Walgreens cutting back pharmacy staff?

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UNVME2

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Just went to pickup a prescription at the pharmacy and I was alarmed that the Walgreens pharmacy was only staffed with ONE person (on a Saturday no less).

I asked her if she was the only one working, and she looked at me and said "Yeh, they're cutting a lot of techs to save on costs. I'm going crazy here!" She then went on to talk about how prescriptions are up not down, etc.

Anyway, I was curious if it's just Walgreens or all pharmacies? It's a shame either way with the economy and the consequences of patient care.
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UNVME2 said:
Just went to pickup a prescription at the pharmacy and I was alarmed that the Walgreens pharmacy was only staffed with ONE person (on a Saturday no less).

I asked her if she was the only one working, and she looked at me and said "Yeh, they're cutting a lot of techs to save on costs. I'm going crazy here!" She then went on to talk about how prescriptions are up not down, etc.

Anyway, I was curious if it's just Walgreens or all pharmacies? It's a shame either way with the economy and the consequences of patient care.
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You say "on a Saturday no less", but Saturday and Sunday are the slowest days for a pharmacy in my experience. I am not saying that being alone is appropriate (not enough information to determine that), but unlike every other retail job I have ever had, the weekends are the slowest part of the week behind the counter, which I found quite surprising.
 
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owlegrad said:
You say "on a Saturday no less", but Saturday and Sunday are the slowest days for a pharmacy in my experience. I am not saying that being alone is appropriate (not enough information to determine that), but unlike every other retail job I have ever had, the weekends are the slowest part of the week behind the counter, which I found quite surprising.
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The reason it is the only slow retail job on Saturday is because every other place IS busy. Why would I get life saving medicine on Saturday when I can go to BestBuy and window shop for a few hours?

Depending on the store I usually saw around 1-2 techs with a pharmacist. The tech was there so if it got busy production wasn't down or data entry if the pharmacist had to counsel, etc. If it was slow the tech could do things like inventory management of old drugs, clean up, etc.
 
Jabberwocky12 said:
The reason it is the only slow retail job on Saturday is because every other place IS busy. Why would I get life saving medicine on Saturday when I can go to BestBuy and window shop for a few hours?

Depending on the store I usually saw around 1-2 techs with a pharmacist. The tech was there so if it got busy production wasn't down or data entry if the pharmacist had to counsel, etc. If it was slow the tech could do things like inventory management of old drugs, clean up, etc.
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I take your point about our society/culture, but I really think it has more to do with the fact that many doctor's offices are closed on the weekend then it has to do with anything else. I agree that downtime on the weekend is an excellent chance to do inventory management or other operational activities.
 
owlegrad said:
You say "on a Saturday no less", but Saturday and Sunday are the slowest days for a pharmacy in my experience.
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Not that it matters, but perhaps that's because we're not in the same demographic (assuming you're in Orlando). I'm in a city of over 1 million people and this sucks because unfortunately this Walgreens is the only pharmacy that routinely stocks my prescription in the amount I need each month. When I go on the weekends it's because it's located out of my way and I do wait over an hour (at times more even with full staff) routinely if I don't get there by 9am when they open.

In any event, I was more shocked by the fact that they were cutting staff as we have a pharmacy school in the same city and there seems to be no shortage of business if the wait to fill a prescription is any indication. But what do I know...anyway, hope things get better.
 
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owlegrad said:
I take your point about our society/culture, but I really think it has more to do with the fact that many doctor's offices are closed on the weekend then it has to do with anything else. I agree that downtime on the weekend is an excellent chance to do inventory management or other operational activities.
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Yeah I'm just in a hypercritical mood about people in general today for some reason, probably because I had to work my insurance job (auto and property) and people are totally ignorant (not uninformed, but ignorant).

Inventory management is key for retail, they have metrics for it and everything. I was probably spoiled when I worked at my CVS though because it was in like, the bottom 20 CVS in the country. So we got extra tech hours to pull the store out of the s****er for weekends and all.

3 techs per weekend on a 2400 script/week pharmacy? YUM!
 
UNVME2 said:
Not that it matters, but perhaps that's because we're not in the same part of the US (assuming you're in Orlando). I'm only asking because I'm a student and unfortunately this Walgreens is the only pharmacy that routinely stocks my prescription in the amount I need each month.

I go on the weekends because it's located out of my way and I do wait over an hour (at times more even with full staff) routinely if I don't get there by 9am when they open.

In any event, I was more shocked by the fact that they were cutting staff as we have a pharmacy school in the same city. Anyway, hope things get better.
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Well cutting back hours is cutting back hours. You would be surprised how hard it is to give away your help for free. I'm a CPhT who wanted some extra exposure in independents and hospital setting so I offered free volunteering with retail experience. Retail is no different. Try training a bunch of students as techs who want to counsel, have no experience (most don't anyway) and then all have the same availability.

Naw man, pass. :smuggrin:
 
owlegrad said:
I take your point about our society/culture, but I really think it has more to do with the fact that many doctor's offices are closed on the weekend then it has to do with anything else.
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...except the ER. I ♥ them! Those doctors hardly ever write for garbage like EpiDuo or Veramyst.
 
UNVME2 said:
Not that it matters, but perhaps that's because we're not in the same demographic (assuming you're in Orlando). I'm in a city of over 1 million people and this sucks because unfortunately this Walgreens is the only pharmacy that routinely stocks my prescription in the amount I need each month. When I go on the weekends it's because it's located out of my way and I do wait over an hour (at times more even with full staff) routinely if I don't get there by 9am when they open.

In any event, I was more shocked by the fact that they were cutting staff as we have a pharmacy school in the same city and there seems to be no shortage of business if the wait to fill a prescription is any indication. But what do I know...anyway, hope things get better.
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Wow, assuming that time frame is accurate, then yes that staffing level is inappropriate. They either need more help or better help. I can't imagine a 1-hour wait on the weekend, we only give out that wait time at our peak on Mondays and Wednesday.

Side note, why do people wait that long for a prescription? It's crazy! Just drop the darn thing off and pick it up later. And why do so many people not call ahaid their refills? This is even crazier to me!
 
UNVME2 said:
Just went to pickup a prescription at the pharmacy and I was alarmed that the Walgreens pharmacy was only staffed with ONE person (on a Saturday no less).

I asked her if she was the only one working, and she looked at me and said "Yeh, they're cutting a lot of techs to save on costs. I'm going crazy here!" She then went on to talk about how prescriptions are up not down, etc.

Anyway, I was curious if it's just Walgreens or all pharmacies? It's a shame either way with the economy and the consequences of patient care.
Click to expand...

What city are you in? That sounds really odd around here. The only way a pharmacist would be without a tech on a Saturday or Sunday is if they fill about 60 scripts or less. Has to be a slow store.
 
I could only imagine working alone at an independent on the weekends. Anything more would make me get all nervous and frustrated.

OP, do you know how long the pharmacy is open on saturdays?
 
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Unless it is a really quiet pharmacy, on weekends, most Wags have 2 techs. You might have come while the other tech was on break/lunch.
 
Weekend is not that slow... we do about 180 rxs on sat with 1 tech!! Tech can NEVER be away from register, either!!! People keeps coming and coming to register! I don't know what's up but we get all sorts of customers with many problems on saturdays, too!!!

I just can't believe how rude & inconsiderate people are! They see at least 5 angry people are at register waiting for prescriptions, I am the only one input, fill and dispense & the only tech I have is trying to help to fill whenever she gets a moment away from a register BUT people are bitching we are not ringing right away their milk, cereal, chocolate, soda...etc!!!
 
rxpharmdqd said:
Weekend is not that slow... we do about 180 rxs on sat with 1 tech!! Tech can NEVER be away from register, either!!! People keeps coming and coming to register! I don't know what's up but we get all sorts of customers with many problems on saturdays, too!!!

I just can't believe how rude & inconsiderate people are! They see at least 5 angry people are at register waiting for prescriptions, I am the only one input, fill and dispense & the only tech I have is trying to help to fill whenever she gets a moment away from a register BUT people are bitching we are not ringing right away their milk, cereal, chocolate, soda...etc!!!
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Do you have it in your budget to bring in a middle shift say, from 11-3pm? Maybe trim hours from somewhere during week shifts? While doable, that wouldn't be a fun Saturday.
 
Our store is strangely busy on saturday in our area. There would be 2 techs with the pharmacist, but now we only have one tech on saturday for half the day on saturday, and the company is considering getting rid of the the last tech....

CVS has been cutting back on techs starting at least 3 years ago. Now they are limiting the amount of interns they hire as well. CVS in my area is only hiring interns if they only plan on signing on with the company after graduation. If you dont plan to then they wont consider you for the position.
 
rxpharmdqd said:
Weekend is not that slow... we do about 180 rxs on sat with 1 tech!! Tech can NEVER be away from register, either!!! People keeps coming and coming to register! I don't know what's up but we get all sorts of customers with many problems on saturdays, too!!!

I just can't believe how rude & inconsiderate people are! They see at least 5 angry people are at register waiting for prescriptions, I am the only one input, fill and dispense & the only tech I have is trying to help to fill whenever she gets a moment away from a register BUT people are bitching we are not ringing right away their milk, cereal, chocolate, soda...etc!!!
Click to expand...

Thats our life!!! Do not forget about people walking up in the middle of all that asking for a flu shot and then getting all huffy when you tell them they will have to wait thier turn. I swear some people think there is a magic flu shot fairy that pops out of the floor when they want a shot.
 
UNVME2 said:
Just went to pickup a prescription at the pharmacy and I was alarmed that the Walgreens pharmacy was only staffed with ONE person (on a Saturday no less).

I asked her if she was the only one working, and she looked at me and said "Yeh, they're cutting a lot of techs to save on costs. I'm going crazy here!" She then went on to talk about how prescriptions are up not down, etc.

Anyway, I was curious if it's just Walgreens or all pharmacies? It's a shame either way with the economy and the consequences of patient care.
Click to expand...

It is going on everywhere. I swear in a few years there will be no techs just one pharmacist and a clerk doing 400 scripts a day. Oh and immunizations, PIC lines, IV therapy, Kidney dialysis and whatever other crap they can pile on us to try and make a buck. Do not forget to counsel every patient and make sure you go walk everyone out and show there where OTC items are less you get a bad secret shopper report. This whole thing has turned into a bad joke.

Really it all goes back to the PBM take over of our indusrty. If our corporate chain slave masters would refuse to sign the ****ty PBM contracts and fight for better reimbursemnet then all this would stop. The big chains are finding out there is a point where you cannot make up the loss by doing more volume. Now they are trying to make up for lost profits the only way they can by cutting labor costs. It is bad all the way around. Bad for pharmacists, bad for patients and bad for the profession.
 
MountainPharmD said:
It is going on everywhere. I swear in a few years there will be no techs just one pharmacist and a clerk doing 400 scripts a day. Oh and immunizations, PIC lines, IV therapy, Kidney dialysis and whatever other crap they can pile on us to try and make a buck. Do not forget to counsel every patient and make sure you go walk everyone out and show there where OTC items are less you get a bad secret shopper report. This whole thing has turned into a bad joke.

Really it all goes back to the PBM take over of our indusrty. If our corporate chain slave masters would refuse to sign the ****ty PBM contracts and fight for better reimbursemnet then all this would stop. The big chains are finding out there is a point where you cannot make up the loss by doing more volume. Now they are trying to make up for lost profits the only way they can by cutting labor costs. It is bad all the way around. Bad for pharmacists, bad for patients and bad for the profession.
Click to expand...

Yep.

Was just speaking to a friend of mine who is a pharmacy manager for Walgreens in New Jersey. Remembering the good old times when we started, some ten years ago, when script volume was lower but we had double the number of techs we do now. And didn't have all the other crap to do. Even two years ago staffing levels were better - still brutal, but at least doable.

The pharmacy where I moonlight twice a month does about 200 scripts a day - that's with 1 hour of pharmacist overlap during the day and always just one tech in the pharmacy - and there are no techs during the pharmacist overlap (lunch) or in the morning until 10am. And that's in a pharmacy where a big chunk of your patients have never been there before, and most scripts are new scripts (joys of being located between two major ERs in a very poor area).
 
IndustryPharmD said:
Yep.

Was just speaking to a friend of mine who is a pharmacy manager for Walgreens in New Jersey. Remembering the good old times when we started, some ten years ago, when script volume was lower but we had double the number of techs we do now. And didn't have all the other crap to do. Even two years ago staffing levels were better - still brutal, but at least doable.

The pharmacy where I moonlight twice a month does about 200 scripts a day - that's with 1 hour of pharmacist overlap during the day and always just one tech in the pharmacy - and there are no techs during the pharmacist overlap (lunch) or in the morning until 10am. And that's in a pharmacy where a big chunk of your patients have never been there before, and most scripts are new scripts (joys of being located between two major ERs in a very poor area).
Click to expand...

The problem with most chains is that expect us to work like this while having wait times under 15 minutes and giving a million flu shots. I have heard rumblings that some chains are looking to bypass PBMs and go directly to large employers to offer a drug to them directly that will save them more money than a PBM. This was supposedly one of the reasons CVS was heard to be shopping it's PBM around (along with all the anti-trust violations too)
 
My script to tech hour ratio is usually in the range of 11-13 scripts per tech hour. How does this compare to yours?

Formula: (Daily average * 7 days per week)/total weekly tech hours
 
PharmD RPh said:
The problem with most chains is that expect us to work like this while having wait times under 15 minutes and giving a million flu shots. I have heard rumblings that some chains are looking to bypass PBMs and go directly to large employers to offer a drug to them directly that will save them more money than a PBM. This was supposedly one of the reasons CVS was heard to be shopping it's PBM around (along with all the anti-trust violations too)
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Of course. The way I explain it to patients who complain about wait times or whatever: you can't expect Saks 5th avenue service and pay Walmart prices. Everyone wants cheaper drugs, not better service in the pharmacy, and everyone is getting what they asked for.
 
IndustryPharmD said:
Of course. The way I explain it to patients who complain about wait times or whatever: you can't expect Saks 5th avenue service and pay Walmart prices. Everyone wants cheaper drugs, not better service in the pharmacy, and everyone is getting what they asked for.
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I have used a similar explanation every time I have had someone complain that "it's cheaper at Walmart". If you want to go to Walmart by all means be my guest. If you want our service (shorter wait, drive thru, etc.), that's our price. Can't have both. Of course I put it a bit nicer than that, but that's the gist of it.
 
PharmD RPh said:
The problem with most chains is that expect us to work like this while having wait times under 15 minutes and giving a million flu shots. I have heard rumblings that some chains are looking to bypass PBMs and go directly to large employers to offer a drug to them directly that will save them more money than a PBM. This was supposedly one of the reasons CVS was heard to be shopping it's PBM around (along with all the anti-trust violations too)
Click to expand...

Wal-Mart has already done this. Caterpillar was their first big company. Basically Wal-Mart acts as a PBM for them. Last I read it was working pretty well.
 
owlegrad said:
I have used a similar explanation every time I have had someone complain that "it's cheaper at Walmart". If you want to go to Walmart by all means be my guest. If you want our service (shorter wait, drive thru, etc.), that's our price. Can't have both. Of course I put it a bit nicer than that, but that's the gist of it.
Click to expand...

I always heard of the trio: fast, accurate, cheap. You can have two of the three.
 
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