Too many Pharmacist Ingrates on this site
Started by Rxnupe
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Seriously? Only a dumb sup would say that. It is implied by the built-in metrics such as 15 min waiters and the speed with which scripts come into the system. That is not an excuse. It is reality. Plus, personally, I actually try to provide good service in spite of how middle management (such as yourself?) craps on their employees.
Nuppy,
in most states you would need pharmacist overlap for 30 min breaks to happen. There is rarely ever any overlap. Now according to you, no one is stopping a CVS pharmacist without overlap from taking a 30 minute break. Please walk us through how that is supposed to happen per CVS policy while meeting Board of Pharmacy regulations.
If the only pharmacist on duty takes a 30 minute break, the pharmacy ceases to be a pharmacy for those 30 minutes. To be clear, if patients show up to pick up their medications, they cannot do anything but tell patients the pharmacist is on break and will return in X minutes. Same for phone calls. Drop off cannot happen either. You are required to close the pharmacy in most states.
I like to take my breaks in my comfortable and expensive car away from technicians, other pharmacists and most certainly patients. So where is the pharmacist supposed to take this 30 minute break that you speak of?
Get a grip.
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Dude, if only he knew how much profit the typical store clears on top of his salary.
LOL
hmm, not sure if he's just trolling because no one is this clueless. Ive been an Rph for over a decade and have worked at all the big chain stores and grocery chains and CVS by far is the most toxic environment you can be in. I was a PIC, staff and floater during my stint at CVS and all the 20 plus stores I floated at I can comfortably say only 2 were tolerable.
So perhaps the quality of techs and pharmacist is the issue and not the darn company!!!!
.... So if a company with trash policies is comprised of exclusively garbage employees, how is it a good company?
You clearly do not work for CVS.
Seeing how you handle problems, I actually have doubts you even care for your patients as a pharmacist.
You are truly off your rocker- when it's time to take your 30 minute break- you simply send calls to VM and tell your techs no waiters for 30 mins. There's also a legal way if a patient has a question for the pharmacist during pick up- the tech informs the patient that the pharmacist is at lunch and if you have any questions- I can have the pharmacist call you about your medicine when he/she returns. As far as leaving the building with no overlap- we live in 2017 most restaurants have delivery or send a tech to get your lunch or do what I have been doing for many years and that's pack my own lunch. It's so freaking sad how you guys act- there are ER doctors who sometimes work w/o break- grow up children and stop acting like you are entitle. You all should be thankful you have a freaking job.
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30 min break without a pharmacist??? That's illegal. CVS only has one pharmacist at a time which means that the pharmacy has to shut down if there is no pharmacist on duty and I'm pretty sure someone would get in trouble for this. Not to mention if there was a voice mail while you are gone, you are ruining one of your metrics because you get docked if it isn't taken off the voicemail within 15 min.
Calm down Snoopy. Its ok to say your wrong. Most people are very forgiving on here.
If you have time to regularly take a 30 minute lunch break during each of your shifts, your store has too many hours and needs to be cut.
Oh, I know. I've seen the checking account for the store.
You never admit the truth!!! Please go to your BOP website and quote the law about lunch breaks- you can shut down the pharmacy for 30 minutes *****- Wal-Mart has been doing it for years. The law states the pharmacist can't leave the building unattended for 30 minutes you misinformed fool. You can order or send a tech to get you food and then sit down and enjoy your meal for 30mins that is totally legal. PLEASE ADMIT DESPITE YOUR DECEPTIVE TACTICS THAT EVERY CVS PHARMACIST HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A 30 MIN BREAK!!!!!
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Big Forums Lobbyists out here using deceptive tactics and fake news to discredit grassroots pharmacy company. Sad!
I feel like I'm reading the text of an English dubbed anime about Pharmacy.
Absolutely none of the CVS pharmacists in the Austin area take 30 minute lunch breaks.
Guys 'nupe is right. Every CVS pharmacist takes a 30 minute break. Some take it on their commute to and from work, others take it as 30 one-minute breaks spread out throughout the day. Some choose to take their breaks on their days off rather than let it interfere with their work. It's just a matter of priorities.
It’s true. I have been saving all mine up to enjoy when I am dead.
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per Lord, in the North East.
Now do you think there might be some kickback money hmm. oh yea they write for it if they want lol. Cmon man either you know or you pretend not to know lol. And youre OTC is taken in every private in the city dont know why u even mentioned it. the second a closer pharmacy lets them use otc card for toilet paper and soap they switch pharmacies if you dont already let them use it freely.
Yeah, I think there is a lot of truth in this. I would look for an exit strategy. Or, perhaps a whistle blower. Protect yourself.
Yes you can close it down if you leave and it's perfectly legal but you would get fired at CVS for doing that. I'm not being deceptive when you implied that you leave for 30 min every day and ignore all of the work that need to be done. Also, what tech is going to get you lunch on their lunch break? I'm glad you have a slow enough pharmacy where you can just leave for 30 min to sit in the break room and ignore the people who want to wait for their prescriptions and leave your techs to answer questions about medications because I doubt anyone would wait 30 min for you to get back. You are the one who is delusional. I also like how you ignored the fact that i mentioned you only have 15 min to get voicemails. Do you tell your techs to do that too?
Yeah, OTC is freely used. People love paper towels and toilet paper and baby wipes.
I think I can understand why Imcallingcorp's pharmacy failed.
We've got doctors that are very loyal to us because we do more for patients and go out of our way to make people happy
no sonny boy pharmacy is failing and considering i made a profit on my sale although not impressive my pharnacy did not fail , I just don’t like the direction of the industry.
and there is a huge difference between loyal doctors and you telling them about the newest best profiting generics and them switching patients to it and for free ofcourse they would never ask for anything they will just change these drugs around every time you come in and tell them about it. lol I may not have gotten rich on having been an owner but I sleep real good at night. many out there cant
What I'm saying is that you don't seem to have charisma or common sense.
If you're talking $17,000 scar cream, then yes, a shady place probably would have enough money to pay off an MD.
If you think $800 reimbursement is enough to pay off an MD, you've got no common sense.
ok champ. im not a fan of internet battles so ill let your uninformed opinion slide about my charisma and common sense. i know quite a few owners and how theyre doing and real script count 200-500 / day. very little money in this business today and our little friend doin 30-80 a day didnt deny what i said nor address it which is fine but he shouldve never stated such an obvious situation in the first place. and your math is a joke. if an md generated you even $100 on a script and he ordered 10/day you do the math if he wanted half. plenty incentive. if you for a second think any pharmacy can legally exist in todays market doing 30-80 / day youre a space cadet.
You can keep up this faux condescending tone and call me champ, sport, Sonny boy, etc... Until you're blue in the face.
You can blame the market all day long.
At the end of the day, the independent I run is growing, and Sparda and I both have jobs.
Kinda hard to be condescending and play expert when you're the one sending resumes on indeed, ain't it?
If two therapies are equivalent, you get the patient's consent, you convince the MD to do the interchange, what's the big deal?
It's not that hard if you have any sort of rapport with all parties involved
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$800 is not enough to pay off an MD. but 400 scripts x $800 is $320,000.00 which is more than enough. I have only followed bits and pieces of this thread but insurance companies are really starting to go after these $$$ compounding rx's. It is really prudent to be careful to protect yourself especially if you are the pic. It really is somewhat hard to believe that these MD's just change their prescribing habits every time this this pharmacy owner calls and asks them to. I know everywhere is different and I am sure you have a good relationship with the doctors in your area but it seems unlikely they would do that. Most docs I know would listen but practice in the manner they have been. They might throw you a bone or 2 by writing a couple rx's to keep you happy but never 400. Odd also, again all areas are different, but I rarely see many naproxen scripts. More now with the spotlight on opioids but never 400 in that period of time. what are these OTC cards for free otc products? Issued by whom?
I’ll play expert and call out nonsense all I want, better than some rookie on here thinking that they should open up a store because of a joke of an example of a “successful” pharmacy. And Im glad your store is growing , Im not a hater last thing I want to see is privates failing or making little profit. And yea Im looking for a job so what. Ive also turned down positions because I have a ton of money saved and will wait until I like the opportunity and I have other sources of income. So all good sonny boy
I thought there was another one that was posted that was compounded. My bad. I still don't understand why the docs would change to something different. Why would they? Apparently changed a lot or rx's to accommodate pharmacy. What about the OTC cards. I am unfamiliar with those. state issued or given out by MD or pharmacy?
Yeah, I've never heard of an OTC card, it sounds like it's part of a state Medicaid or something.
And Naproxen suspension? Yeah, I hard a hard time believing a doctor just up and switches all their patients to naproxen suspension. And no patient complaints? Nobody who was on meloxicam, or even naproxen tablets, none of these patients are suddenly upset that their doctor wants them to take naproxen suspension? Which I've never tasted, but I assume it tastes nasty like most liquid medications.
And Naproxen suspension? Yeah, I hard a hard time believing a doctor just up and switches all their patients to naproxen suspension. And no patient complaints? Nobody who was on meloxicam, or even naproxen tablets, none of these patients are suddenly upset that their doctor wants them to take naproxen suspension? Which I've never tasted, but I assume it tastes nasty like most liquid medications.
Are the copays the same for tabs and suspension? Yes I have never known an MD to just switch everyone. Maybe in a very small town but I still can't see the complete MD cooperation to change what they write for. The OTC cards aren't ones just given out by the pharmacy or doctor to promote a single pharmacy are they? Never heard of them. Curious.
As far as MD being detailed by a pharmaceutical rep and changing prescribing. Sometimes you see them try a patient or 2 on a new med but never complete changing of prescribing. At least I never have.
Copays are both zero. Either way, we don't collect copays here unless they are something ridiculous like >$10 copay.
I'm pretty sure, definitely in NYC that there is some arrangement between local MDs and the independent pharmacies close to them. Example: in the area that I work, the independents have higher script counts than CVS and Duane Reade, I'm pretty sure the main reason these local docs prefer the independents over the chains is that they know that independents will selectively employ people who know foreign languages. In my area, you need at least one full time employee who knows Spanish. If you go 16 blocks down, you need someone who knows Hindi or Urdu. Go the 40 blocks in the opposite direction, Korean and Chinese are mandatory.
OTC cards are usually issued by the insurance company. Main ones around here are Healthfirst/Fidelis/Metroplus/Wellcare. You have to be on Medicare Part D to get an OTC card and it works like a debit card (usually has between $40-120 per person every month). Technically, they are only supposed to be used on OTC items, but every pharmacy lets the patients buy stuff like paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish soap, etc.
The switching goes something like this.
Owner of the pharmacy goes to the doctor's office and says something like this to the doctor "hey so we found a company that makes Naproxen in syrup form. It is covered without a prior authorization for most patients and it's easier to swallow for the elderly patients. Can you send this instead of the Naproxen tabs?"
MD: Sure
Owner of the pharmacy shows the staff how to enter Naproxen syrup into their e-scribe system.
Aren’t there certain insurers through Medicare that legally require the patients to pay their copays as part of their contract for their plan?
I'm sure there are but who is actually gonna complain when you tell them they don't have to pay? The second you tell these patients that they have to pay $15 for their 15 scripts, they are gonna tell you to transfer them to a pharmacy that doesn't charge copays.
Delivery guy calls out sick on the day they are expecting delivery? You better deliver it yourself. I regularly deliver medicines into the projects around here. It's like my college days of walking around with knives and pepper spray all over again.
I dunno how they would audit collection of copay? Our cash register isn't linked to the pharmacy system.
Caremark has actually been auditing collection of copays. although this wouldn’t apply to the medicaid patients. If you have POS they want to see and if no POS they want receipts.
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There's a middle ground here.
No, Sparda's pharmacy and their strategy of "bill each patient for 600grams of Solaraze and what do you mean those dinguses say it requires a prior authorization, why would they do that?" is not a sustainable model that I would recommend for people.
That said, I work with a number of specialists, and if you're appropriate with it and say things like "If you have any patients who are on "X med," please send it my way - those scripts help me keep the lights on to take care of the other ones I do for you" - you better believe that you can influence prescribing habits that way. No, you're not going to get every single patient put on Naproxen suspension (what the hell is that) but it generally gets me 1-2 extra scripts a day depending on the drug with a profit of $200+
No, Sparda's pharmacy and their strategy of "bill each patient for 600grams of Solaraze and what do you mean those dinguses say it requires a prior authorization, why would they do that?" is not a sustainable model that I would recommend for people.
That said, I work with a number of specialists, and if you're appropriate with it and say things like "If you have any patients who are on "X med," please send it my way - those scripts help me keep the lights on to take care of the other ones I do for you" - you better believe that you can influence prescribing habits that way. No, you're not going to get every single patient put on Naproxen suspension (what the hell is that) but it generally gets me 1-2 extra scripts a day depending on the drug with a profit of $200+
Not every single patient. Just every patient that they already have on regular naproxen.
100% agree with you and that scenario is day and night from sparda’s example.
i mean cmon just tell the doc to give it everyone naproxen liquid is good to have at home just in case. i think this is solid strategy
