when an elderly person comes into our pharmacy and is able to take his or her prescription correctly b/c they can actually read the name of the medicine (the name is in huge bold print on the spine of the bottle) i feel that much better in the work that i'm doing.

we've had mother's come in with scripts for the identical medications for two children but with different strengths. when a mom has two sick children to take care of, the color code will help her when two screaming children don't want to take their med's.

the pharmacists that i've worked with at different stores all love the new system. yes, there are more checks that we have to make, but the safety of our guests is the most important. which is why target adopted this system.

as to the coupon's, we have plenty of people who transfer to CVS or other pharmacy's that offer gift card coupon's. if they choose to do so, that is their choice. no use getting upset about it.

i'm sure you work at a very good pharmacy, but think of the other people who work at target and are just trying to help make the system safer. the last major change in the pharmacy was 50 years ago (the safety cap) and before that it was changing the bottle from glass to plastic. it seems that a lot of people in the pharmacy business are very resistant to change...


Leah27 said:
I think at a busy pharmacy, or a pharmacy where the patients don't like to wait 10 to 15 minutes.. color coding to family members will just be another pain in the neck for technicians. The bottles seem wasteful and silly. Customers complain about anything that they possibly can. "the music on hold is too loud" "my e-z open cap fell off" "i can't find pills, did you forget to bag them" (actually customer left them in car) What will they do if you accidentaly give someone the wrong color ring on thier rx? They'll probably sue. Target is innovative... but they are also a pain for other pharmacies. When they offered $10 for transfer RX's all our el-chepo customers went over there, then they came back when they realized they couldn't possibly live without our drive thru or the excelent service our pharmacist gives them (she goes WAY out of the way for everyone). these people didn't care what a pain it was to do transfers.. and they didn't stay at Target anyway. everyone likes new gizmos, but i don' t think it will pan out in the end. People who really care about color rings are going to end up being super high maintance anyway.. let em go to target!
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im curious about the new bottles and may even stop by the local target to check them out. from the pictures they seem like they will help patients to read the drug name, but i can see a huge problem with the color coding. if the wrong color goes on, the patient may not realize they are taking the wrong medication until its too late. though many patients may not pay attention to the label on a regular bottle. also with elderly patients, what if there is a husband and wife living together, perhaps someones memory is going and they start to take their partners meds, thinking thats their color ring. i could really see this happening, though one check might be when they brought their bottle in for a refill and someone confirmed the patients name with them. ok time to end the rant
andrea
 
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