Why don't the chains charge a fee for "express service" (waiters)?

[KennethCool]

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It's my understanding that the agreements with PBMs/insurance dictate the reimbursement, but they DO NOT dictate what you can charge for extra services. The obvious one that many small pharmacies charge for is delivery.

Since we are allowed to charge extra for delivery, it seems reasonable that we could charge extra for "express service." There's no reason why we couldn't charge $1.99 for waiters or $0.99 for same-day pickup. If you work retail, you know how much waiters mess up your workflow. We should be compensated!

 

[owlegrad]

The first pharmacy they tried it would be put out of business by every other pharmacy that hangs out a sign that says “ready in 15 minutes guaranteed no charge!”.

 

[KennethCool]

The first pharmacy they tried it would be put out of business by every other pharmacy that hangs out a sign that says “ready in 15 minutes guaranteed no charge!”.

People generally will not leave and go to another pharmacy for a $1-2 difference, especially if they need it NOW.

 

[owlegrad]

People generally will not leave and go to another pharmacy for a $1-2 difference, especially if they need it NOW.

They will just go to the pharmacy that has the sign out front that says "Free 15 minute Wait Time Guaranteed!"

And you seriously don't have customers that complain about their $2 copay and think they will be perfectly content to pay even more money to get their scripts faster? Plus they are used to waiting for free, have you ever tried to charge someone for something they are used to getting for free? Good luck with that!

Dont get me wrong, would I like to charge people for waiting? Absolutely. Do I think any pharmacy would be able to do it? No way. It wasn't that long ago that one of the chains was giving out gift cards if the prescriptions were not ready in 15 minutes! You think people are going to go from getting paid to wait to paying to wait? HA!

 

[KennethCool]

I think it would give people an incentive to not disrupt the workflow. In any other business, you have to pay if you want something faster.

 

[owlegrad]

I think it would give people an incentive to not disrupt the workflow. In any other business, you have to pay if you want something faster.

Do you pay your doctor for a sooner appointment? Do you pay more at a restaurant for faster service? There are countless examples of goods and services that you do not pay extra to get things faster.

Heck Amazon will pay you to get things slower!

 

[KennethCool]

Your Amazon example doesn't make sense. People pay extra (Prime isn't free) for 2-day shipping. You also have to pay extra on top of that if you want 1-day shipping.

Also, at a restaurant, faster service generally means a better tip for the waiter.

You're also assuming that people have a choice. Plenty of people don't want to get their RX at CVS, but they are locked in to a single pharmacy because that's the preferred retailer for their insurance. Plenty of others are locked in geographically becuase there isn't another pharmacy within a couple miles. Nobody is going to drive 10 miles to save $0.99

 

[johnpharm01]

It's my understanding that the agreements with PBMs/insurance dictate the reimbursement, but they DO NOT dictate what you can charge for extra services. The obvious one that many small pharmacies charge for is delivery.

Since we are allowed to charge extra for delivery, it seems reasonable that we could charge extra for "express service." There's no reason why we couldn't charge $1.99 for waiters or $0.99 for same-day pickup. If you work retail, you know how much waiters mess up your workflow. We should be compensated!

Pharmacies do some much for free: consulting, blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings people have become use to everything at the pharmacy being free. If they complain about something, they actually can make money when they get a gift card. One thing that is true in retail pharmacy is customers like the rx fast and cheap.

I empathize with you waiters create disruptions. When I worked overnights I dealt with them as efficiently as possible and didn't carry on a lot of small talk, worked at the computer furthest from the register so they wouldn't interrupt me.

 

[quickpic007]

Do you pay your doctor for a sooner appointment? Do you pay more at a restaurant for faster service? There are countless examples of goods and services that you do not pay extra to get things faster.

Heck Amazon will pay you to get things slower!

Do you have the option to pay for a better seat on an airplane? How about boarding first at Southwest airlines?

You definitely pay higher tabs at restaurants with better service.

Thats what I love about pharmacy, doing so much for customers for no gratitude! Ugh why isn't my waiter done sooner! $1.99 for a waiter is a bargain really.

Pharmacies do some much for free: consulting, blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings people have become use to everything at the pharmacy being free. If they complain about something, they actually can make money when they get a gift card. One thing that is true in retail pharmacy is customers like the rx fast and cheap.

I empathize with you waiters create disruptions. When I worked overnights I dealt with them as efficiently as possible and didn't carry on a lot of small talk, worked at the computer furthest from the register so they wouldn't interrupt me.

man, when you think about it, its really crazy. The profit on otc/front store stuff makes up for it i guess. LOL

 

[owlegrad]

You definitely pay higher tabs at restaurants with better service.

I loath the comparison but the fastest restaurants are actually the cheapest. McD's, Burger King, etc.

And I never said there were not examples of being able to pay more for "better" (although in terms of pharmacy you are really only talking about faster service, not better) service (airlines, etc.) but it certainly is not "any other business" which is your claim. Doctors offices, fast food restaurants, dental offices, and on and on.

And paying a better tip for better service is totally optional. Perhaps put a tip jar at the pick up or counseling window and see how much you make?

 

[KennethCool]

Do you pay your doctor for a sooner appointment?

If you want to talk with a doctor within 15 minutes, you'll need to go to the ER. I'm sure you're aware of the price difference between a regular appointment and an ER visit.

 

[gwarm01]

I hate the idea of pharmacy as a service. It cheapens what we do. I suppose the drive-through put us here.

I'm not a big fan of the walk up retail counter either. We're basically a cornerstore. There's more order and respect in a marijuana shop, which is funny because we are the only place that serves us legal heroin.

 

[johnpharm01]

I hate the idea of pharmacy as a service. It cheapens what we do. I suppose the drive-through put us here.

I'm not a big fan of the walk up retail counter either. We're basically a cornerstore. There's more order and respect in a marijuana shop, which is funny because we are the only place that serves us legal heroin.

I agree. Been in a dispensary. Security at the door checks everyone's ids, customers happy, no raised voices. Worked in a liquor store and it was more business like. Major chains no way. Independents much better.

 

[owlegrad]

If you want to talk with a doctor within 15 minutes, you'll need to go to the ER. I'm sure you're aware of the price difference between a regular appointment and an ER visit.

You won't get a doctor within 15 minutes at an ER unless you have an actual emergency. You probably won't get one that quickly with an actual emergency either.

And no ER has an a "pay extra" express lane LMAO

 

[Dr Wario]

I would be happy if you had to use the cvs app to be a waiter or use drive-thru, that would be awesome.

 

[wucool33]

And paying a better tip for better service is totally optional. Perhaps put a tip jar at the pick up or counseling window and see how much you make?

I had someone trying to give me a $10 tip once. Also on my last day with the big C, another customer got me a $50 Amazon gift card lol

 

[maria1oh]

What about the electronic prescriptions that the doctor sends over and tells the patient they will be ready when they arrive. The acute scripts like antibiotics are already put on the "express lane" to be done right away.

 

[zelman]

And no ER has an a "pay extra" express lane LMAO

Helicopter arrival might do it.

 

[owlegrad]

Helicopter arrival might do it.

Maybe if you tip the pilot.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Well this idea would never fly in California. Someone will sue for discrimination because they can't afford to pay the "express fee" but deserve their xanax refill just as fast as a tamiflu rx.

 

[KennethCool]

Discrimination is legal as long as it isn't against a protected group. Poor people are not a protected group.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Discrimination is legal as long as it isn't against a protected group. Poor people are not a protected group.

lol, have you seen what goes on in California?

 

[CountBy5s]

What about stores that put everything as a waiter?

 

[josh6718]

The first pharmacy they tried it would be put out of business by every other pharmacy that hangs out a sign that says “ready in 15 minutes guaranteed no charge!”.

I could see headlines on the news “pharmacist prioritizes filling viagra for wealthy 65 year old man over low income kids rescuer inhaler” being really bad publicity for a chain.

 

[PharmacistFl12]

People generally will not leave and go to another pharmacy for a $1-2 difference, especially if they need it NOW.

Obviously, you have never work in retail. I have customers that will drive across town because our price is $2 higher than quoted price from GoodRX. They will drive back and forth between us and Walmart for at $0.50 difference!

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I've worked in pharmacies that didn't allow waiters.

Everyone got the same wait time.

 

[Rouelle]

People generally will not leave and go to another pharmacy for a $1-2 difference, especially if they need it NOW.

They may not leave over a $1-$2 difference, but they would definitely leave over the principle of it. I would.

“You used to give me good service for free. Now you charge me a fee for the same service while no other place in town does so. Eff you.”

 

[confettiflyer]

You won't get a doctor within 15 minutes at an ER unless you have an actual emergency. You probably won't get one that quickly with an actual emergency either.

And no ER has an a "pay extra" express lane LMAO

Not quite an ER express lane, but comes close:

The Doctor Is In. Co-Pay? $40,000.

The OP has a point, if every other industry has expedite fees, why not a pharmacy? It’s just publicly distasteful, because while we tolerate $$ = access everywhere else, outpatient pharmacy still straddles the line between healthcare and a place of business.

That said, private pharmacies exist, we just don’t hear about them unless something goes wrong. So $2.99 express fee at CVS is distasteful and very public, $2999* concierge fee for a private/on demand out of sight pharmacy is acceptable.

*I made that # up, I dunno how much the ultra rich pay.

Am I opposed? Not necessarily, as long as there’s some veiled attempt at added value (like one hour delivery to your home or place of work for $29.99, not just a cut-the-line fee). But I mean, you can already do this...have a TaskRabbit go pick up your Rx and outsource the wait, done and done. Surprised none of the big chains have partnered up with on demand delivery firms yet, like call it UberRx instead of UberEats.


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[owlegrad]

..
The OP has a point, if every other industry has expedite fees, why not a pharmacy?...

I reject your premise. A few industries have an expedite fee (especially those that involving shipping) but it is hardly "every other industry". Again restaurants don't have this, many retailors don't, relators, car dealerships, insurance companies, etc. Many, many industries don't have this.

I wonder if it would be feasible to do something like AMC (and some airlines) do where if you are a "Premier" cardholder or equivalent and pay some annual fee you can use a separate fast track line? But trying to police it sounds like a nightmare to me and still might generate some bad will with someone with a sick child that has to wait longer blah blah blah.

 

[Rouelle]

I reject your premise. A few industries have an expedite fee (especially those that involving shipping) but it is hardly "every other industry". Again restaurants don't have this, many retailors don't, relators, car dealerships, insurance companies, etc. Many, many industries don't have this.

I wonder if it would be feasible to do something like AMC (and some airlines) do where if you are a "Premier" cardholder or equivalent and pay some annual fee you can use a separate fast track line? But trying to police it sounds like a nightmare to me and still might generate some bad will with someone with a sick child that has to wait longer blah blah blah.

“Excuse me sir. Will you please step to the side so that our platinum member can go first.”

Then five minutes later:

“Don’t forget there is a phone number at the bottom of the receipt. Call and tell us how we did for a chance to win.”

Yep, not going to work.

 

[owlegrad]

“Excuse me sir. Will you please step to the side so that our platinum member can go first.”

Then five minutes later:

“Don’t forget there is a phone number at the bottom of the receipt. Call and tell us how we did for a chance to win.”

Yep, not going to work.

It seems to work at AMC. But I wonder how many people they get who try to use the Premier lane illegitimately and have to be told to go to the back of the line. I imagine it is a non-trivial amount.

 

[BenJammin]

Amazon paid me $10 to do 7 day shipping instead of 2 day shipping lol

 

[mentos]

What happens when you have 10 pages in the queue but no customers in line? "You're going to charge me to wait? There's nobody here! You guys aren't doing anything!"

 

[confettiflyer]

I reject your premise. A few industries have an expedite fee (especially those that involving shipping) but it is hardly "every other industry". Again restaurants don't have this, many retailors don't, relators, car dealerships, insurance companies, etc. Many, many industries don't have this.

I wonder if it would be feasible to do something like AMC (and some airlines) do where if you are a "Premier" cardholder or equivalent and pay some annual fee you can use a separate fast track line? But trying to police it sounds like a nightmare to me and still might generate some bad will with someone with a sick child that has to wait longer blah blah blah.

I reject this, also...a lot of the industries you listed have an implicit expedite fee. That is, the RE and insurance agent I’ve been patronizing for years will expedite my requests (or in my case, better than that, I got bumped to the top of a pocket listing rental once because I was a previous tenant of that agent).

Insurance companies may have better service for big/important clients.

And really? You went to a car dealer and got ignored? They practically bend you over when you walk in. You don’t pay to expedite, you save money AND expedite (by shopping online/via their web sales dept).

Small pharmacies (even chains) have been doing this quietly for years without $$, this could just formalize it.

We pay Amazon $99/yr to expedite, we give Target all of our purchase histories to expedite (and get 5% off), I pay CBP $100/yr to expedite customs entry...so you’re onto something with membership, but what trips this all up is frequency. Heavy Rx users know to refill request in advance and they’ll just pick up, how often are people getting unplanned, new scripts and would benefit from this expedite service? It’s not frequent enough IMO for a “membership” system, per-use would be more useful (and a money maker).

Just gotta be discreet.


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[KennethCool]

I think 99 cents would be a good price to expedite because it is a small enough amount that most people wouldn't hardly notice or case about the difference. It's just enough where it will make people want to drop off their RX and come back later.

 

[Sparda29]

We need to collude as a profession and make this happen across the board.

 

[Modest_anteater]

I hate the idea of pharmacy as a service. It cheapens what we do. I suppose the drive-through put us here.

I'm not a big fan of the walk up retail counter either. We're basically a cornerstore. There's more order and respect in a marijuana shop, which is funny because we are the only place that serves us legal heroin.

heroin is a C1 in the US so i'm not sure why you are saying "we are the only place that sells legal heroin" because heroin is not legal in the US so no pharmacys sell "legal heroin"

 

[Modest_anteater]

They may not leave over a $1-$2 difference, but they would definitely leave over the principle of it. I would.

“You used to give me good service for free. Now you charge me a fee for the same service while no other place in town does so. Eff you.”

Yeah but it is still a win because you don't want those type of "problem causing" customers in your store anyway. I like my customers to be submissive and obedient. 80% of the problems in a store are caused by 20% of the customers. The less crappy customers you have the better. Now if the customer is a "frequent flyer" aka on a bunch of high profit margin meds then maybe you let them cause problems bc they are earning you so much money.

 

[gwarm01]

heroin is a C1 in the US so i'm not sure why you are saying "we are the only place that sells legal heroin" because heroin is not legal in the US so no pharmacys sell "legal heroin"

Stop being pedantic.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Stop being pedantic.

Yeah! Stop being a party pooper and let people make obnoxious hyperbole!

 

[DrVader]

It's my understanding that the agreements with PBMs/insurance dictate the reimbursement, but they DO NOT dictate what you can charge for extra services. The obvious one that many small pharmacies charge for is delivery.

Since we are allowed to charge extra for delivery, it seems reasonable that we could charge extra for "express service." There's no reason why we couldn't charge $1.99 for waiters or $0.99 for same-day pickup. If you work retail, you know how much waiters mess up your workflow. We should be compensated!

Why pay for the cow when you get the milk for free. In truth, you have a good idea and I think that if pharmacy had operated like that in the beginning, people would not mind it. However, much like porn, people want it free and they want it now and damn you to hell if you charge them for it. I believe that when CVS or Walgreens have enough leverage in the market that they will try something like this. But for now, there are too many competitors.

 

[lord999]

Emergency room fee prohibition on service speed and/or alone - EMTALA regulations after the law (prior to it, there were paylanes for faster service in an ER, that went to urgent care). That really sucked at Mayo, so I'm told as they used to have a different service line for members of the Mayo Plan as compared with anyone else.

"Faster" pay service - Almost all the major PBM's have service clauses that forbid that (best service clause). For DoD and VA contracts with 3rd party, that's definitely there. Would you like to figure out just who you could change for faster service and then pissing off the waiting room? Or getting a chargeback from a PBM from someone who complained that service was not fast enough?

 

[gwarm01]

Yeah! Stop being a party pooper and let people make obnoxious hyperbole!

You guys are a bunch of doorknobs sometimes.