Will I get fired from CVS?

[Chris co2012]

So here's the deal... I was originally a new-grad brought on by CVS by a supervisor who needed somebody to take on his 5,000+ per week store. And without hands-on training, I literally went straight to work with two other pharmacists trying to handle the hell off that store. I handled it for probably about 6 months before I requested a transfer home.

At this point, my supervisor called me and asked me if the supervisor from my home district got into contact with me or if I got into contact with her. I immediately assured him that I really wanted to move back home, for family circumstances. So I moved back home.

I got here to this district which lost nearly 20 pharmacists. Yes, true story. I didn't find that out until after the fact. And turns out, my new PIC thinks I'm awesome because I've worked at a super busy store. He ACTUALLY thought I was a veteran and had no idea that I just graduated a year ago. So considering I didn't even know the basics of normal CVS daily tasks (because we were ALWAYS BUSY in my previous district - no time for chores, tasks, etc.), I bombed my store and I was moved. My new supervisor then begins to realize I suck and that I needed a slower store. So I'm moved to a store that runs about 1,550 per week. It was great... but the same thing. I'm bombing again. I'm not doing AS BAD as the last store but our KPM is absolutely horrid.

So we're having yet another meeting with my supervisor again this week. I'm not really sure how to handle this... Will I get fired? Or will I get a floater position? I know that you guys won't know the true answer, but what would you think?

And I've contacted my previous supervisor. He pretty much admitted to me (and my best friend) that I couldn't handle the store I was originally placed in here. Should I mention that to my new supervisor or should I just keep my mouth shut and try to do the best I can to hold on to my job?

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[Chris co2012]

Oh and it's important to note that I've only been written up once and that was because my KPM dropped below a 50. I have very little paperwork against me. I've been told that in big corporations, you're unlikely to get fired unless you have major events that result in such action.

 

[owlegrad]

Very unlikely you will be fired. I don't know any pharmacists who have been fired for bad KPM. You just write action notes and get constantly reminded about it. I guess the sup could make you a floater but if you ask for help with improving the metrics it is probably more likely nothing will happen.

On a related note, KPM is really not that hard. There are just a few things that have to be done to meet your goal, find out which stores in your district do well in that number and call and ask the PIC what they are doing. Then do that. 😉

 

[Dr. Bubblebutt]

You won't get fired outright. What they do is throw you in the floater pool. If you are the **** list you'll get the worst shifts in the worst stores that tend to have a gap in tech coverage during the floater shift and btw it's warehouse day too. Funny how that happens. You'll get jerked around by not getting enough hours. 64 hours one pay period, 48 the next, then a dry patch of 16. Psychological torture. Without a consistent schedule you have no idea what your income will be in the near or distant future. You'll get sent to stores many miles from home only to discover the staff rph is scheduled to work your shift. Oh well, at least you'll be paid for the drive time. And expect trouble getting a correct paycheck for the crumbs that fall your way. The home store bookkeeper will screw up your payroll and put the onus on you to prove you worked those hours. Unbelievable. At one point it took me 3 months get 5K in backpay and I was still screwed out of proper OT.

No you won't get fired. You'll be put on the glide path to quitting.

 

[Chris co2012]

Damn well that sucks... the good news is that from my understanding, nobody wants to work in this district and saturation has not been a problem. So I'm hoping that maybe I don't get cut completely. My techs have told me that there is a WAY WORSE pharmacist who went from having a home store, to becoming a floater, and now she's back to having another home store. And they swear by the heavens that she is the worst pharmacist to walk into a CVS. So maybe I have some hope. I know I'm not the best... but I damn sure aint the worst.

 

[HouTX]

start job hunting and stay with CVS until you secure another position. try to become a more well-rounded staff pharmacist. until you do, you're just a one trick pony (verification)

 

[Gombrich12]

I feel like it takes a year for you to get the hang of the retail chop shops. If you still are having problems after a year you might want to look for a slower or altogether different setting. You would be wise to do so before the next class graduates.

 

[Unchained]

It's probably not you. CVS is a burn and churn company. They throw new students directly into management roles instead of mentoring them for a year with an older more experienced pharmacist. I forgot there are no experienced pharmacists left at CVS. Regardless use them for their money while searching for a real job. The nice thing is that when you interview for a new job you don't really have to explain why you're leaving CVS. Your interviewer has already heard it a few hundred times

 

[KidPharmD]

CVS will absolutely give you a "final job warning" before termination unless you break the law (and get caught). Policy is verbal warning (level 1), Action plan (level 2), Final Warning (Level 3), termination (Level 4). Some actions can skip level 1, but not many. You should be fine. As long as there isn't someone ready to take your job (i.e. they already have open positions) CVS won't fire you. Burn and churn is the right way to describe them.

 

[CosmopolitanRx]

It's probably not you. CVS is a burn and churn company. They throw new students directly into management roles instead of mentoring them for a year with an older more experienced pharmacist. I forgot there are no experienced pharmacists left at CVS. Regardless use them for their money while searching for a real job. The nice thing is that when you interview for a new job you don't really have to explain why you're leaving CVS. Your interviewer has already heard it a few hundred times

That's what happened in New Jersey not too long ago. I don't know if anyone of this thread is from the Tri-State area, but last year, CVS caused quite a stir in the news. The issue? Apparently patients were being dispensed wrong drugs. You had children being dispensed oncology meds, only to find out none of them had cancer (unfortunately, more incidents popped up). Thankfully, patients knew their drugs looked "off" and returned them promptly. Thank Heavens, nobody died!

The cause?

New grads being thrown into the crazy busy stores right out of school. I always thought new grads had to work their way up to the busy stores (1000+ scripts/day) so they can get the "feel" for it. Alas, the logic of CVS baffles even the most experienced of us.........

If I was the OP, I would start to learn how to use the LinkedIn job search engine, Indeed.com, etc and get the heck out. If you must still stay in retail aim for Big Box warehouse like Costco, BJs, et al. (Those pharmacists seem to have excellent QOL). Needless to say, those companies are very hard to get into.......


*****Now that another pharmacy school opened it's doors in September 2013 in NJ, I would never step foot in a CVS in that state as now, Fairleigh Dickinson school of pharmacy will amp up that burn & churn factor!

 

[Chris co2012]

So I guess there's no salvaging this mess then... I really feel like my supervisor just has pure hate for me. She never talks to me looking for a constructive resolution. It's always one-sided. I once called her to explain to her that a floater left my store an absolute mess and she completely dismissed it and said that *I* was the one who needed to ensure that the floaters know my standards and that I should follow my own standards. I was like wtf? Okay, so I can't ever come off as the good guy to her. I have to always play the crappy pharmacist who screwed everything up.

This makes me so mad. I have so much more pride than this, so much more dignity than to be *that* pharmacist. But at the same time, I'm not losing my sanity for this company. I'm not working past my 14-hour, no-break shift to help BS metrics. I guess I'm on the **** list and on a path to crash this boat head-on into an iceberg. 'sigh' Great.

 

[trailerpark]

What exactly makes you a bad "CVS pharmacist"? Is it you're not verifying fast enough so you can focus on inflating the metrics or can't solve insurance issues fast enough to keep the work flow going or you're not scheduling your techs to maximize the hours you have for them?

 

[Old Timer]

That's what happened in New Jersey not too long ago. I don't know if anyone of this thread is from the Tri-State area, but last year, CVS caused quite a stir in the news. The issue? Apparently patients were being dispensed wrong drugs. You had children being dispensed oncology meds, only to find out none of them had cancer (unfortunately, more incidents popped up). Thankfully, patients knew their drugs looked "off" and returned them promptly. Thank Heavens, nobody died!

The cause?

New grads being thrown into the crazy busy stores right out of school. I always thought new grads had to work their way up to the busy stores (1000+ scripts/day) so they can get the "feel" for it. Alas, the logic of CVS baffles even the most experienced of us.........

If I was the OP, I would start to learn how to use the LinkedIn job search engine, Indeed.com, etc and get the heck out. If you must still stay in retail aim for Big Box warehouse like Costco, BJs, et al. (Those pharmacists seem to have excellent QOL). Needless to say, those companies are very hard to get into.......


*****Now that another pharmacy school opened it's doors in September 2013 in NJ, I would never step foot in a CVS in that state as now, Fairleigh Dickinson school of pharmacy will amp up that burn & churn factor!

Apparently, you have no clue as to what happened except what you read in the newspapers. It has nothing to do with the experience level of the pharmacists. How many stores do you think do 1000 per day? Not many and I don't think any of them are in NJ. The logic of your argument baffles the most experienced of us....

 

[Dr. Bubblebutt]

Throwing new grads into the busiest stores is common practice. Experience does matter. It takes time to develop a thick skin, to leave the ego home and to solve one problem after another w/o getting sucked into a pissing match with every angry customer. When a mistake occurs, don't assign blame. Treat it as a system error and have a quick pow-wow about how the error can be avoided in the future. If a customer is getting in a tech's face, step in, say everything is your fault and agree that you are the AntiChrist then solve the problem , move on.

Not everybody can do the above and that's ok. Retail pharmacy as configured by the chains is an exercise in techometric sadism. Wait until the insurers start going belly up due to ACA. Then the fun will really begin.

 

[thephoenician88]

why are you bombing the stores exactly? Are you slow verifying/ worried / what's happening? In my opinion, working for 6 months at a busy ass store should prepare you more than enough...

 

[Chris co2012]

No no, I have no issues with verification. I verify extremely fast. However, I'm pretty bad at following the "tricks" set in place by my supervisor to increase kpm. Also, during the six-month span at my first store, I *never one time* checked workload manager, email, paperwork, waiting bin, etc.

Also, my techs tell me that my PIC never gets the front nor the drive-thru while I always do. I can't help it. If I don't get it, customers will literally sit there for five minutes waiting and staring at me. Telling my techs to get the customer is a double-edged sword because it interrupts production.

Even though I do verify quickly, I still end up in the red every now and then because I'm helping customers.

When it comes to speed, I've got it. When it comes to BS tricks to manipulate kpm, nope. And with the new enhanced RTS, I'll spend 30 minutes after my shift returning ****...

 

[owlegrad]

No no, I have no issues with verification. I verify extremely fast. However, I'm pretty bad at following the "tricks" set in place by my supervisor to increase kpm. (1) Also, during the six-month span at my first store, I *never one time* checked workload manager, email, paperwork, waiting bin, etc.

(2) Also, my techs tell me that my PIC never gets the front nor the drive-thru while I always do. I can't help it. If I don't get it, customers will literally sit there for five minutes waiting and staring at me. Telling my techs to get the customer is a double-edged sword because it interrupts production.

(3) Even though I do verify quickly, I still end up in the red every now and then because I'm helping customers.

(4) When it comes to speed, I've got it. When it comes to BS tricks to manipulate kpm, nope. And with the new enhanced RTS, I'll spend 30 minutes after my shift returning ****...

1) OK, but how long does it take to learn to check WLM, email, paperwork, waiting bin, etc? Like a day? Shouldn't be a big deal, email and workload manager should be taking about 5 minutes each daily. "Paperwork" a little but longer. Waiting bin should be done by techs. If you do have to do it how long do you think it should take, MAYBE 15 minutes max?

2) That is nice of you, but you need to set the expectation that the techs will get this, not you. Techs will learn very quickly what they can get away with, if they learn that making people wait will cause you to go to the counter you can bet they are going to make themselves busy every time someone comes up.

3) Who cares about verifying in the red? This is not a KPM metric. In fact it is not any kind of metric anymore. It is not MCE, KPM, SOS, etc. If you or anyone else is re-timing scripts that is time you are wasting that can be spent actually doing something productive (just FYI).

4) Why are you doing RTS? Techs should do that. And you do know if you don't bother with the safety scan the RTS queue will refresh after end of day right? Meaning you do NOT have to do the safety scan if you don't want to. Just leave it to clear itself after end of day runs.

 

[CosmopolitanRx]

Apparently, you have no clue as to what happened except what you read in the newspapers. It has nothing to do with the experience level of the pharmacists. How many stores do you think do 1000 per day? Not many and I don't think any of them are in NJ. The logic of your argument baffles the most experienced of us....

Sorry Old Timer, didn't mean to offend you by listening to the news and reading a newspaper. 🙄

So what exactly did happen with the CVS stores in NJ?

 

[Chris co2012]

1) OK, but how long does it take to learn to check WLM, email, paperwork, waiting bin, etc? Like a day? Shouldn't be a big deal, email and workload manager should be taking about 5 minutes each daily. "Paperwork" a little but longer. Waiting bin should be done by techs. If you do have to do it how long do you think it should take, MAYBE 15 minutes max?

2) That is nice of you, but you need to set the expectation that the techs will get this, not you. Techs will learn very quickly what they can get away with, if they learn that making people wait will cause you to go to the counter you can bet they are going to make themselves busy every time someone comes up.

3) Who cares about verifying in the red? This is not a KPM metric. In fact it is not any kind of metric anymore. It is not MCE, KPM, SOS, etc. If you or anyone else is re-timing scripts that is time you are wasting that can be spent actually doing something productive (just FYI).

4) Why are you doing RTS? Techs should do that. And you do know if you don't bother with the safety scan the RTS queue will refresh after end of day right? Meaning you do NOT have to do the safety scan if you don't want to. Just leave it to clear itself after end of day runs.

Well... you're right about everything except our store is backwards. The techs do workload, email, etc. The pharmacist counts and verifies. Where it gets tricky is when the really good techs aren't there. I forget to do the paperwork stuff. For instance, on extremely busy weekends, I just forget.

Also, RTS... in our store, it's the pharmacist's job. No idea why. I have gone from stores where the pharmacist doesn't worry about tech jobs to a store where everything is backwards. So eh...

But regardless, those things aren't why I'm in hot water. It's really just the scores. Not really sure how to deal... my PIC doesn't have the answer either. And it's not just our store... Our entire district is in the tank. But eh... whatcha gonna do? Maybe floating won't be so bad.

 

[Gombrich12]

All those retail metrics are pointless, just check the box or fill in whatever they want to hear and move on. They aren't checking behind you to see if you really harassed someone at home into getting a refill or whatever.

 

[MatCauthon]

[quote="If I was the OP, I would start to learn how to use the LinkedIn job search engine, Indeed.com, etc and get the heck out. If you must still stay in retail aim for Big Box warehouse like Costco, BJs, et al. (Those pharmacists seem to have excellent QOL). Needless to say, those companies are very hard to get into.......[/quote]

BJs would be extremely hard to get into because they got out of the pharmacy business 6 years ago.
Costco is no longer the pharmacist's paradise that it is being described as. From what I've heard, the upper pharmacy management at Costco has recruited managers from other drug-store chains. Costco is actively cutting staff hours and copying the staffing equations of other drugstores. Unfortunately, their computer system is so antiquated that they cannot easily copy the style of CVS/Rite-Aid. Some of the floaters have lost all of their hours due to these cuts (one of my friends works there). Things are going to be more micro-managed from now on in terms of staff production.

I would say the chances of getting a job at Costco right now are very low without some kind of connection. Many of the pharmacists have had to spend years being floaters with no guaranteed hours and no benefits before a job opens up. Just to get a floater job typically required being a Costco employee such as a tech or intern before being a pharmacist. Plus there just aren't that many Costcos out there. Many big cities have only 2 Costcos, so one could be waiting forever for a job.

 

[CosmopolitanRx]

Didn't know about BJs. Dang.

Thanks for the heads-up about Costco. Many in my class were literally clamoring for jobs there and none were successful.

 

[BMBiology]

BJs would be extremely hard to get into because they got out of the pharmacy business 6 years ago.

BJ's closed all 46 in-store pharmacies: http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2007/2007-02/2007-02-6287

..but the profession is doing so well. Plenty of OT for the new grads and lots of benefits.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

Throwing new grads into the busiest stores is common practice. Experience does matter. It takes time to develop a thick skin, to leave the ego home and to solve one problem after another w/o getting sucked into a pissing match with every angry customer. When a mistake occurs, don't assign blame. Treat it as a system error and have a quick pow-wow about how the error can be avoided in the future. If a customer is getting in a tech's face, step in, say everything is your fault and agree that you are the AntiChrist then solve the problem , move on.

Not everybody can do the above and that's ok. Retail pharmacy as configured by the chains is an exercise in techometric sadism. Wait until the insurers start going belly up due to ACA. Then the fun will really begin.

Throwing new grads into the busiest store is a common practice because that is where the over laps are. I cant speak for his supervisor but new grads should go to the busiest store because there is usually a second or third pharmacist there (he had 2), and they are verifying a lot of scripts so the new grad will have exposure to many scenarios. A lot of mistakes are what " you don't know"...

In realty, I have seen that practice work really well when executed properly. In this case, his first supervisor said he sucked... and his second supervisor moved him from a busy store which he bombed.. to aother store that fills 1500 scripts a week which he also bombed.

OP.............. Don't take it too hard. While you have a lot to work on, a lot of that is the situation your pharmacy supervisor places on you. I can tell that you might have a bad pharmacy supervisor because... 20 rphs just left and the whole district is tanking.

Here is what I would do. Reach out to your supervisor again and tell your supervisor that you are trying. Tell your Sup that you will focus on your PIC's SOS plan. Chances are that one of the SOS plan will be on KPM. Follow those steps and document it. For example, send a picture of the PCQ quarterbacking box after you ask your techs to do PCQ calls on weekends to show your SUP that you are doing what you can as a staff pharmacist.

I think the biggest problem that you have is that you are not checking up on emails, workload managers, etc.. A lot of those things are very important and if you do not spend 30 minutes a day focusing on it (come in 30 minutes before your shift if you have to), you will spend a lot of time managing them as they become urgent. Its like not checking your regular scripts and then all of a sudden.. you have a gazillion surprise waiters on top of the waiters that pop up. Next thing you know, you cant get anything done... and you are staying after shift.

Also, plan ahead your day. If it helps, get a notebook and put tasks that you have to do for that day. Put a time on it and cross it out as it is done.

It seems that you have high accountability since you are asking for help on this forum but partner up with your PIC if you have a good one, or a store that is doing well (ask that PIC for help).

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

It's probably not you. CVS is a burn and churn company. They throw new students directly into management roles instead of mentoring them for a year with an older more experienced pharmacist. I forgot there are no experienced pharmacists left at CVS. Regardless use them for their money while searching for a real job. The nice thing is that when you interview for a new job you don't really have to explain why you're leaving CVS. Your interviewer has already heard it a few hundred times

um.... what management role was he placed in? He was mentored by two RPH in his first store for 6 months. Then he was staff at his new district... until they moved him to a slow 1500 @#@!#!@%$!@ rx store. I would drool for that store. I fill 1500 in 2 days!

 

[KidPharmD]

All those retail metrics are pointless, just check the box or fill in whatever they want to hear and move on. They aren't checking behind you to see if you really harassed someone at home into getting a refill or whatever.

They actually do. PCQ calls are checked automatically against your call log. You have to be on the phone for 30sec for it to count as having reached the patient.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

They actually do. PCQ calls are checked automatically against your call log. You have to be on the phone for 30sec for it to count as having reached the patient.

In the past it was. Now it is calculated based on percentage picked up. The best way is to aim for 35 to 40 percent target... and cut back on the readyfills so you have more opportunities.

 

[farmadiazepine]

FYI your going to be fine. DON"T come in 30 minutes before your shift to do extra work or read emails. DON"T waste your time at home trying to come up with ways to improve your scores at work. DON"T stress.

CVS isn't going to fire you for not bringing up a number. Just sit back and relax and check scripts and do what is required of you to be a pharmacist. That's it. That bit of advice has worked for me all these years and you know what I never stress a single day.

 

[Chris co2012]

So the meeting was supposed to be at 7:30AM this morning. I was here at 7AM. When the store opened at 8AM, my PIC said that we were going to have to reschedule and that he apologized for any inconvenience. Complete BS. I'm so mad about this crap...

 

[trailerpark]

Seems like they're not respecting your time.

 

[Old Timer]

Sorry Old Timer, didn't mean to offend you by listening to the news and reading a newspaper. 🙄

So what exactly did happen with the CVS stores in NJ?

If you are an expert on CVS you would know what happened. I'm not defending the mistakes that were made, but it was pretty easy to discern what happened. In fact, I'm pretty it would have gotten past you too......

 

[CosmopolitanRx]

If you are an expert on CVS you would know what happened. I'm not defending the mistakes that were made, but it was pretty easy to discern what happened. In fact, I'm pretty it would have gotten past you too......

Probably, hence why I stay far away from retail (Praise God).

 

[Old Timer]

Probably, hence why I stay far away from retail (Praise God).

Then you should refrain from posting about things where your level of knowledge and expertise is lacking....... This had nothing to do with volume or overwork. It was a system failure pure and simple.....

 

[Unchained]

If you are an expert on CVS you would know what happened. I'm not defending the mistakes that were made, but it was pretty easy to discern what happened. In fact, I'm pretty it would have gotten past you too......

CVS called it a "restocking issue". The bottles were close on the shelf alphabetically. Tablets were replaced in the wrong stock bottle. Yes they do look the same and it would've been difficult for the pharmacist to notice. However these types of errors by the person restocking are more likely to occur due to the environment created by the company. I like how in the article the "company accepts no liability" for the error. It was all the pharmacy staffs fault while they were trying to improve the meaningless metrics in the stupid red board. Stories like this need to get out so the patients who can leave CVS do so and vote with their dollars elsewhere. Until that happens nothing will change.

 

[Old Timer]

CVS called it a "restocking issue". The bottles were close on the shelf alphabetically. Tablets were replaced in the wrong stock bottle. Yes they do look the same and it would've been difficult for the pharmacist to notice. However these types of errors by the person restocking are more likely to occur due to the environment created by the company. I like how in the article the "company accepts no liability" for the error. It was all the pharmacy staffs fault while they were trying to improve the meaningless metrics in the stupid red board. Stories like this need to get out so the patients who can leave CVS do so and vote with their dollars elsewhere. Until that happens nothing will change.

You are getting warmer. But still not accurate.

 

[CosmopolitanRx]

You are getting warmer. But still not accurate.

Oh great expert, stop dropping hints and just tell us what happened since you obviously know........and maybe next time you can correct all major news outlets on what really happened before they start reporting.

BTW, your expertise and level of knowledge ABOUT my expertise and level knowledge is seriously lacking.

 

[Unchained]

Oh great expert, stop dropping hints and just tell us what happened since you obviously know........and maybe next time you can correct all major news outlets on what really happened before they start reporting.

BTW, your expertise and level of knowledge ABOUT my expertise and level knowledge is seriously lacking.

Cosmo he can't comment about it in depth. Rule #1 about working for CVS. You don't speak badly about CVS. You give up your 1st amendment rights when you go to work for them. I think they make you sign something which includes their go to phrase "up to and including termination." It's a creepy place to work with all their cameras, operant conditioning (BF Skinneresque), phone monitors, and endless ways they devise to terminate people. It's very Orwellian.

 

[BMBiology]

Rule #2 about working for CVS: CVS is always right.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Cosmo he can't comment about it in depth. Rule #1 about working for CVS. You don't speak badly about CVS. You give up your 1st amendment rights when you go to work for them. I think they make you sign something which includes their go to phrase "up to and including termination." It's a creepy place to work with all their cameras, operant conditioning (BF Skinneresque), phone monitors, and endless ways they devise to terminate people. It's very Orwellian.

It's not just CVS. Every company has proprietary information that employees aren't supposed to disclose. And it has nothing to do with the First Amendment.

 

[KidPharmD]

RE: The new jersey thing.
Had to go back and read about it. I am an Ex- CVS pharmacist/Pharmacy Tech
Looks like to me that people didn't follow CVS protocol. The articles read as if Rx's that were RTS were dumped back into the wrong stock bottles.
Except CVS policy (older than this error) states that RTS vials are never to be returned to the stock bottle. We had RTS labels for that purpose.
It does take up more space and means you won't get credit for a return to warehouse if they expire.
The correct RTS process actually takes LESS time than returning the pills to the stock bottle.

If there is some special situation going on here, it was unique to NJ.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

RE: The new jersey thing.
Had to go back and read about it. I am an Ex- CVS pharmacist/Pharmacy Tech
Looks like to me that people didn't follow CVS protocol. The articles read as if Rx's that were RTS were dumped back into the wrong stock bottles.
Except CVS policy (older than this error) states that RTS vials are never to be returned to the stock bottle. We had RTS labels for that purpose.
It does take up more space and means you won't get credit for a return to warehouse if they expire.
The correct RTS process actually takes LESS time than returning the pills to the stock bottle.

If there is some special situation going on here, it was unique to NJ.

Yes, we also didn't put pills back into stock bottles at Target.

 

[BidingMyTime]

OP, you've gotten some good advice. Just remember, CVS pays you to work for them, so do what CVS wants you to do. Of course, within reason, there are legal & moral standards that should not be violated. But if its more important to CVS that you whatever thing is required for the metric you are working on, rather than wait on a customer, than do the metric thing. Make CVS's priorities, your priorities.

Another rule of thumb, there are a lot of things that only the pharmacist can do, don't do anything a tech can do (like wait on a customer) until you are completely caught up on the things that only pharmacist can do. Because nothing will get you swamped quicker than not getting behind on the pharmacist duties, when nobody can help you with those duties.

Next if you are having trouble remembering what needs to be done, on weekends or when you don't have an experience tech, then make a list. List what you need to do each day in order of priority, and list out what the techs need to be doing each day in order of priority. Then just follow your list (and if the techs are getting distracted or don't know what to do first, then you can consult your list and know what tasks to have them working on.)

 

[owlegrad]

OP, you've gotten some good advice. Just remember, CVS pays you to work for them, so do what CVS wants you to do. Of course, within reason, there are legal & moral standards that should not be violated. But if its more important to CVS that you whatever thing is required for the metric you are working on, rather than wait on a customer, than do the metric thing. Make CVS's priorities, your priorities.

Another rule of thumb, there are a lot of things that only the pharmacist can do, don't do anything a tech can do (like wait on a customer) until you are completely caught up on the things that only pharmacist can do. Because nothing will get you swamped quicker than not getting behind on the pharmacist duties, when nobody can help you with those duties.

Next if you are having trouble remembering what needs to be done, on weekends or when you don't have an experience tech, then make a list. List what you need to do each day in order of priority, and list out what the techs need to be doing each day in order of priority. Then just follow your list (and if the techs are getting distracted or don't know what to do first, then you can consult your list and know what tasks to have them working on.)

This is all really great advice IMO. I especially think the first paragraph is helpful. I know a lot of people get frustrated because they feel like they work really hard, but if you are not working hard at the things the company considers a priority than your results are not going to show the fruits of your labor. Work hard where it counts and you won't have that frustration.

Techs think you should jump in and help them if they fall behind, which if you can is great, but it is not like they can jump in and help you when you fall behind. Do not dig yourself into a hole if you can help it. And don't be afraid to ask your techs for help - techs can answer line 8 to triage the call. They can ask someone at consultation what kind of question they have. Don't think you have to be superman, do your job, and everyone else's job too. Be comfortable delegating and asking for help.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

RE: The new jersey thing.
Had to go back and read about it. I am an Ex- CVS pharmacist/Pharmacy Tech
Looks like to me that people didn't follow CVS protocol. The articles read as if Rx's that were RTS were dumped back into the wrong stock bottles.
Except CVS policy (older than this error) states that RTS vials are never to be returned to the stock bottle. We had RTS labels for that purpose.
It does take up more space and means you won't get credit for a return to warehouse if they expire.
The correct RTS process actually takes LESS time than returning the pills to the stock bottle.

If there is some special situation going on here, it was unique to NJ.

exactly. This is a system failure... where somebody did not do RTS properly. If they have any knowledge of CVS system..., they would know that it actually hurts their scores to do that. CVS have a new system implemented where we have to scan RTS vial labels before scanning original package. If there was no RTS label (because it was rts to original stock bottle), the technician has to bypass it which would flag it down and lower our points in QA come monthly reporting.

I fail to see how this is CVS's fault...

 

[Unchained]

exactly. This is a system failure... where somebody did not do RTS properly. If they have any knowledge of CVS system..., they would know that it actually hurts their scores to do that. CVS have a new system implemented where we have to scan RTS vial labels before scanning original package. If there was no RTS label (because it was rts to original stock bottle), the technician has to bypass it which would flag it down and lower our points in QA come monthly reporting.

I fail to see how this is CVS's fault...

According to ALL For My Daughter you may have just released proprietary information and could be terminated.

 

[Dr. Bubblebutt]

CVS giving up tobacco. Sign of desperation. Wags will have to follow suit, up the ante by throwing in alcohol as well. Don't buy this crap about adhering to the healthcare theme. After exhausting payroll cuts the chains have now entered the JCP/Ron Johnson phase of throwing crap at the wall hoping something sticks.

 

[1bad45calgirl]

I was fired from CVS for whistleblowing on fraudulent scripts...which I THOUGHT was my job. They are all about QUANTITY, not QUALITY.


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[KidPharmD]

I was fired from CVS for whistleblowing on fraudulent scripts...which I THOUGHT was my job. They are all about QUANTITY, not QUALITY.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile

When was this? When I was at CVS we had a VERY strict policy about filling controlled substances (as a result of some DEA actions). We were NOT to fill a script with which we had articulable reason to suspect its validity (even if it was written by an actual physician).

 

[1bad45calgirl]

2013 in GA