Wags is cutting more 24 hour stores...

[WVUPharm2007]

...hearing that several around the country are getting scaled back to conventional hours. The one across the street from my store is rolling back. Which, naturally, makes me quite worried about my job security. Again.

Any Wags people know the exact numbers?

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[wagrxm2000]

Don't know the numbers but stores are changing from 24 hours to close at midnight or 10 and slower stores are even going to 9 to 7.

Staff have to float for their full hours at 9 to 7 stores.

 

[Dr. Galazkiewicz]

They told me back in the day that a certain number had to be kept open because of certain "contracts". I don't know whether that has something to do with Medicare DME or Medicaid or just having an RPH available to answer questions per a particular 3rd party contract, but I never got a straight answer.

What was a "certain number"? One in the county? One in a part of the state?

I get the feeling wags is rolling 100% back as far as 24 Rx presence. The days of pharmacies being closed on Sundays and 7pm on weekdays aren't far away.

 

[losarhp]

Don't know the numbers but stores are changing from 24 hours to close at midnight or 10 and slower stores are even going to 9 to 7.

Staff have to float for their full hours at 9 to 7 stores.

Any idea how slow store has to be to go 9-7.

 

[PharmDminus]

Any idea how slow store has to be to go 9-7.

if you are doing 1000 rx/week or less, i would be concerned

 

[johnpharm01]

if you are doing 1000 rx/week or less, i would be concerned

I would be concerned if I were in retail period. If business is great new stores would be opening up and hours would be expanding. But all of these moves are cost cutting and have been going on for years. Its just hard to accept. I worked at a store that was 24 hours in overnights- best shift ever. That's gone down first 6 to 12 then 8 to 10 but doing a greater volume then ever before. I can easily see wags going to mon-friday 9 to 7 and weekends 10-4 for the majority of their stores.

 

[Gombrich12]

They told me back in the day that a certain number had to be kept open because of certain "contracts". I don't know whether that has something to do with Medicare DME or Medicaid or just having an RPH available to answer questions per a particular 3rd party contract, but I never got a straight answer.

What was a "certain number"? One in the county? One in a part of the state?

I get the feeling wags is rolling 100% back as far as 24 Rx presence. The days of pharmacies being closed on Sundays and 7pm on weekdays aren't far away.

I would love this but I don't see it happening on a widespread basis in metro areas for a long time.

 

[Dr. Galazkiewicz]

I would love this but I don't see it happening on a widespread basis in metro areas for a long time.

I'm shocked what they rolled back in my woods. There's still a cluster in the metro area, but once civil unrest starts you can forget about those stores as well.

 

[maria1oh]

There are also slow walgreens that close for a lunch break.
Some 24/7 stores have contracts with local hospitals to stay open 24/7.

There are no longer any 24/7 kroger pharmacies in ohio (there used to be a dozen or so). Also rite aid has cut back so only one 24/7 pharmacy left in ohio.

 

[steveysmith54]

I would be concerned if I were in retail period. If business is great new stores would be opening up and hours would be expanding. But all of these moves are cost cutting and have been going on for years. Its just hard to accept. I worked at a store that was 24 hours in overnights- best shift ever. That's gone down first 6 to 12 then 8 to 10 but doing a greater volume then ever before. I can easily see wags going to mon-friday 9 to 7 and weekends 10-4 for the majority of their stores.

I agree. I think within five years, most RX will be checked off site, especially with the emergence of electronic rx; just dispensed on site. Pharmacist will only check the pills in the actual pharmacy. A lot of refills will be mailed to the patients.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Any idea how slow store has to be to go 9-7.

A store in my area did about 250/day, 1750/week and was switched.

This is a remote store though so customers can't really leave.

 

[Modest_anteater]

...hearing that several around the country are getting scaled back to conventional hours. The one across the street from my store is rolling back. Which, naturally, makes me quite worried about my job security. Again.

Any Wags people know the exact numbers?

I think WAGS will eventually require all pharmacists to have to re-interview for their job positions at a lower rate. Why would they want to pay pharmacists so much when there are 17,000 new pharmDs being printed a year willing to work for 80,000 USD. It doesn't make sense from a business position for them to be paying anyone these archaic inflated wages in excess of 100,000 USD a year.

 

[PharmDminus]

I think WAGS will eventually require all pharmacists to have to re-interview for their job positions at a lower rate. Why would they want to pay pharmacists so much when there are 17,000 new pharmDs being printed a year willing to work for 80,000 USD. It doesn't make sense from a business position for them to be paying anyone these archaic inflated wages in excess of 100,000 USD a year.

i have heard this would violate labor laws...there was a lawsuit walgreens lost over it in the past. they would have to change our duties/position to do that

 

[steveysmith54]

I think they made their point with no raises for anyone. In 10 years the 63 dollars an hour that they pay right now will be about 45 dollars taking into account inflation

 

[wagrxm2000]

I think WAGS will eventually require all pharmacists to have to re-interview for their job positions at a lower rate. Why would they want to pay pharmacists so much when there are 17,000 new pharmDs being printed a year willing to work for 80,000 USD. It doesn't make sense from a business position for them to be paying anyone these archaic inflated wages in excess of 100,000 USD a year.

I don't think you understand how a job works.

 

[DrVader]

...hearing that several around the country are getting scaled back to conventional hours. The one across the street from my store is rolling back. Which, naturally, makes me quite worried about my job security. Again.

Any Wags people know the exact numbers?

Wags, CVS, Kroger are starting to realize something that Costco already knows, people need you more than you need them. If I am pharmacy and the only place that you can get your medication then you come when I tell you. No iffs or buts.

 

[Modest_anteater]

i have heard this would violate labor laws...there was a lawsuit walgreens lost over it in the past. they would have to change our duties/position to do that

You would be surprised how viciously the free market can dictate the potency of government labor laws. Government labors laws can't make money from nothing.

 

[steveysmith54]

Wags, CVS, Kroger are starting to realize something that Costco already knows, people need you more than you need them. If I am pharmacy and the only place that you can get your medication then you come when I tell you. No iffs or buts.

I thought u talking about chains realizing that pharmacists need them way more than they need pharmacists nowadays haha... whatever you tell a pharmacist, he/she will do bc they need to pay bills lol

 

[lord999]

Actually, to @wagrxm2000 's point, that situation is specifically covered as a completely VALID reason for a layoff. There is no requirement that CRW retain staff affected by a closure. Labor laws specifically protect the business when reduction due to service loss is involved from employee retaliation.

 

[DrVader]

I thought u talking about chains realizing that pharmacists need them way more than they need pharmacists nowadays haha... whatever you tell a pharmacist, he/she will do bc they need to pay bills lol

I meant that chain pharmacy don't need to have convenient hours because they don't compete. Medication is a need. Imagine if all gas stations were only open 9-5. Your butt would be in there 9-5 no matter what the cost because you need gas.

 

[Son_Goku]

A store in my area did about 250/day, 1750/week and was switched.

This is a remote store though so customers can't really leave.

Guess the paint finally dried up.

Those numbers are horrendous even for a midnight store.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Guess the paint finally dried up.

Those numbers are horrendous even for a midnight store.

Last I checked, company average is around 250 to 300 per day. These busy stores everyone talks about are not the norm.

Remember, we're doing way more 90 day supplies right now. Those 250 per day stores probably used to do near 400.

 

[Son_Goku]

Last I checked, company average is around 250 to 300 per day. These busy stores everyone talks about are not the norm.

Remember, we're doing way more 90 day supplies right now. Those 250 per day stores probably used to do near 400.

Guess I'm on the lower end of that bell curve. 9-9 stores in my area get 250 on a busy day.

 

[maria1oh]

I think he meant the store doing 250 was switched to 9-7 and it is remote so no competition to worry about.

I know a cvs in uncompetitive rural area doing 4100/week and cut from 24/7 to midnight...and another cvs in competitive area doing 2400/week and stays 24/7.

 

[Ace41690]

Many of these stores there was no reason to be open overnight. What wag is doing makes sense financially. I think they are looking at actual overnight business vs just how busy the store is. The store can do 1000/day but if it only sells 10rx from midnight to 6am why keep it open overnight? Most customers wont notice a difference between closing at 12 and being 24hrs since they dont come in that late. That money could be better spent adding staff to the days. There ARE some stores that are surrounded by ERs and 24hr urgent care where being open 24hrs is viable. They will probably start cutting 24hr stores that are close to each other next, no matter how busy they are. There are markets with tons of 24hrs close together still (chicago, miami).

I used to work in a slow 24hr store (200/day, they are just being taken off with this round of cuts believe it or not) and the overnight literally watched Netflix all night long. I even heard of an overnight that slept back there (they ultimately got let go). It was a pretty inefficient use of resources.

 

[BidingMyTime]

I meant that chain pharmacy don't need to have convenient hours because they don't compete. Medication is a need. Imagine if all gas stations were only open 9-5. Your butt would be in there 9-5 no matter what the cost because you need gas.

True, but then why are their 24-hour gas stations? Food is a need as well, but there are plenty of 24 hour grocery stores. Just because something is a "need" doesn't mean that there shouldn't be 24 hour stores.

 

[maria1oh]

Even the ones nearby hospitals and ER are not really profitable. Most ER discharges are for just a few days worth of medication on cheaper generic drugs. 10 tablets of norco, 10 amoxicillin, 10 promethazine. Not large dollar amounts to justify the rph being there all night.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

True, but then why are their 24-hour gas stations? Food is a need as well, but there are plenty of 24 hour grocery stores. Just because something is a "need" doesn't mean that there shouldn't be 24 hour stores.

Not the best comparison. Gas stations have very little labor cost, minimum wage employee or none at all sometimes. Grocery stores can be open while they are stocking the shelves overnight, etc.

Overnight pharmacy in my region makes little sense. Many of the urgent Care system are stocking small formulary of rxs and hospital s can dispense mercy supplies if truely necessary before 8-9am opening. I just don't see the need for overnight pharmacy in most cases. The folks who come in at that hour can switch to mail order or find time during the day possibly. The ROI just is not there in the long run, would be my guess

 

[johnpharm01]

I have worked overnights. Even if foot traffic is low filling 20-25 waiters in 10 hours, the over night rphs can significantly improve operations. That's if they are working and not watching netflix or sleeping. I use to fill around 25% of the queue and do administrative tasks that would never be done during the day because it is simply too busy. If you closed this store at night and shifted the staffing to the day, it wouldn't help because the pharmacy isn't physically big enough to contain the staff and lacks the workstations to match all the staff. However, I do think that the proliferation of 24 hour stores is outdated. But how do you set the hours? If its based on volume, are you only open when you fill 100 scripts an hour?

 

[owlegrad]

Even if foot traffic is low filling 20-25 waiters in 10 hours, the over night rphs can significantly improve operations. That's if they are working and not watching netflix or sleeping.

I think this is what gets overlooked. As long as the overnighter isn't lazy they can make the day time pharmacists workload so much more manageable. I know I used to fill all the automatic fills plus whatever the day crew couldn't get to so that when the day shift arrived everything was clear for them.

Obviously it isn't as cost effective as we think though since everyone is moving away from that model. And it is true that a lot of what I did was tech duties - cleaning, filling scripts/paperwork, filing scripts, so I guess it could be more cost effective to transfer that payroll to a daytime tech.

 

[txpharmguy]

When I was an RXM at a 24 hour store, we had way less tech help than a slightly slower 8-10 store (500/day for us vs 450/day for them). It was difficult having enough tech help to cover all workstations and extended hours. We used to encourage next day refills to alleviate the workload. IMO, if you're not a 600/day store, there's no need to be open 24 hours

 

[wagrxm2000]

I have worked overnights. Even if foot traffic is low filling 20-25 waiters in 10 hours, the over night rphs can significantly improve operations. That's if they are working and not watching netflix or sleeping. I use to fill around 25% of the queue and do administrative tasks that would never be done during the day because it is simply too busy. If you closed this store at night and shifted the staffing to the day, it wouldn't help because the pharmacy isn't physically big enough to contain the staff and lacks the workstations to match all the staff. However, I do think that the proliferation of 24 hour stores is outdated. But how do you set the hours? If its based on volume, are you only open when you fill 100 scripts an hour?

Why pay a pharmacist when you can just give more tech hours? That's what is going through Walgreens mind.

 

[Ace41690]

When I was an RXM at a 24 hour store, we had way less tech help than a slightly slower 8-10 store (500/day for us vs 450/day for them). It was difficult having enough tech help to cover all workstations and extended hours. We used to encourage next day refills to alleviate the workload. IMO, if you're not a 600/day store, there's no need to be open 24 hours

500/day sold (~15,000 sold per month). Seems to be where they are drawing the line of being open 24hrs. Based on what I've seen this is reasonable. However as rx count continues to go up and up I doubt stores that cross this threshold will be increased to 24hr operation. I haven't seen any stores actually gain hours...

 

[BidingMyTime]

. Many of the urgent Care system are stocking small formulary of rxs and hospital s can dispense mercy supplies if truely necessary before 8-9am opening.

That surprises me. I know hospitals I've worked with do not want to deal with the paperwork and required packaging necessary to do outpatient emergency dispensing. I remember when 24 hours pharmacy just started opening, the hospital I was working in then, all of us were so excited and counting down the days until a planned 24 hour pharmacy opening near us. The day it opened, we immediately stopped doing the outpatient emergency dispensing, and we were all happy about that. The workload required for wasn't worth the benefit (the benefit being solely for the patient, not for the hospital that wasn't making any money on it. ) Ever since then, I've never worked at a hospital that did outpatient emergency dispensing, because if there was a 24 hour pharmacy in the area, there was no justification for it. I would think the paperwork requirements for urgent care centers would be similar and am surprised that they are doing this--I've never heard of any doing it before. I can remember when outpatient dispensing from doctor's offices was a thing, but once doctor's offices starting getting bought out (and most are bought out now), the outpatient dispensing thing was stopped.