Things I hate hearing

Here are some things I have hearing as a pharmacist, so if you're my customer and you say any one of these, don't be surprised when I jump over the counter and pump your belly full of potassium pills (and try to stab you with my blunt spatula).

1.  My copay is $3.50?!?!  Why so much?!?!

2.  Why isn't the insurance paying for it, didn't the doctor write that I needed it?

3.  I'm allergic to that, it made my stomach hurt

4.  15 minutes?  But the medicine is made already, you just have to put a label on it

5.  Too soon? Oh i lost my pills/my roommate took them/they fell in the sink/etc.

6.  Why do you need my ID for Sudafed, Walgreens doesn't ask for it

7.  What aisle can I find the milk?

8.  How much is amoxicillin?  Ok, can I have it?  Wait, your saying you need a prescription?

9.  Why do I even have insurance?

10.  (Phone call) I have a prescription in my hand, can I tell you what it says and you have it ready?  I will be there in 5 minutes

I'm sure there are a lot more.  What makes you all heated?  Leave it in the comments

Seriously?!

So this happened to me the other day. It was just a regular day and the pharmacy, people coming in, thousands of phone calls, my stomach growling, you know, the usual. Then the most unusual character comes up to the consultation area.

I call him unusual because he was dressed in shorts, tshirt, and flip flops. It’s still winter and he looks like he’s ready for the beach. He’s got a plastic bag in his one hand and reaches out his other to shake mine. I shake because I don’t want to leave him hanging and we begin our conversation.

Customer: “I was wondering if you could help me with something and ask you a question”

Me: “Sure, ask me two if you’d like”

Customer: “My girl took a pregnancy test and I was wondering if you could tell me about it”

Me: “Tell you something about it, well, what it does is read the hormone levels in her urine and lets her know if she’s pregnant”

C: “No, I know all that”
Then he reaches into the bag he was carrying and pulls out the freaking stick. He then tries to hand it to me.
C: “Does this mean she’s pregnant”

After taking a step back out of disgust, I look and tell him that yes, she is pregnant. I chose my words wisely, and didn’t say congratulations because judging by the look on his face, he definitely was not expecting this.

So he leaves and during some down time, I remembered he shook my hand and handles the test with the same one. After throwing up in my mouth a little, I quickly pump about half the hand sanitzer in my hand and proceed to clean.

Seriously?! Some people just don’t have proper brain function.

When calling in a prescription...

To all the doctors, nurses, dentists, PAs, or whoever calls in a prescription to a pharmacy:  please follow these guidelines and your relationship with your pharmacist will be much better.

First complaint I always hear from all of my fellow pharmers is that people need to slow down!  I’m not sure if you realize this, but the words that are coming out of your mouth need to be written down and all I have is a pen and paper.  Don’t start rambling without any pauses because I can’t keep up.

Spell out the name of the patient and doctor and give us the DOB.  That last name might be common place in your place of origin but I don’t always know where that silent H goes.  And you might be the only Dr. Patel in your neighborhood, but my computer says there are over 500 of you, so please specify with your first name, DEA number, or NPI.  And lastly, little old Maria Rodriguez from Main Street may be your only Maria Rodriguez that goes to your office, but I have 18 different Maria’s in my system, so give me the patient’s DOB.

Please give me quantity and directions.  You guys might be able to get away without giving insurance companies exact details on what you do, but if you prescribe Coumadin #100 with direction as “Use as directed” I’m going to tell you to please give me the EXACT directions.  Because if I get audited, that money I just made off the prescription is going to be taken right back.  Same goes for insulin, prednisone, etc.

Please don’t call the prescription in and tell the patient that the pharmacist will have it ready in 10 minutes.  You are not at my store and you don’t know my current workload.  And also don’t give a price to people when you clearly don’t know how much it cost.

It’s also frustrating how many of prescribers are not familiar with the laws of guidelines that entail prescriptions.  No you cannot phone in a CII, you can only phone in a 3 day supply and must mail the prescription immediately or you will be reported to the DEA.  No you cannot give more than a 6 month supply of any controlled medication.  And no I cannot make an exception for you, it’s my license on the line. 

I don’t think I’m asking for anything that’s not close to common sense.  But, all in all, if you are nice and personable to me, you will get the same in return and maybe I will overlook the mistakes you make and not get as frustrated.

Wonderful Customers...

First off, I would like to say that 85% of the people that come in and drop off and pick up prescriptions are fine and dandy.  I appreciate them and look forward to seeing the frequent flyers once a month (or sometimes once a week for some).  But there are about 15% of you out there that just amaze me.

I admit, there are times when I can’t understand the crap that your doctor has written on the prescription.  Most of the time, I can look at the first letter, the strength, and directions and decipher it.  But when I need more help than that, I usually ask the patient “What did you go to the doctor for?”  If you tell me I went because I have a cold, my brain works and focuses on antibiotics and cough suppressants   There are way too many times when I ask that simple question and the answer I get is “I dunno.”  Or “What did the doctor tell you?”  And they respond, “Nothing…I dunno.”  So your basically telling me that you went to the doctor just to go, he gives you a medicine that you have to ingest that affects your body and possibly changes your internal chemistry and you didn’t bother to say, “Hey Doc, what are you going to give me?” or “How will this help my _____?”  No, you come to the pharmacy to fill it and when I tell you it won’t be ready in 5 minutes because I can’t understand what’s written you complain that I don’t know how to do my job.  Ugh.

Please carry your insurance cards with you.  And no, the card you give to the dentist and the doctor is not always the same card that I need.  And for the senior citizens, your Medicare Part B card (red, white, and blue card) is not your prescription insurance.  And if your copay is $1 to $15 dollars, don’t complain.  Your one of the lucky ones.  You may not know this but there are drugs where for 1 bottle the cost is over $4,000.  So your $15 copay doesn’t look so bad. 

Your insurance doesn’t cover everything.  There will be times when a med needs a prior authorization or non-formulary.  You would probably say “But the doctor wrote it so it has to be covered.”  Well, the reason for it is because that prescription for the brand new brand name medication the doc wrote for has a cheaper cousin that does the same exact job and works equally as well for a fraction of the cost.  The only reason that doctor actually wrote for the medication is because he was probably enamored by the blonde pharm sales rep that stopped by his office and gave him some donuts.  Trust me, that is the reason why.  You may wonder, “Why do I have to use the cheaper ones?”  Well, what people don’t realize is that the more generics you use, the lower the cost of healthcare becomes.  It’s simple math, if your insurance has to pay out an average of $700 a prescription to a pharmacy, then they have to charge you a higher monthly rate than if they pay pharmacies $10 a prescription.  

There are many more stories, but my hands are cramping, so I’m sure there will be a part two.

Feel free to leave your comments!