What would you do as PIC?

[ChasingMyDreams]

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Long time SDN reader, I rarely post but I have tons of questions I want to ask a larger number of pharmacists (I usually just ask others in my district). So I may be posting a lot so forgive me in advance...

I am a PIC and my staff RPh reports to me (at least that's what the company wants me to believe). They are more seasoned than me, around 10-15 more years in practice. However I am constantly catching errors/misfills. Novolog Flexpens billed for 1 pen instead of a box of 5, but box of 5 dispensed; 90 day supply submitted for 1 and 1/2 tab bid #90, comes back RTS when pt wants a refill; and worse things like lexapro 10mg instead of 20mg, the list goes on...

How do you address this? Person is very resistant to criticism, feels superior since they have more experience etc... HELP!

 

[MountainPharmD]

Get with your DM or pharmacy sup and start your company's progressive disciplinary process.

 

[BMBiology]

Don't throw rocks when you live in a glass house.

Are you sure you are 100% accurate? Does your store do everything by the book? This person can easily report you to the board of pharmacy since you are the PIC and therefore, have more legal responsibilities.

Someone who has worked for 15 years has already made his money. You have not. You are just getting started. You have a lot more to loss.

 

[ChasingMyDreams]

Don't throw rocks when you live in a glass house.

Are you sure you are 100% accurate? Does your store do everything by the book? This person can easily report you to the board of pharmacy since you are the PIC and therefore, have more legal responsibilities.

Someone who has worked for 15 years has already made his money. You have not. You are just getting started. You have a lot more to loss.

Yea, I did have this feeling. I do not make errors frequently or honestly at all yet **knocks on wood** but I am sure they are coming. So do I just say nothing and deal with it? My DM/Sup/whatever we call it now did mention it but told me to "handle it" and "have conversations" and document them etc. Basically they weren't going to address it with the staff and left it up to me to do so...I have tried before in a friendly way but it never seems to turn out well.

These mistakes are very frequent, at least 2 every week...but I definitely understand and do not want any trouble, especially with the board but does that mean I should do nothing?

 

[Corpseman]

Document the mistakes, build a case, and then go talk to them.
Document, document, document.

 

[BenJammin]

Yes, document everything because when you eventually report him to the state board of pharmacy it will be your license that gets reprimanded LOL

 

[Momus]

Report miss fill every single time through the company process. Eventually your boss will catch on and fire the dude. Happened to one of the stores I work at. They guy became a liability and they let them go.

 

[Wheresmyaricept]

Come at it maturely and not holier-than-thou. "Hey, as PIC we have to have certain conversations with staff and I've noticed some mistakes regarding XYZ. It's nothing personal, we just have to document it for liability's sake. What do you think could have caused these issues? I know we're not perfect as humans and if you find any errors of mine, I would hope you would let me know. So the takeaway from this conversation is [solutions to whatever the staff identified as the issue]."

If you come at them as friendly and wanting to solve a problem, you'll get a better response than "you did bad. Don't be bad because I'm your boss" or at least I've had a decent response to this approach so far.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Doesn't your company have a reporting system for all errors? Just report it and let him know. Assuming there is a system if he has too many errors the dm should take care of it from there.

 

[farmadiazepine]

If your first intention is to fire the person, then I have no advice for you. It seems like everyone here is all about "document, and start the disciplinary process to get rid of the person".

No.

Do what you are supposed to do as a PIC, as a manager. Go to the person and let them know something was done wrong. Find a way to fix it, and for the other person to understand why you think that way, and why it should be done your way.

Let the little things slide. There is no reason to pick a fight, start an argument, or simply show your authority over something small. It's some of these bigger things that need to be addressed, and it's your job as a boss to address them in a way that makes everyone continue to work with each other and get the job done.

You should always document, of course, because if something goes wrong, you don't want to be held responsible or found to be negligent. Follow your policies, but also bring it to the attention of the person you had to write an incident report on.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Yes, documenting is good, but as PIC, your job is to help figure out a way to help your employee not make so many mistakes. What is the age of the employee in question? Is the lighting good in your pharmacy, do you have a magnifying light? Maybe the employee needs eyeglasses or bifocals and doesn't realize it. How do you check prescriptions? Ask the employee how they check prescriptions, then go over your process and encourage the employee to try out your process. Do technicians frequently interrupt--some pharmacists can handle interruptions better than others, maybe the technicians need to be trained about limiting interruptions to the pharmacist. Ask your pharmacist what s/he thinks might be contributing to their making mistakes. This stuff seems simple, but sometimes problems really do have a simple solution. If your pharmacist really is incompetent, then that would have to be dealt with, but this really sounds like more of a figuring out what is causing your pharmacist to make simple mistakes, rather than incompetance.

Since it seems like your employee is on edge from previous conversations, I would start your next conversation on this matter off by apologizing for your previous handling of the situation. Your discussion shouldn't be about criticism, it should be about working as a team, with your pharmacist, to find a solution to the problem.

 

[HelpfulPharmer1]

Is the lighting good in your pharmacy,
Agreed, a few stores I worked at had poor lighting (chain pharmacy !)

do you have a magnifying light?
Agreed. My friend told me she could not read the imprint and trusted that shape of the pill! Had a lot of begging for her to get Magnifying glass ($3 for a handheld)

Do technicians frequently interrupt--some pharmacists can handle interruptions better than others, maybe the technicians need to be trained about limiting interruptions to the pharmacist.
Agreed. I once had a new pharmacy clerk asking me where to find drinking water when she could have asked 4 other non-pharmacist workers around me!

Your discussion shouldn't be about criticism, it should be about working as a team, with your pharmacist, to find a solution to the problem.
Excellent advice. I had 2 different managers approaching the same problem 2 different ways. One did humanly and one did not do well.
The way I see it, when I talk with any pharmacy member, I am talking with a gold keeper so I treat them humanly like when I talk to a gold keeper (drugs are expensive like gold and most of workers are honest like gold keeper).

 

[Dred Pirate]

I do not make errors frequently or honestly at all yet *

This statement scares me a bit - to say that you so not make errors "honestly at all yet" - we are all human. We all make errors, if you have worked for any portion of time, you have made an error, You just may not know it.

But like others said, your job as PIC is to help your staff reduce their errors. Don't just hang them up to dry and fire them, that will not accomplish anything and is a horrible management style, and soon you will find yourself all by yourself.

 

[genesis09]

Your step one should be to talk to the other pharmacist. You should explain your concern. Sometimes small adjustments, like adjusting the monitor height, can make a difference.

You don't want upper management to get involved. You should try to keep these things at store level.

 

[VeeSee]

Doesn't your company have a reporting system for all errors? Just report it and let him know. Assuming there is a system if he has too many errors the dm should take care of it from there.

This

I believe at Walgreens you can actually get in trouble for not making a stars event for a mistake