This really pi$$es me off

[FarscapeGirl]

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Okay, so this is coming from someone who's applying to pharmacy school this year and so far has only job shadowed and read about careers in pharmacy...

But it seems like the problem in cases like this is that the public does not understand that pharmacists are a valid member of the health care community and not just people who count pills. I had some idea before I was thinking of being a pharmacist that pharmacists could check for interactions, but I had no idea of all the different job options and everything a pharmacist could do (i.e. checking blood lipid levels, giving vaccinations, answering all sorts of medical questions). I really had no idea what the schooling was like, and when I first looked into it, I was a fourth-year molecular biology grad student. I certainly had an idea of what med school and dentistry school was like long before that.

If you as a member of the public don't understand all that a pharmacist is and does, it makes sense that you'd get frustrated when they take half an hour. Or when they try to counsel you. Even though your own doctor probably left out important details about how to take the medicine. How to fix this, I really don't know. Maybe we could get a pharmacist on "Private Practice" or start a new medical show...

 

[MountainPharmD]

Sounds like a typical PR response, BUT I should add that it seems to be nicely done.

They should just hand out those vibrating pagers like at Cheesecake Factory that buzz when your Rx is done.

I heard that Long's tried that a few years ago....stopped it because to many of the pagers were stolen.

 

[confettiflyer]

I heard that Long's tried that a few years ago....stopped it because to many of the pagers were stolen.

haha oh boy. yeah a few cvs stores were adding brake mechanisms to the carts if you pass over the perimeter line for the store's parking lot. Too bad the pagers don't have an alarm that can go off. I would have suggested having them trip the store's security tag alarm but...no one pays attention to those.

As for the PR response, i was expecting a canned "we strive for patient health and customer service" song and dance. Instead, this was a fairly authentic reply back...essentially saying the same thing (but it sounds like a real person, not an airport announcement).

 

[spacecowgirl]

Actually, I found her response, at least the first part, to be rather condescending. It was fun to tell her that I actually found out about her program because it was featured on the front page of the last ISMP Safety Alert that I got

I can picture these poor pharmacists explaining to people who don't understand that you need to remove a suppository from the foil before using it, that they don't qualify for their free dinner because a)their prescription had to be called on b)their insurance didn't work c) they have Medicaid d) etc, etc, etc. Any of you who had to explain a gift card limitation knows exactly what I mean.

Do we really need to reward people for waiting 20 minutes while they can shop at the same time? Hell in a hand basket, I tell you.

 

[loo]

I think my reply to that corporate f-**** would be something like this:

Please work one day (preferably in a high volume/low income area with state assistance as the major form of insurance) in one of your stores and experience how utterly ******ed your "new policy" is for yourself. At least you'll be well-staffed, right?🙄

There's a reason these idiots are at corporate...they don't want to work at store level.

I'd go for the beeper idea if it shocked the holder with 100,000 volts...

 

[loo]

As for the PR response, i was expecting a canned "we strive for patient health and customer service" song and dance. Instead, this was a fairly authentic reply back...essentially saying the same thing (but it sounds like a real person, not an airport announcement).

Yeah...more human than human.

 

[TonyRx]

I agree whole heartily with all of you regarding the absurdity of this policy by SaveMart, and similar policies by other retail pharmacies.

Heck, I've been a retail manager for WAGS for 3 1/2 years now...and I can honestly say that I rarely agree with their corporate decisions. Whether it be related to pharmacy operations or store operations(front end).

Policies like these are also a very clear testament on our society as a whole. Our society has grown completely and utterly complacent, incompetent, impatient and down right lazy. We want everything and anything in 1 hour or less, and if we don't get it...we find ways to get financial compensation of some sort(aka handouts). God forbid if Joe Blow has to wait more than 19 minutes for something as serious and critical like an Rx, or even glasses for his vision!

This is especially evident in retail, hospitality and food industries. Pansy, spineless corporate executives in these industries are willing to sacrifice anything(safety, accuracy, precision, moral responsibilities, etc...) just to squeeze in that extra $1 of profit.

I can't stand people in power who make reckless decisions like this one, and I can't stand people that look to capitalize on errors and mistakes created by reckless policies like this one. Like someone wrote above...that person with the stopwatch standing in front of the Rx counter staring down the Pharmacist and praying they get their Script in 19:01 seconds.👎

 

[spacecowgirl]

She hasn't responded to my reply yet *mope*

 

[Farmercyst]

My guess is the policy is implemented similar to CVS where the clock don't start ticking until insurance ajudication. Not that the patient knows the difference, but it's a major loophole if they want it to be. Maybe they'll be bought out by someone who knows better. Albertson's maybe?

 

[AngelaCL]

K-Mart has a sign up saying that if your prescription is not ready when promised, it is free. I've never seen anyone challenge it and it's not really promoted, but I can just imagine someone getting $175 in gift cards or just not having to pay because we took 17 minutes instead of 15... totally nuts.