What did I do wrong in this situation?

[Sparda29]

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So we had this situation earlier this week that might result in the first customer complaint I have ever received.

Customers comes in with 2 scripts. One is for Avelox #10, other is for Phenergan VC w/Codeine 10 ml TID. I start to fill the scripts, and when I get to the Phenergan VC w/Codeine script, I realize the prescriber has not put a quantity or duration of therapy on the prescription. Patient has requested to wait for the prescription since she cannot drive.

So I proceed to call up the prescriber, prescriber asks for 6 ounces. The pharmacist informs me that we can only do 5 ounces now that it is converted to a verbal prescription, I relay that to the prescriber and they are fine with it.

Pharmacist had unwittingly completed the fill of the Avelox and informed the patient that the order was ready. I inform them that we still gotta fill the Phenergan VC w/Codeine. I go over to pull the Phenergan VC w/Codeine but we are out of stock on it.

I call up the prescriber again to get an alternative. Patient now walks up to me and asks what is taking so long, I reply that we are out of stock on the cough medication and we need to get an alternative.

Patient is now getting impatient. I call up the prescriber for the alternative but I'm placed on hold since the doctor is in with another patient. Now the patient wants both prescriptions back so she can go to Rite-Aid.

I inform her that it is going to take her even longer if she does that because the people at Rite-Aid are going to have to call the doctor also to get the whole quantity thing fixed and she'll have to wait even longer. She then says that she'll just go back to the doctor's office to get a new prescription for the Phenergan VC w/Codeine and then takes the prescriptions to Rite Aid. I get a call back from the doctor like 2 minutes after she left to give her Benzonate 100 mg capsules instead.
😡

 

[crazybob]

So we had this situation earlier this week that might result in the first customer complaint I have ever received.

Customers comes in with 2 scripts. One is for Avelox #10, other is for Phenergan VC w/Codeine 10 ml TID. I start to fill the scripts, and when I get to the Phenergan VC w/Codeine script, I realize the prescriber has not put a quantity or duration of therapy on the prescription. Patient has requested to wait for the prescription since she cannot drive.

So I proceed to call up the prescriber, prescriber asks for 6 ounces. The pharmacist informs me that we can only do 5 ounces now that it is converted to a verbal prescription, I relay that to the prescriber and they are fine with it.

Pharmacist had unwittingly completed the fill of the Avelox and informed the patient that the order was ready. I inform them that we still gotta fill the Phenergan VC w/Codeine. I go over to pull the Phenergan VC w/Codeine but we are out of stock on it.

I call up the prescriber again to get an alternative. Patient now walks up to me and asks what is taking so long, I reply that we are out of stock on the cough medication and we need to get an alternative.

Patient is now getting impatient. I call up the prescriber for the alternative but I'm placed on hold since the doctor is in with another patient. Now the patient wants both prescriptions back so she can go to Rite-Aid.

I inform her that it is going to take her even longer if she does that because the people at Rite-Aid are going to have to call the doctor also to get the whole quantity thing fixed and she'll have to wait even longer. She then says that she'll just go back to the doctor's office to get a new prescription for the Phenergan VC w/Codeine and then takes the prescriptions to Rite Aid. I get a call back from the doctor like 2 minutes after she left to give her Benzonate 100 mg capsules instead.
😡

You did what you could. But, couldn't you have given her Avelox and had her pay for it, and then returned the script for Phenergan when she requested?

But I can see where she would complain. She's asking for the scripts back, and you were a little hesitant to give them back to her. If you had said that you are still talking to the doctor and ask her to wait until the doctor tells you everything, she might understand why she would have to wait (even though still waiting impatiently).

She probably didn't want to hear about Rite-Aid, because most people just want their medications quickly, and if it takes longer, they want a good estimate of how long to wait so they can decide what to do with the time.

 

[docss26]

So we had this situation earlier this week that might result in the first customer complaint I have ever received.

Customers comes in with 2 scripts. One is for Avelox #10, other is for Phenergan VC w/Codeine 10 ml TID. I start to fill the scripts, and when I get to the Phenergan VC w/Codeine script, I realize the prescriber has not put a quantity or duration of therapy on the prescription. Patient has requested to wait for the prescription since she cannot drive.

So I proceed to call up the prescriber, prescriber asks for 6 ounces. The pharmacist informs me that we can only do 5 ounces now that it is converted to a verbal prescription, I relay that to the prescriber and they are fine with it.

Pharmacist had unwittingly completed the fill of the Avelox and informed the patient that the order was ready. I inform them that we still gotta fill the Phenergan VC w/Codeine. I go over to pull the Phenergan VC w/Codeine but we are out of stock on it.

I call up the prescriber again to get an alternative. Patient now walks up to me and asks what is taking so long, I reply that we are out of stock on the cough medication and we need to get an alternative.

Patient is now getting impatient. I call up the prescriber for the alternative but I'm placed on hold since the doctor is in with another patient. Now the patient wants both prescriptions back so she can go to Rite-Aid.

I inform her that it is going to take her even longer if she does that because the people at Rite-Aid are going to have to call the doctor also to get the whole quantity thing fixed and she'll have to wait even longer. She then says that she'll just go back to the doctor's office to get a new prescription for the Phenergan VC w/Codeine and then takes the prescriptions to Rite Aid. I get a call back from the doctor like 2 minutes after she left to give her Benzonate 100 mg capsules instead.
😡

I think you handled it the best you could. Ive been in many situations like this, but we deliver so its never a problem lol. I think most people would have some the same thing, try to get them to be patient and wait, maybe browse the store or make conversation?

 

[Transformer]

I used to work at a hospital pharmacy and we almost always try our best to check stock before telling patients how long the wait time is.

Now, I'm interning at a retail pharmacy, and most of the pharmacists I work with don't prefer to check stock first. The common practice is to take in the script and worry about checking stock later.

In your situation, I would check stock first. Inform the patient you're out of Phenergan VC w/Codeine and that any pharmacy the patient goes to requires calling the doctor to verify its quantity and duration. Tell the patient you can call the doctor to change to another medication and that it might take some time depending how busy the doctor is at the moment.

 

[bacillus1]

You have 1 unhappy customer, big deal. You did the best you could, and they're still grumpy? Too bad. You can't always please everyone.

 

[crazybob]

You have 1 unhappy customer, big deal. You did the best you could, and they're still grumpy? Too bad. You can't always please everyone.

👍 This is one of many things you learn from working in retail.

 

[StallionRx]

👍 This is one of many things you learn from working in retail.

Yup. Best advice yet.

Cant please them all.

 

[pharmwannebe2]

Yup. Best advice yet.

Cant please them all.

exactly. especially in retail. most patients are douches. don't feel bad if you tried your hardest. And believe me, you put way more effort than I would ever want to.

 

[aboveliquidice]

Yup. Best advice yet.

Cant please them all.

Maybe... checking stock before agreeing to fill something would be prudent. Not on all meds, I typically check CII/III's.

 

[Old Timer]

When you are in the heart of cough & cold season, it's incumbent on you to have an idea of what's in stock before you start. That being said, some time SH** happens and there is nothing you could do about this. The only question I have is where is your pharmacist? He/she should be intervening on your behalf.

Remember, people in the USA are 100000% narcissistic. Just smile and give them the finger under the counter. The meaner they get, the nicer I get. What's the point of letting them get to you?

 

[Sparda29]

When you are in the heart of cough & cold season, it's incumbent on you to have an idea of what's in stock before you start. That being said, some time SH** happens and there is nothing you could do about this. The only question I have is where is your pharmacist? He/she should be intervening on your behalf.

Remember, people in the USA are 100000% narcissistic. Just smile and give them the finger under the counter. The meaner they get, the nicer I get. What's the point of letting them get to you?

She kind of went into a tirade about always checking stock before evening typing it in. Usually, when it comes to a high quantity or some obscure medication we rarely dispense, I'd check stock, but for frikkin Avelox and Phenergan VC w/Codeine. I don't get how we could be out of stock on such a commonly used medication.

I don't know, all though this pharmacist is nice, I don't like how she is conforming to the way CVS wants the pharmacy run, my last pharmacy manager ran it the way he wanted it run, and I liked that.

For example, last year, if someone dropped off a script and we had a bunch of stuff to do, I'd tell the patient that the wait time was 30-45 minutes. The pharmacist I work with now says that if they want to wait, THE WAIT TIME IS 15 MINUTES, AND WE WILL DO IT IN 15 MINUTES. Holy ****. I can't believe she actually wrote up another tech for entering W30 into the system.

Personally, IMO (which is completely opposite to the opinion of CVS), you TELL the patient when to come back for their prescription, not ASK when they would like it.

 

[crazybob]

She kind of went into a tirade about always checking stock before evening typing it in. Usually, when it comes to a high quantity or some obscure medication we rarely dispense, I'd check stock, but for frikkin Avelox and Phenergan VC w/Codeine. I don't get how we could be out of stock on such a commonly used medication.

I don't know, all though this pharmacist is nice, I don't like how she is conforming to the way CVS wants the pharmacy run, my last pharmacy manager ran it the way he wanted it run, and I liked that.

For example, last year, if someone dropped off a script and we had a bunch of stuff to do, I'd tell the patient that the wait time was 30-45 minutes. The pharmacist I work with now says that if they want to wait, THE WAIT TIME IS 15 MINUTES, AND WE WILL DO IT IN 15 MINUTES. Holy ****. I can't believe she actually wrote up another tech for entering W30 into the system.

Personally, IMO (which is completely opposite to the opinion of CVS), you TELL the patient when to come back for their prescription, not ASK when they would like it.

Wow. Did she used to work in a store filling 500-600 scripts per day?

 

[PharmDstudent]

Personally, IMO (which is completely opposite to the opinion of CVS), you TELL the patient when to come back for their prescription, not ASK when they would like it.

Then don't be a CVS pharmacist!


I don't see anything wrong with filling waits instead of call-ins or auto refills that are already printed on the counter, but you can't fill everything in 15 minutes. Problems come up, phone calls have to be made, insurance cards don't go through, etc.

 

[Ayemageyene]

People love their fast food. All the more reason why they love drive-thru pharmacies. You did all you could.

I've been in a similar situation before though, except it concerned insurance and being able to cover my drugs. I can understand where she's coming from but she was getting inpatient with the wrong people. The prescriber should have wrote how much for how long. I'm not sure about the patient but it would seem she didn't pay any attention whatsoever to the prescriptions or how long she would need to take said medication. It sounds like "oh I'll just take this for the rest of my life" went through her head. 😴 Or she blew off whatever her prescriber told her.

The least she could have thought about before walking out of her prescriber's office was "how long do I (or the person who needed it) have to take this (disgusting) stuff?" even if she was sick/in a hurry. 👎

 

[Sparda29]

Wow. Did she used to work in a store filling 500-600 scripts per day?

She used to, she wanted a quieter store so she got sent to our store.

 

[bwsalvas]

I work at 2 different CVS's, one in downstate New York, the other up at school.

One fills ~125 scripts a day, the other regularly breaks 450 with single coverage.

At the busy store the techs always ask the customer "Would you like to wait for this?" always followed up by "Give us 15 minutes." Regardless of the actual condition of the queue.

At the slower store, the pharmacist, a 30yr CVS veteran and stickler, will always ask "When would you like to come back and pick this up?"

Asking that gives you more control, now the customer has to say "well, um I'd like to wait for it..." which the pharmacist follows up with "thats fine, I've got about 5 others ahead of you, so it will be about 20-25 minutes."
However, every waiter script gets input for W15.

She also never sends a script out faster than 10 minutes. Sure, to fill a Zpak takes two seconds, but she refuses to send the script out as soon as its done. "Training the customers" she calls it. I like it either way. These seem like clever survival strategies to pace your day rather than having others do it for you.

 

[lorain]

you didnt do nothing wrong, i only check stock for c2 before taking the rx and running it through

people need a reason to complain, dont worry about them


my wait time is a hour during peak time, sorry, cant give shots and fill and the accessory stuff all at same time

 

[MindOverMatter]

I always try to give a good first impression to each patient. Try working on these faces:

 

[MountainPharmD]

She kind of went into a tirade about always checking stock before evening typing it in. Usually, when it comes to a high quantity or some obscure medication we rarely dispense, I'd check stock, but for frikkin Avelox and Phenergan VC w/Codeine. I don't get how we could be out of stock on such a commonly used medication.

I don't know, all though this pharmacist is nice, I don't like how she is conforming to the way CVS wants the pharmacy run, my last pharmacy manager ran it the way he wanted it run, and I liked that.

For example, last year, if someone dropped off a script and we had a bunch of stuff to do, I'd tell the patient that the wait time was 30-45 minutes. The pharmacist I work with now says that if they want to wait, THE WAIT TIME IS 15 MINUTES, AND WE WILL DO IT IN 15 MINUTES. Holy ****. I can't believe she actually wrote up another tech for entering W30 into the system.

Personally, IMO (which is completely opposite to the opinion of CVS), you TELL the patient when to come back for their prescription, not ASK when they would like it.

What an idiot! She personifies all that is wrong with profession.

 

[StallionRx]

Personally, IMO (which is completely opposite to the opinion of CVS), you TELL the patient when to come back for their prescription, not ASK when they would like it.

I agree.

I could care less what the company policy is in regards to what I must tell every patient. The wait is what I say it is. Sometimes ill type, bill, fill and verify a script in about 2 minutes other times Ill tell people to come back in 2 hours. I adjust the wait time to what my situation is at the current time.

 

[Sparda29]

I mean, if they're sick and it's not busy, yeah I can get you your scripts in less than 5 minutes, but when the queue is filled with 5 pages of scripts, phones constantly ringing, endless line at pick-up, things are gonna take longer than 15 minutes to fill, especially if I have to track down a physician who failed to correctly write out a prescription.

Oh yeah, the pharmacist I work for now, kind of didn't have a good reaction when I asked her why is CVS trying to "McDonaldize" the profession, and why is she going along with it? Since when does the ****ing Triple S score have anything to do with if you get a raise or if you get fired?

About 30 times a day I get a prescription that is undated. Since I don't want to get into a fight with the pharmacist or with the patient about the whole legality of it, I'll just scribble in the date, or I'll ask the patient to date the prescription. Obviously, if its a CII, I'm not gonna accept it but for Glyburide, Nexium, etc, w/e.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I don't think you did anything wrong. Eff that. Just reading this makes my BP increase. Thank God I don't work retail (much) anymore.

 

[type b pharmD]

#1. The pharmacist who was running the place made a mistake by telling the customer that the script was ready when her order had not been completed. Sets up false high expectations and the customer is going to be disappointed for sure because he/she will feel deceived by an employee telling her it was ready when in fact it wasnt.

#2. You made a mistake by giving the customer a spiel about having to wait longer at rite aid. If you had just said "i'm sorry we werent able to serve you fast enough, here are your scripts to take to a different store" the customer would not have had any room to bitch at all.

 

[Old Timer]

I mean, if they're sick and it's not busy, yeah I can get you your scripts in less than 5 minutes, but when the queue is filled with 5 pages of scripts, phones constantly ringing, endless line at pick-up, things are gonna take longer than 15 minutes to fill, especially if I have to track down a physician who failed to correctly write out a prescription.

Oh yeah, the pharmacist I work for now, kind of didn't have a good reaction when I asked her why is CVS trying to "McDonaldize" the profession, and why is she going along with it? Since when does the ****ing Triple S score have anything to do with if you get a raise or if you get fired?

About 30 times a day I get a prescription that is undated. Since I don't want to get into a fight with the pharmacist or with the patient about the whole legality of it, I'll just scribble in the date, or I'll ask the patient to date the prescription. Obviously, if its a CII, I'm not gonna accept it but for Glyburide, Nexium, etc, w/e.

First of all, this is not Sparda Pharmacy. This is CVS pharmacy. You do what your employer tells you or you quit. You don't get to make the rules. The policy at CVS is to have a wait time of 15 minutes or less for those people who choose to wait. The computer has a wait time calculator that tells you what the wait time should be. Your jobs is to get the order out in the required time or reset the customer's expectations. So there are four failures in this scenario.

• You failed to check the stock or be aware of what the stock was. This is a mandatory element of PSI.
• You failed to keep the patient at drop off through insurance adjudication. This is also a mandatory element of PSI.
• Your pharmacist failed to note there were two prescriptions in the order or you failed to indicate to the pharmacist there were two prescriptions in the order.
• You failed to reset the customer's expectation when the physician did not have the correct quantity and you did not have the drug in stock.

Knowing the way people are and knowing there was a problem with the prescription, you inform the patient up front there is a problem with the prescription and it is going to take an undetermined amount of time because you have to contact the physician. Did they want to wait or take the Avelox now and come back for the cough medicine.

No matter where you work, your employer will have a policy for you to follow. You either follow the policy or work elsewhere.

The reason the SSS score matter is, the better the SSS score the better the store does in sales and profits. People who give you higher SSS scores get more prescriptions filled and spend more money on OTC purchases than people who don't. People who give higher scores on the SSS are less likely to transfer their prescriptions to other stores. And finally, SSS scores matter because your employer says so.

The example you gave where the pharmacist would keep a completed prescription behind the counter is an infantile power play. Grow up and face the real world. When your boss says sh** you squat and say how much and what color or you sh** somewhere else.

 

[Sparda29]

First of all, this is not Sparda Pharmacy. This is CVS pharmacy. You do what your employer tells you or you quit. You don't get to make the rules. The policy at CVS is to have a wait time of 15 minutes or less for those people who choose to wait. The computer has a wait time calculator that tells you what the wait time should be. Your jobs is to get the order out in the required time or reset the customer's expectations. So there are four failures in this scenario.

• You failed to check the stock or be aware of what the stock was. This is a mandatory element of PSI.
• You failed to keep the patient at drop off through insurance adjudication. This is also a mandatory element of PSI.
• Your pharmacist failed to note there were two prescriptions in the order or you failed to indicate to the pharmacist there were two prescriptions in the order.
• You failed to reset the customer's expectation when the physician did not have the correct quantity and you did not have the drug in stock.

Knowing the way people are and knowing there was a problem with the prescription, you inform the patient up front there is a problem with the prescription and it is going to take an undetermined amount of time because you have to contact the physician. Did they want to wait or take the Avelox now and come back for the cough medicine.

No matter where you work, your employer will have a policy for you to follow. You either follow the policy or work elsewhere.

The reason the SSS score matter is, the better the SSS score the better the store does in sales and profits. People who give you higher SSS scores get more prescriptions filled and spend more money on OTC purchases than people who don't. People who give higher scores on the SSS are less likely to transfer their prescriptions to other stores. And finally, SSS scores matter because your employer says so.

The example you gave where the pharmacist would keep a completed prescription behind the counter is an infantile power play. Grow up and face the real world. When your boss says sh** you squat and say how much and what color or you sh** somewhere else.

Hmm, the completed prescription thing was some other dude, not me.

 

[Doctor M]

First of all, this is not Sparda Pharmacy. This is CVS pharmacy. You do what your employer tells you or you quit. You don't get to make the rules. The policy at CVS is to have a wait time of 15 minutes or less for those people who choose to wait. The computer has a wait time calculator that tells you what the wait time should be. Your jobs is to get the order out in the required time or reset the customer's expectations. So there are four failures in this scenario.

• You failed to check the stock or be aware of what the stock was. This is a mandatory element of PSI.
• You failed to keep the patient at drop off through insurance adjudication. This is also a mandatory element of PSI.
• Your pharmacist failed to note there were two prescriptions in the order or you failed to indicate to the pharmacist there were two prescriptions in the order.
• You failed to reset the customer's expectation when the physician did not have the correct quantity and you did not have the drug in stock.

Knowing the way people are and knowing there was a problem with the prescription, you inform the patient up front there is a problem with the prescription and it is going to take an undetermined amount of time because you have to contact the physician. Did they want to wait or take the Avelox now and come back for the cough medicine.

No matter where you work, your employer will have a policy for you to follow. You either follow the policy or work elsewhere.

The reason the SSS score matter is, the better the SSS score the better the store does in sales and profits. People who give you higher SSS scores get more prescriptions filled and spend more money on OTC purchases than people who don't. People who give higher scores on the SSS are less likely to transfer their prescriptions to other stores. And finally, SSS scores matter because your employer says so.

The example you gave where the pharmacist would keep a completed prescription behind the counter is an infantile power play. Grow up and face the real world. When your boss says sh** you squat and say how much and what color or you sh** somewhere else.

Very well put...that is why I quit CVS and went on to make my own rules!🙂

 

[MountainPharmD]

Only thing wrong is you working for CVS.

 

[Sparda29]

Only thing wrong is you working for CVS.

Interviewed at 2 hospitals so far. One of them told me that for the job I need to be able to do training Monday-Friday 9-5AM so that didn't work out. Other hospital says they don't want interns during the school year.

 

[nicolemsm]

Interviewed at 2 hospitals so far. One of them told me that for the job I need to be able to do training Monday-Friday 9-5AM so that didn't work out. Other hospital says they don't want interns during the school year.

Are there any independent pharms near you? Also, I recommend Target pharmacies (if I was of age I would completely work there)... my local Target pharmacist was so enthusiastic about his job and it was really a shocker to see someone so upbeat behind the counter. (I'm basing this off my experience with dbag Wags, CVS and Wally pharmacists....so rude :/)

 

[PharmDstudent]

Are there any independent pharms near you? Also, I recommend Target pharmacies (if I was of age I would completely work there)... my local Target pharmacist was so enthusiastic about his job and it was really a shocker to see someone so upbeat behind the counter. (I'm basing this off my experience with dbag Wags, CVS and Wally pharmacists....so rude :/)

You can't judge an entire sector of pharmacy based on one pharmacist. 🙄

 

[nicolemsm]

You can't judge an entire sector of pharmacy based on one pharmacist. 🙄

One day I spent over 2 hours calling local pharmacies including, independent, walgreens, cvs', and walmarts within a 50 or so vicinity of my house to shadow their pharmacists... the independent and Target were the only "willing" the rest either flatly were rude, hung up, or gave me WRONG numbers to their district office :/


I guess I had a bad introduction to retail pharmacy hahaha

 

[Sparda29]

Are there any independent pharms near you? Also, I recommend Target pharmacies (if I was of age I would completely work there)... my local Target pharmacist was so enthusiastic about his job and it was really a shocker to see someone so upbeat behind the counter. (I'm basing this off my experience with dbag Wags, CVS and Wally pharmacists....so rude :/)

I am not a fan of the way that Target fills prescriptions. I've been told its quite out-dated and manual.

 

[Old Timer]

Very well put...that is why I quit CVS and went on to make my own rules!🙂

But having said that, I assume you expect your employees to follow the polices you ordain as an owner.

 

[crazybob]

I am not a fan of the way that Target fills prescriptions. I've been told its quite out-dated and manual.

That's the thing about working in retail, isn't it? You do so many things in the ways you don't agree because your boss tells you or it's company policy. If you go to a different retail company, some of the rules you didn't like may have gotten better, but there are still others that get on your nerves.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

First of all, this is not Sparda Pharmacy. This is CVS pharmacy. You do what your employer tells you or you quit. You don't get to make the rules. The policy at CVS is to have a wait time of 15 minutes or less for those people who choose to wait. The computer has a wait time calculator that tells you what the wait time should be. Your jobs is to get the order out in the required time or reset the customer's expectations. So there are four failures in this scenario.

• You failed to check the stock or be aware of what the stock was. This is a mandatory element of PSI.
• You failed to keep the patient at drop off through insurance adjudication. This is also a mandatory element of PSI.
• Your pharmacist failed to note there were two prescriptions in the order or you failed to indicate to the pharmacist there were two prescriptions in the order.
• You failed to reset the customer's expectation when the physician did not have the correct quantity and you did not have the drug in stock.

Knowing the way people are and knowing there was a problem with the prescription, you inform the patient up front there is a problem with the prescription and it is going to take an undetermined amount of time because you have to contact the physician. Did they want to wait or take the Avelox now and come back for the cough medicine.

No matter where you work, your employer will have a policy for you to follow. You either follow the policy or work elsewhere.

The reason the SSS score matter is, the better the SSS score the better the store does in sales and profits. People who give you higher SSS scores get more prescriptions filled and spend more money on OTC purchases than people who don't. People who give higher scores on the SSS are less likely to transfer their prescriptions to other stores. And finally, SSS scores matter because your employer says so.

The example you gave where the pharmacist would keep a completed prescription behind the counter is an infantile power play. Grow up and face the real world. When your boss says sh** you squat and say how much and what color or you sh** somewhere else.

What incredible cowardice. Just take it like a common serf? That's why the people in retail get what they deserve. THEY need US. Not the other way around. It doesn't have to be like that. THEY should feel honored that we chose to allow them to employ US. Not the other way around. My God, if its like this now, just imagine how worked over you folks will be when the shortage is officially over here in a few years.

My great-grandparents' generation took up arms and fought the ****ing US National Guard on Blair Mountain just because they were sick of working conditions and the corporate interests having all of the power. Maybe its the Appalachian coal miners' blood in me...but I'd be embarrassed to admit that I'd just take it in the rear like this. Don't let them take your dignity from you without a fight. Jesus...

The unions need to rise up and take the country back. The capitalists in this country have far too much economic leverage.

 

[StallionRx]

What incredible cowardice. Just take it like a common serf? That's why the people in retail get what they deserve. THEY need US. Not the other way around. It doesn't have to be like that. THEY should feel honored that we chose to allow them to employ US. Not the other way around. My God, if its like this now, just imagine how worked over you folks will be when the shortage is officially over here in a few years.

My great-grandparents' generation took up arms and fought the ****ing US National Guard on Blair Mountain just because they were sick of working conditions and the corporate interests having all of the power. Maybe its the Appalachian coal miners' blood in me...but I'd be embarrassed to admit that I'd just take it in the rear like this. Don't let them take your dignity from you without a fight. Jesus...

The unions need to rise up and take the country back. The capitalists in this country have far too much economic leverage.

+1. Good post.

I have worked for CVS for about 7 years and have seen my work conditions deteriorate year after year. Im not a mindless lemming that will continue to put my license and other peoples lives at risk just because corporate says so. Its a shame that an MBA behind a desk somewhere that has never spent a minute on a pharmacy bench can decide what my wait times should be. As said time and time again on this board the corporations are ruining the profession and its true.

All in all I still like my job and have defended CVS here many times, but its clearly evident that things are getting progressively worse on the retail front. Just following corporate because its what corporate says is the main reason that the morale in the profession continues to decline.

 

[SmKN808]

The unions need to rise up and take the country back. The capitalists in this country have far too much economic leverage.

+1...👍 my dad's the president, for the ironworkers union, here in hawaii, an i approve this message 😀

 

[Doctor M]

But having said that, I assume you expect your employees to follow the polices you ordain as an owner.

Well of course...and if they dont like it, they can go elsewhere...im not saying that CVS is wrong or what not...i just did not care to do what they were asking and since i could not change anything, i left...

 

[rphello]

Well of course...and if they dont like it, they can go elsewhere...im not saying that CVS is wrong or what not...i just did not care to do what they were asking and since i could not change anything, i left...

And I would rather have a boss that's in the trenches than some corporate overlord who knows exactly jack **** about pharmacy. Doctor M grew tired of the BS and actually did something about it. A pharmacist with cojones. Who woulda thunk it.

 

[Sparda29]

I got into an argument with my pharmacist about the whole wait time issue, she ended up pulling the "if you were sick would you want to wait 1 hour at the pharmacy" card. What the hell do you say to that.

I mean today, I was told by her that my task for the day was to do the cycle counts and get all the MD calls done, while manning the drop-off station. When I worked with the previous pharmacist, he would tell me to just increase the wait times so that the other tasks could be completed.

This one tells me, no, if they want to wait, we're doing it in 15 minutes. What the ****, I had a line of 7 customers who all said they would like to wait. When you let 7 customers wait, you're basically ****ting all over the other part of what needs to be done at the pharmacy. Not to mention phones ringing off the hook. People who called up were on hold to talk to us for about 8 minutes each.

I don't get what is so wrong with just telling a patient that their prescription will be ready in 3 hours. What is better, always having prescriptions ready when promised (will definitely have it ready when promised if you do a 3 hour wait time), or rushing people in and out and potentially creating errors.

From what I've been told, the person at drop-off is the person who sets the pace for the workflow in the pharmacy. If she lets me just make everyone wait at least 1-2 hours, the workflow will be good, lines will be short, would be able to handle all the phone calls and other stuff that needs to be done.

 

[Praziquantel86]

I got into an argument with my pharmacist about the whole wait time issue, she ended up pulling the "if you were sick would you want to wait 1 hour at the pharmacy" card. What the hell do you say to that.

I mean today, I was told by her that my task for the day was to do the cycle counts and get all the MD calls done, while manning the drop-off station. When I worked with the previous pharmacist, he would tell me to just increase the wait times so that the other tasks could be completed.

This one tells me, no, if they want to wait, we're doing it in 15 minutes. What the ****, I had a line of 7 customers who all said they would like to wait. When you let 7 customers wait, you're basically ****ting all over the other part of what needs to be done at the pharmacy. Not to mention phones ringing off the hook. People who called up were on hold to talk to us for about 8 minutes each.

I don't get what is so wrong with just telling a patient that their prescription will be ready in 3 hours. What is better, always having prescriptions ready when promised (will definitely have it ready when promised if you do a 3 hour wait time), or rushing people in and out and potentially creating errors.

From what I've been told, the person at drop-off is the person who sets the pace for the workflow in the pharmacy. If she lets me just make everyone wait at least 1-2 hours, the workflow will be good, lines will be short, would be able to handle all the phone calls and other stuff that needs to be done.

Neither solution seems like the best option. It's simply not good customer service to have everyone wait excessive amounts of time for something that, in all honesty, doesn't take hours to get done. On the other hand, other tasks in the pharmacy do have to get finished, and the time taken to complete them is time that could otherwise be spent filling prescriptions or counseling patients.

There's no way that you can use an all-or-none solution, which is what both pharmacists advocate. If you refuse to allow wait times to increase, then you'll fall behind on the different tasks that allow the pharmacy to run smoothly, but aren't directly related to customer service. Likewise, you can't give customers exorbitant wait times unless you're willing to alienate your customer base and violate the number one goal of a retail pharmacy.

You have to strike a happy medium and find out who really wants/needs to wait, versus those that could go either way. Once you figure out the right way to phrase the questions and gauge the situation, you'll be able to get everything done that needs to get done without pissing anyone off. It just takes time to figure out where that balance lies.