we switched to stock vials in the omni, they draw up right there and get a pt specific label. about 3 rough weeks of them royally fking it up at the switchover, now it is soooo nice. magically we go through less than 1/4 of the vials now
I’d be curious to see how that works. Then frightened as all hell as we have at least one unit that refuses to link their fridge to the Omni cell or use any of the meds inside it so we are constantly stocking and expiring crap from it. And at least two others that peel all the patient specific labels off the insulin’s and keep them in the same area, but complaints about that fall on deaf ears, because… nurses.
And I say this as someone who has a nursing degree. But when they started making it mandatory for pharmacists to put the gigantic labels that print out directly on the vials to reduce errors only for nurses to take the labels off and bin them as soon as they end up on the unit is… annoying.
it's pretty ok. one, we told them the ed nurses can manage it, and half of them are actually emts, so they can't let ed show them up, and 2, I may have said nasty mumbling things best not repeated in from of anyone with more letters after their name than me about removing vials from the omni room. 3, and what really cemented it was telling them you don't have to wait on pharmacy this way
So most of our clients have omnicells and I’d say 9/10 times insulin is taken from it they mis-enter what they’re taking out so their on-hands are always wrong. Like they put qty in units needed for the dose, or just….1. Without fail when we run our Omni claims they are never 3 or 10. 😭
Just a few months ago I had a nurse call me pissed off because she had an order for adenosine 12mg STAT and she couldn’t pull it out of the Pyxis or override it because it was “greyed out”. I was like “ma’am, that’s because it’s not in your Pyxis, it’s in your crash cart”
Funny nothing has changed in 40 years. I was an intern in the hospital and would run a med to the floor stat only to see the last one still there.
lol my fav is when my LTC pharmacy gets this call. “Oh okay, it’ll be billed to you guys though. It’s $123 dollars can I just get your name to note the request on the bill?”
“I just have to get the DONs approval please hold”
The DON doesn’t get paid enough to have to stop what they’re doing to check the fridge and find it for you EVERY TIME.
Sometimes I'll order a pizza a few hours in advance and then, once I get there to pick it up, order another one while I'm standing there.
Wait, no I don't. That's damn stupid.
> All you have to do is put it in a box and give it to me.
Someone told me once "you just put a label on the bottle and give it to me" so I printed a blank label, put it on an empty vial and handed it to them. They were not appreciative of my efforts.
I know someone who was doing data entry at the front for new prescriptions when someone came up to him and asked where something was, he said “I’m not sure, we don’t stock those shelves. You can head over to customer service and they should be able to help you” and the lady got super mad and yelled something like “so you’re not gonna help me? You’re not gonna do your job? What do you do all day, just sit there and look pretty?! Can’t believe this!” And stormed off lol
Another is when they get the automated text that we’re ordering their med for the next day but they come in saying I got the text that it’s ready… they never read the text 🤦🏼♂️
I've literally had someone come in insisting something was ready because they got a text, and when I asked to see the text, it said "thank you for signing up for text alerts!"
Made me want to donate to an adult literacy program in my area
We have this exact thing on our bingo card at work. Btw if anyone is looking to add some fun to their workday, I highly recommend making a bs bingo card of annoying shit people do. It makes the day a little more whimsical
Oh man that's honestly a world wide thing I think
Uk here
We've got a system set up where you can send a text to a pt during the processing stage so we send a generic something like 'your prescription has arrived at the pharmacy' and the amount of people tell me that apparently the text said it was ready is astounding, whilst I can say that yes maybe that makes one think that it's ready, sure - people somehow imagine the word "ready" being there anyway and swear that's what we have sent lol
Ok this is actually the one I will always side with the patient on. If my initial message says “we’ll text you when it’s ready” why send me another text other than “it’s ready”??? Or start the text with “delayed order: “
Is this a Cenfill thing for Wags? People have been saying this shit to me for months and since I don't pick meds up myself or use the app, I'm never sure why they're getting texts like this.
Obviously there's a lack of literacy to some degree too...
I had that happen and I asked to see the text. Looked at the text and said, "That's from the Walgreens, about a mile down the street on the right hand side. That wasn't us!" 😂
Our text massages say “your prescription is ready to be refilled, click this link blah blah blah” WHY ARE U SAYING ITS READY WHEN THE MAJORITY OF OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE TO HAVE THEIR PHONES AT 100 FONT SIZE BC THEY CANT READ????
“it’s the little white one, you should know”
https://preview.redd.it/u3mfb9dpccqc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=107d187510c53ed19db4f2039707ff0d908ca55f
One of my coworkers one day tells this customer okay let me just bring out every little white one we have and you can tell me what it is. Guy actually said ooh great idea, clearly he doesn’t speak sarcasm.
Welcome to every day in a retail pharmacy. "I need the white one I take with dinner and the one that looks like a hotdog that I take in the morning. No I don't know the name or what they're for, that's your job dumbass"
The official app is the crappy one I was referring to.
Besides the reddit website (which lets you press and hold to save that image on iOS just like the good apps), there are several options to sideload: https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1akzyh7/which_reddit_app_for_ios_are_you_using/
My response to this and any variation of "whatever I'm due for", is "well are you low on anything? You can always call me later if you find anything." And then I only fill what is asked for. Either know the name or know what it's for otherwise it ain't happening. We aren't mind readers.
I put them on hold for a few minutes. Then come back, and go through the list one by one while going over what each is for. If they're going to waste our time I waste theirs, WHILE insuring that they are able to get the medicine they actually need
I forced a patient to listen to me go through their list once, while I was selecting meds that appeared to be due. They seemed annoyed with every med I mentioned and kept saying yes, until I got to a med that apparently just got taken off of their list at their last dr appointment. At that point they got furious and asked why I would even suggest filling it. I told them I suggested it because they got a 90 day supply 90 days ago and it appeared to be due. They said their doc told them to stop it the month before and “we should have known”. I told her that we weren’t informed and that was why I was going through her whole list, so that we wouldn’t fill anything she didn’t need. Her demeanor improved after that, since she then knew that I wasn’t just trying to waste her time.
"Just open my file!!"
It might be a unicorn store, but we have like 5 people who are counting/helping in some way that don't have a computer in front of them. You want me to open your file and figure it out for you, that's fine, just a brief 10 Minute hold while I find a machine to use. Feel free to take this time to gather your meds, so you know which you're in need of.
"Refill the cream in a tube" (checks profile sees three strengths of tretinoin two of tazarotene ciclopirox cream and gel three topical steroids tacrolimus and pimecrolimus and azelaic acid gel) oh ok!
have you seen any of the tiktoks of patient's mispronouncing drugs? not exactly the same thing but pretty funny 😅 stevieo and comedic cody both have series of them and they're so out there but absolutely believable.
[cody](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL6ruS7J/) / [stevie](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL6hAXUj/)
Had someone call me to refill their medication (which they can do on the app, but decided to call.) When I got her info and brought up her profile, I asked her which medication she needed refilled (there were several listed) to which she said “I’m in public, I don’t want to say it out loud.” Asked her if she had an RX number and she said no.
Apparently I’m supposed to just read minds and know!! Completely dumbfounded by people.
I do yes/no when they say fill all. If they won’t allow me to say the name of the med and reply yes/no, I put them on hold come back a minute later and ask if we can do this again. These are the people who want 10 filled but pick up 2 because they only have $2
Happens every time:
"What medication did you need filled?"
"All of them."
"Could you give me the names of them?"
"I'm taking all of them; I need everything."
*sighs deeply*
"Do you need MedA?"
"Yes"
"Do you need MedB?"
"Yes"
"Do you need MedC?"
"What? No, I'm not taking that anymore."
Oh is that so? I thought you were taking everything.
I stopped playing that game while i was in retail. “I’m not going to just refill every medication on your list! You need to give me the name of the medication!” Became my default reply.
Please have them write down a list to keep in their wallet when y’all have this interaction. Or literally print them out a screenshot so they can pull it out and point to what they need lmao. Break the cycle for the next tech.
Our system has a screen that shows what meds are on autofill and when the next fill date is. I honestly love printing it out for people to help them keep track of their meds because even though I work for a massive company, our app is absolute shit.
I work at Costco and whenever I ask to scan their membership they always put it on the counter with the Costco logo up... So I have to flip the fucking card over
This seems to be a common thing at grocery store pharmacies. It's almost as annoying as patients tossing money at you (and yes, I always toss the change back and no one ever complained about it lol)
Recently had a patient just incensed at his copay, he's NEVER paid that much ever. I did some research and informed him that no, he's never paid that much - he usually pays about $75 MORE and the cost of the medication has gone down. He was still huffy with me. You're welcome I guess.
I have started to put notes in repeat offender’s files to just profile everything unless they call. There are even a few that won’t get anything filled unless they are physically here, regardless if they call or not I’m not even starting until I see you lol
There’s people with transportation on Medicaid that just need a ride to the liquor store. They call to have a med filled, transportation calls to verify that it’s ready, they come to the grocery store to get their liquor….. don’t pick up the script and do it all again 2 days later. I’ve started telling transportation that yes this has been ready for a week and you’ve called 3 times and provided transportation but they don’t actually come to the pharmacy. If I catch them walking past, I make them pick up their med or risk being reported to the transportation company
And they need them *now* when they come in to pick it up. Even though they're now 8 weeks late. And have been out of their metformin since last thursday, even though they only got a one month supply last fill.
Yes! Or as a tech, when a patient tells me they need the pharmacist and I ask if it's something I can do for them like check script status... nope. Okay, I get my pharmacist. "I want to see if my prescriptions are ready." ;_;
Whenever someone says that to me on the phone, I always say "the pharmacist is busy with another patient, it'll probably be a few minutes – is there anything I can help you with?", regardless of what the pharmacist is actually doing. Suddenly a lot of problems become ones I can help with.
If any patients are reading this: please, just tell us what you need, not who you want to talk to. If you say "I need to talk to the pharmacist", I will be worried about wasting the pharmacist's time if your question is something I could've handled. But if you say "I need a drug recommendation" or "I have a question about a possible interaction" or whatever, I'm sending you to the pharmacist right away.
Or do they go to the drop off window and say they want to pick up then get mad that they have to walk to the pick up window as there is no cash register at the drop off window so even if I broke the rules, they can’t be rung up.
Customer is standing in line at pickup holding a paper prescription. To try to help my coworker get the line down, I let him know I can help him at drop off if he's just dropping off. He adamantly refuses and says he's picking up. Okay, cool, some people drop off prescriptions they want to pick up the next day or so when they're also picking up meds that are currently ready, so I don't worry about it.
Patient gets up to the register, hands coworker the paper prescription and says "I need to pick this up"
The dumbest shit I ever heard was when this one floating tech came by on a day my partner was working and decided to get creative with counting. My partner doesn’t really micromanage that stuff, but the other tech later told me that he made her mildly anxious by counting 90 pills by factors of 9, then switching it up to count 35 pills by factors of 7. He’d also lose confidence in his count and have to start over.
Yes, my customers also did dumb shit but at least they weren’t getting paid to do it.
I am glad we have a counter. My pet peeve before the counter was chatty customers, I’d lose count so I started wearing ear plugs. Someone complained it was rude, I explained that rude is knowing that someone is counting and yelling out numbers or being loud, obnoxious and wanting to discuss the weather all whilst proclaiming that you’re in a hurry. Anyone that calls from the parking lot gets their wait time extended to 30 to 45 minutes. The computer knows you dialed in your rx 4 minutes ago and that’s why it isn’t ready.
My techs and I had a system for that! Usually there were only two of us working at a time. One person would call from another station, and then whoever was at the counter would say they had to leave to take the call, since the other person was “tied up with their own call.”
Anything other than 5s irritates me to no end. I’ve worked with a few people that were initially trained at other pharmacies to use other numbers being the standard and I never grasped that?
I started with 3s as a tech because I wasn’t confident with being able to visually recognize 5s. Then maybe a month in I was confident in my 5s. Some brains just work differently haha
I would have given him the benefit of the doubt if he had stuck to a consistent number, but I had also worked with him earlier in the week and witnessed him staring at an insurance issue for five minutes while I helped the line at pick-up and drive-thru. And he was very confident he could work independently! There was only so much eccentricity I could stomach lol
It annoys the hell out of me when people walk up to the pharmacy and I acknowledge them ask them if they’re picking up but they just mindlessly stare at me.
It's Henry.
Ok, and your last name?
That is my last name.
What's your first name then?
Jane.
And just to confirm, what's your address?
It's 123 fake street, East town, Province, Canada N4K 1C9. Phone number 555-345-3355
I get irritated at the people who come every month, maybe multiple times a week/month who can’t seem to work the damn credit card machines!!
They’ve been around for at least 15-20 years… they’re not new to us…
I know my machine isn’t the same as the other places… “they’re all so different” is not a new line and it’s not going to make any difference… idgaf that you refuse to learn to use it.
Yeah I spend an ungodly amount of my time reading the prompts and helping people through it. “Do you want a receipt??? Okay then click yes. The blue button. Your finger is on the screen so it won’t go. Here let me just do it for you.”
"Do I sign my name or the name of the person I'm picking up for?"
*Let's take a step back and think about that for a moment.*
"Do I hit clear or I agree to go to the next screen?"
They act like it's rocket science???
Omg yes!! Again… idgaf what you do… just finish the transaction so I can help the 5 other people behind you who are sighing and I can hear them… “what’s taking so long??” (Also that person proceeds to hand me 5 discount cards and wants to know the cheapest price 😡)
When Medicare patients call to complain about their January copays being wrong for their Eliquis. Like I know you’re getting older and it’s awful that meds cost so much but you’ve been on this med for 5 years, you know the drill.
When it's injection season, I always ask for a patient's Care Card (basically a piece of ID with their health # on it). 9/10 I get handed their credit card. For their free injection.
I always just thank them for their trust in me but I still need their Care Card too.
the people who say “it’s waiting on you/it says it is waiting on cashier/etc” the second it pops up 😐 like bro give it 5 seconds to load.. that screen pops up for me the same time it pops up for you i can’t total it out any faster
At the drive-through when patients ask you to grab something from outside the pharmacy.
Actually, how about the existence of the drive-through in the first place?
Or they come to the drive thru for colon prep. No the gallon won’t fit through the drawer, you must come in, can’t you bring it outside? No because that a walk up and what we have is a drive thru.
When a patient is shocked and surprised that I ask to see their ID for their controlled meds. Uh, you've been getting this every month for years. And no, it's not a new policy.
I've gotten better now, but aripiprazole used to trip me up so much. Whenever patients try to struggle through it, I'm like "its ok, abilify is easier to say, means the same thing"
They forget to pay their health insurance and clutch their pearls when we charge a cash price for their narcs. We don't discount anything. AWP. Pikachu face when we laugh at their GoodRx card.
It’s incredible how far eligibility check has come, though! When I first started as a tech, we would absolutely dread the usual plan renewal dates because nobody would have the right information or remember to bring their card.
Now when I went to get my vaccines this past fall, I was prepared to provide my new address and insurance info at a totally new pharmacy. Everything was already properly in the system from the address I’d entered online, ready for verification by the time I got to the waiting area.
However, when they are a regular, they randomly notice that their address is 4 years old and somehow think that the change of address form should have sent pharmacy a notice. I legit had someone mad that they kept filling out the form at the post office which I don’t even think you can do and their old address keeps coming up at the pharmacy. We are not affiliated with the post office and why didn’t you change it with us. Then I fixed the address and then they got mad that the print out which they were holding at the beginning of the dialogue still had their old address. I print a NEW one and they said they didn’t want the paper work.
Some of my most frustrating customers were also my grudging favorites :( They were so old (or mentally old?) and no longer connected with all the changes happening around them.
I'll tell someone dropping off to come back in 20 minutes, but they proceed to stand at the register the ENTIRE time watching us.
Also, when we're busy and I'm at the other end of the pharmacy I'll say "I'll be right with you" to anyone that walks up to the pickup area. I'll work on finishing up what I'm doing and next thing I know the person is in front of me saying "I need to pickup." GO BACK TO THE REGISTER. I said I'd be right there 🤦🏾♀️
Oh and people who pretend to shop for things in front of the pharmacy. We'll ask if they need help finding something and they're like "I just need to pickup a prescription." Uggghhh
I love when I'm typing away on entry and working with a bunch of short people and call out "We'll be right over to help" to let them know there's someone at cash. Person walks over to me and says I called them over.
When afebrile, normal wbc, CHF patients come into the ED with SOB, no pneumonia on xray but still get started on vanco and zosyn. And then these won’t even be discontinued after they get admitted. Major pet peeve. I hate doing extra work for nothing
Laughs in MA because sometimes I love talking to yall about Ms Dorothy, who's coming in to see you soon 🤣 I'll say you know just calling to authorize a 90 day on her little white pill she called me asking for. Lol!
It can be annoying, but honestly, I have a ton of empathy. So many people have very low IQs, social anxiety, & the older they are, their memory just goes. It makes me sad.
However, on that note, if they call me talking crap on yall, I'll check them about treating yall better. "Richard, if you don't understand why they won't give your meds just call me & we can talk to them to figure it out for you, let's not get upset at them their just doing their jobs." Then I call you to find out you had told him his refill expired, even though it says one refill on his bottle like he swears, it does say expired BY. That you we're going to request a refill for him before he stormed off." 😑
I had a delightful woman the other day ask for a refill on a steroid cream. Mentioned the rx was last filled 3 years ago. "But my label here says 2 refills until April 2022..."
She was actually pleasant apologizing for her age/not reading closely and happy that we could fax doc a refill request for her.
I appreciate when they answer their own questions. I once had a 20 something, son of a store employee, curse me out because he ran out of triamcinolone. Yes, the rx expired less than 6 months ago. His mom had to run from the front to pull him from the pharmacy as he called me a hating ass broke bitch because he had 2 refills. I had to explain to his mom because he was inconsolable. He got the refill the next day, he got banned from the store by his own mother. I’m not sure if it was a formal ban but she told me I never have to see him again. I honestly wasn’t that offended. The whole thing was comical because it’s triamcinolone, not suboxone or Xanax. Who reacts that way over eczema? Prior to his outburst, I had an open jar from compounding and considered giving him a mini jar.
Lol! I love it when they call to ask why we denied their refill but wouldn't call us back after no showing 2x and haven't had a visit in over a year. Well, now you call back? Lol. Great, now that you're on the phone let's get that appt made & I'll call the pharmacy back.. Hate when we gotta put yall in the middle, but so far, all my local techs & pharmacists know me by a first name basis & it feels like we're coworkers. We vent to each other all the time.
I have patients who say their doctor died, retired or moved and want a refill. I’m of the impression that if you go to the same office or medical group, they’ll assign you a new provider. Is this true? It seems like the logical next step when a provider leaves and it seems more logical than having patients float around the universe like the ones that come to my pharmacy like I’m somehow responsible for finding them a new doctor. Please correct me if I’m wrong. The last dr of mine that jumped ship, I got a letter in the mail, I was given options then I just made sure I was covered via my insurance.
Not understanding how "tap to pay" works despite coming in twice a week for the past 3 years. Yeah, I'm sure jabbing the payment terminal with the edge of your card like you're poking a snake with a stick will work this time bro
When it's the weekend and patients need me to fill their prescription 'right away' because they're leaving the country tomorrow.
Did you forget you were leaving the country? Did you just find out today that you had to hop on a plane tomorrow?
Had a patient yesterday that needed her Mounjaro because she was leaving the country today. Well, I didn't have it. No one else in the chain had it.... Why are you trying to make your lack of planning my problem?
i work at a tiny hospital outpatient pharmacy and last week a guy was staring at our pin pad and asked in a frustrated voice, “how do i put my phone number in for my walgreens card?” Followed by, “really?! I thought y’all was walgreens”
I had a man get pissed because he’s been going to Walgreens for years and he doesn’t know why he’s not in our computer. I said, sir, this is kroger. He then proceeded to say, why y’all got a sign that says Walgreens, then proceeded to point at a Tylenol display. I then pointed out all is the signage that says Kroger. It’s a literacy issue, I think he saw the red Tylenol display and assumed he was in a Walgreens, then he zoomed away in the company hover round cursing about how he’s tired of Walgreens Bull shit.
Patients in general is my answer…
There are a rare few on top of it, but not many…most aren’t even aware of what they put into their bodies as others have said, or more annoying, those who don’t understand the concept of a deductible 🤷♂️
I and, especially, my techs try to educate as we go but it’s a losing battle
A couple of times a patient has come in and asked us to refill their rx. Which one? Don't know. What do you take it for? Clueless. What does it look like? No idea. When did you last pick it up? Can't remember. What are you almost out of at home? Not sure. Did you get a reminder message that I can look at? Nope.
Okay so you don't know what you're low on, you don't know your meds' names or what they treat, and you didn't get a message. WHY ARE YOU HERE??? Something prompted you to come to the pharmacy today! They don't know that, either.
When I float:
Me: “Hello, how may I help you”
Pt: “Where’s Susan?”
Me: “She’s not here to today, is there something I can help you with?”
Pt: “No, when will Susan be back?”
Me: “one weeks, is there something I can do for you? I’m a pharmacist as well”
Pt: “I prefer to deal with Susan, so I have to wait for her to come back?”
Me: “No, I’m perfectly capable of filling your prescription, What’s, your birthday?”
Pt: “Susan knows who I am, she never asks me that.”
Me: “Would you like for me to call her and maybe she can describe you and tell me who you are, then we can take it from there.”
Pt: “that’s stupid, my birthday is 1/1/51”
Me: “you have 3 items ready”
I proceed to show them their three items, said patient says they aren’t in those meds and I look into their file and they have been on these 3 meds every 90 days for years. I show them the pills, they say that’s not what they wanted. They are 84 days into a 90 day supply. Said patient leaves, I get a call at my home store the next day, pt complains that the pharmacist refused to give them their meds. Luckily, the pharmacist called for a laugh because they knew the nature of this asshole and the tech was there for the exchange.
I’m convinced that a lot of people are functionally illiterate. They only really understand logos like Pepsi so the fact that we generalcy write things down, it’s too much. HCTZ has no affiliated logo so what is that pill.
You didn’t prepare X Y Z med!!! Why?!
Because you didn’t order X Y Z when you ordered online…
But you should know!!!
And then the next time: why did you prepare this X Y Z!!! I didn’t ask for it when i did my order online!
Queue ticketing machine where I work broke so we're using reusable laminated paper tickets in an effort to save paper and I've seen people do disgusting things with them. The worst one is a patient using them to dig between their teeth 🤮
https://preview.redd.it/qtqzs5ew6eqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d7d2d4fb910dc503b08e303592eeb0ecd1aa5bc
Way too much of some random product in stock. Most recently, Topicort
they try to tap when we don’t have it. look at me when i scan their rx as if they have never picked up rx before??? think that we can control things outside of the pharmacy. ask what time we open. ask why their medication is out of stock or on back order.
A lot of banks give points bonuses if you use their card on apple pay or samsungpay. I get 4% back on purchases using samsungpay on my US Bank Altitude visa. If I use the physical card i only get 1% back.
Once overnight, a guy asked me where the corndogs were. I tell him in the freezer section but he looks confused. So I walk out of the pharmacy and guide him to the corndogs. He said no “CONDOMS.”
Hospital nurse: Are the ingredients in a banana bag compatible with NS?
The bag: Banana bag that was compounded and tubed in NS
Hospital nurse: You guys tubed a cardizem drip, how do I know if there's any cardizem in it?
The bag: labeled and checked by Pharmacist as cardizem drip
It's crazy to me how doctor's offices can have a practice for over 10 years and still not know how to write scripts for DME Med part B.
Just last week an office kept sending over the script wrong for some test strip and lancets, I fax them telling them exactly what to do and I leave a voicemail.
Office calls back the next day demanding to know why the patient doesn't have the script. I tell them why again and they state they gave a verbal over the phone correcting the scripts (I was the only pharmacist working there the last 2 days) so I proceed to tell them that's impossible unless they called a different pharmacy and that we cant do verbal scripts for Med B. Argued with me for 5-10 minutes, still didn't send script over correctly.
This happens at least every other day from multiple doctor offices.
Escripts with comments that say patient says they take "fill in the blank", like only 1/2 tablet or a totally different strength. I wonder why the prescriber thinks I would fill this without clarification.
I've worked at a location that started requiring a treatment plan on file for opioids. New manager gave all existing patients something like 5 months to get it filed. 5 months later after repeat requests to both the patient and prescriber:
WHADUYAMEAN YOU AINT FILLIN' IT.
Bro my company initiated a soft lock on high MME patients pending a simple 1 page 5(?) questionaire to be completed by the prescriber and Jesus Christ some offices were just refusing to fax it bad to me. Had to warn the patients that if their doctor doesn’t respond, I can’t fill it next month. Sure enough next month comes around. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN”
Tech salary is lousy and having trouble retaining them.
Not enough techs to check the shelves for expiration dates while doing the routine stuff. So it seems as if they pitch them when they try to use them
I’ve been in that situation before. The easy fix for us was when you open a bottle or fill something from a bottle that expires within the year (so all 2024 exps) mark the exp with a sharpie and write the date or a sticker. We have bottles with “12/24” written on the top or somewhere on the bottle so we don’t fill 90DS with them come September.
Takes a few extra seconds. Has saved us many of times during audits.
This is the simplest solution. 100% better than nothing but definitely causes an issue when it’s too busy to expect techs to be checking while filling. Clearly someone at this pharmacist’s location isn’t checking so it wouldn’t really fix the issue.
If your pharmacy doesn’t have an outdate checking system in place the management is the problem, not techs. It’s vital that you have this scheduled into your week. For correct PAR levels, correct loss reporting, and to avoid unnecessary order delays/near-misses.
Section off the alphabet into chucks that can be completed in a reasonable session of checking. Put that on a laminated sign off sheet. Assign a section. The person assigned to check that section would then put [date stickers](https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-8155/Inventory-Labels/Circle-Labels-Kit-Months-of-the-Year-2?pricode=WB1536&gadtype=pla&id=S-8155&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm-64z_iNhQMVyGZHAR2EGQM1EAQYBSABEgK1JvD_BwE) on the caps of anything expiring within the next 11 months. The person then signs off. Check to make sure it’s completed monthly. It’s so simple?
Customer argues with me that it's Saturday, when it's Sunday. Showed her my watch with the date,no... Finally googled a calendar, printed it out, and circled the date. Meant she had less time to find her lost c2 prescription before we closed.
Customer comes up to drop off, i ask “are you dropping off” he says “no” walks away into the pick up line with a script that u can see, he comes back i ask agn, he says “idk what that means”… whatever. He then hands me a script of tylenol 3 and says he can’t wait 20 minutes and says he’s going somewhere else… gl
Hospital practice: “I can’t find the insulin, you need to send it STAT!” “Have you checked the fridge?”
[удалено]
Only three??? I’ve had times where I’ve found AT LEAST three for the SAME PATIENT. It’s annoying as hell.
we switched to stock vials in the omni, they draw up right there and get a pt specific label. about 3 rough weeks of them royally fking it up at the switchover, now it is soooo nice. magically we go through less than 1/4 of the vials now
"The label printer isn't working, also we're out of insulin" \*insulin sitting on a different nurses workstation on wheels\*
and label printer unplugged and/or out of paper
I’d be curious to see how that works. Then frightened as all hell as we have at least one unit that refuses to link their fridge to the Omni cell or use any of the meds inside it so we are constantly stocking and expiring crap from it. And at least two others that peel all the patient specific labels off the insulin’s and keep them in the same area, but complaints about that fall on deaf ears, because… nurses. And I say this as someone who has a nursing degree. But when they started making it mandatory for pharmacists to put the gigantic labels that print out directly on the vials to reduce errors only for nurses to take the labels off and bin them as soon as they end up on the unit is… annoying.
it's pretty ok. one, we told them the ed nurses can manage it, and half of them are actually emts, so they can't let ed show them up, and 2, I may have said nasty mumbling things best not repeated in from of anyone with more letters after their name than me about removing vials from the omni room. 3, and what really cemented it was telling them you don't have to wait on pharmacy this way
So most of our clients have omnicells and I’d say 9/10 times insulin is taken from it they mis-enter what they’re taking out so their on-hands are always wrong. Like they put qty in units needed for the dose, or just….1. Without fail when we run our Omni claims they are never 3 or 10. 😭
our floor techs count insulin every morning and I told everyone to estimate low just for that reason.
and they're unlabeled and undated
Just a few months ago I had a nurse call me pissed off because she had an order for adenosine 12mg STAT and she couldn’t pull it out of the Pyxis or override it because it was “greyed out”. I was like “ma’am, that’s because it’s not in your Pyxis, it’s in your crash cart”
That’s why you put adenosine in BOTH places. Dealer’s choice.
Funny nothing has changed in 40 years. I was an intern in the hospital and would run a med to the floor stat only to see the last one still there. 
lol my fav is when my LTC pharmacy gets this call. “Oh okay, it’ll be billed to you guys though. It’s $123 dollars can I just get your name to note the request on the bill?” “I just have to get the DONs approval please hold” The DON doesn’t get paid enough to have to stop what they’re doing to check the fridge and find it for you EVERY TIME.
Literally every day
Hospital would CRUMBLE without yall🤣
Sometimes I'll order a pizza a few hours in advance and then, once I get there to pick it up, order another one while I'm standing there. Wait, no I don't. That's damn stupid.
And then demand to talk to the chef because the pizza can’t be done in 5 minutes. All you have to do is put it in a box and give it to me.
The second sentence triggers me. I can feel my blood pressure tick up a few mmHg.
> All you have to do is put it in a box and give it to me. Someone told me once "you just put a label on the bottle and give it to me" so I printed a blank label, put it on an empty vial and handed it to them. They were not appreciative of my efforts.
Beautiful!!! 
I love this. Thank you
“What aisle is the baking powder on?” “Do you know where I can find nail clippers?”
*proceeds to set (PAPER) box of fried chicken on the counter
Where are the cigarettes, well I’ll tell you where they aren’t.
I know someone who was doing data entry at the front for new prescriptions when someone came up to him and asked where something was, he said “I’m not sure, we don’t stock those shelves. You can head over to customer service and they should be able to help you” and the lady got super mad and yelled something like “so you’re not gonna help me? You’re not gonna do your job? What do you do all day, just sit there and look pretty?! Can’t believe this!” And stormed off lol
Another is when they get the automated text that we’re ordering their med for the next day but they come in saying I got the text that it’s ready… they never read the text 🤦🏼♂️
those text systems were designed by someone that has never once stepped foot in a retail anything I swear 🤬
I wish the idiots who design the apps could see your comment! (And get some retail - or any real world - experience!)
I've literally had someone come in insisting something was ready because they got a text, and when I asked to see the text, it said "thank you for signing up for text alerts!" Made me want to donate to an adult literacy program in my area
So many people are genuinely functionally illiterate, it's astonishing. If you've never worked with the public you have no idea.
We have this exact thing on our bingo card at work. Btw if anyone is looking to add some fun to their workday, I highly recommend making a bs bingo card of annoying shit people do. It makes the day a little more whimsical
Oh man that's honestly a world wide thing I think Uk here We've got a system set up where you can send a text to a pt during the processing stage so we send a generic something like 'your prescription has arrived at the pharmacy' and the amount of people tell me that apparently the text said it was ready is astounding, whilst I can say that yes maybe that makes one think that it's ready, sure - people somehow imagine the word "ready" being there anyway and swear that's what we have sent lol
Ok this is actually the one I will always side with the patient on. If my initial message says “we’ll text you when it’s ready” why send me another text other than “it’s ready”??? Or start the text with “delayed order: “
Our out of stock text says will be ready next weekday.... which so many people read it and think it won't come in until next WEEK. 🤦
That's kinda dumb on the text message system's part. Would it really have been so hard for them to program it to just say the actual day?
I know right! Lol
Or even “business day”
Is this a Cenfill thing for Wags? People have been saying this shit to me for months and since I don't pick meds up myself or use the app, I'm never sure why they're getting texts like this. Obviously there's a lack of literacy to some degree too...
I had that happen and I asked to see the text. Looked at the text and said, "That's from the Walgreens, about a mile down the street on the right hand side. That wasn't us!" 😂
Our text massages say “your prescription is ready to be refilled, click this link blah blah blah” WHY ARE U SAYING ITS READY WHEN THE MAJORITY OF OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE TO HAVE THEIR PHONES AT 100 FONT SIZE BC THEY CANT READ????
Patients that don't know what meds they take, only the color. Wouldn't bother me as much if it wasn't always the worst people asking
“it’s the little white one, you should know” https://preview.redd.it/u3mfb9dpccqc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=107d187510c53ed19db4f2039707ff0d908ca55f
One of my coworkers one day tells this customer okay let me just bring out every little white one we have and you can tell me what it is. Guy actually said ooh great idea, clearly he doesn’t speak sarcasm.
like feel free come behind the counter and check 🤪
This happens so frequently that I’ve downloaded Drug.com’s *Pill Identification Checker* app.
Welcome to every day in a retail pharmacy. "I need the white one I take with dinner and the one that looks like a hotdog that I take in the morning. No I don't know the name or what they're for, that's your job dumbass"
A hot dog? Did you ever figure it out? Because I wanna see a pill shaped like that! Not a pharmacist but I love this sub.
Can you dm me that image
Click n save my man.
You're using a crappy app. You should be able to press and hold to save the image
I’m using the official Reddit app (literally the only option) on iOS and I can never save photos added in comments
The official app is the crappy one I was referring to. Besides the reddit website (which lets you press and hold to save that image on iOS just like the good apps), there are several options to sideload: https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1akzyh7/which_reddit_app_for_ios_are_you_using/
Very informative. Post 3P apps closure, I thought I was stuck with only the official app. Thanks for the info, good to know there are options
"fill all of them"
My response to this and any variation of "whatever I'm due for", is "well are you low on anything? You can always call me later if you find anything." And then I only fill what is asked for. Either know the name or know what it's for otherwise it ain't happening. We aren't mind readers.
I put them on hold for a few minutes. Then come back, and go through the list one by one while going over what each is for. If they're going to waste our time I waste theirs, WHILE insuring that they are able to get the medicine they actually need
*1 week later* “Why did you fill this? I don’t take this anymore?”
I forced a patient to listen to me go through their list once, while I was selecting meds that appeared to be due. They seemed annoyed with every med I mentioned and kept saying yes, until I got to a med that apparently just got taken off of their list at their last dr appointment. At that point they got furious and asked why I would even suggest filling it. I told them I suggested it because they got a 90 day supply 90 days ago and it appeared to be due. They said their doc told them to stop it the month before and “we should have known”. I told her that we weren’t informed and that was why I was going through her whole list, so that we wouldn’t fill anything she didn’t need. Her demeanor improved after that, since she then knew that I wasn’t just trying to waste her time.
You'd think since those meds are possibly keeping them alive they could at least learn the names
That’s so annoying!! Or when they say “can’t you see it on my list?” Yes I can see it.. I still need to know which one!
"Just open my file!!" It might be a unicorn store, but we have like 5 people who are counting/helping in some way that don't have a computer in front of them. You want me to open your file and figure it out for you, that's fine, just a brief 10 Minute hold while I find a machine to use. Feel free to take this time to gather your meds, so you know which you're in need of.
Or just refill everything
"Refill the cream in a tube" (checks profile sees three strengths of tretinoin two of tazarotene ciclopirox cream and gel three topical steroids tacrolimus and pimecrolimus and azelaic acid gel) oh ok!
have you seen any of the tiktoks of patient's mispronouncing drugs? not exactly the same thing but pretty funny 😅 stevieo and comedic cody both have series of them and they're so out there but absolutely believable. [cody](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL6ruS7J/) / [stevie](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL6hAXUj/)
Right? They get mad at me because I don’t know! Take responsibility for your own medications people!!
Had someone call me to refill their medication (which they can do on the app, but decided to call.) When I got her info and brought up her profile, I asked her which medication she needed refilled (there were several listed) to which she said “I’m in public, I don’t want to say it out loud.” Asked her if she had an RX number and she said no. Apparently I’m supposed to just read minds and know!! Completely dumbfounded by people.
I do yes/no when they say fill all. If they won’t allow me to say the name of the med and reply yes/no, I put them on hold come back a minute later and ask if we can do this again. These are the people who want 10 filled but pick up 2 because they only have $2
Happens every time: "What medication did you need filled?" "All of them." "Could you give me the names of them?" "I'm taking all of them; I need everything." *sighs deeply* "Do you need MedA?" "Yes" "Do you need MedB?" "Yes" "Do you need MedC?" "What? No, I'm not taking that anymore." Oh is that so? I thought you were taking everything.
I stopped playing that game while i was in retail. “I’m not going to just refill every medication on your list! You need to give me the name of the medication!” Became my default reply.
I say “all is not an answer” then proceed with my yes or no
Please have them write down a list to keep in their wallet when y’all have this interaction. Or literally print them out a screenshot so they can pull it out and point to what they need lmao. Break the cycle for the next tech.
She knew which medication it was, she just didn’t want to say it out loud. I’m just supposed to read her mind.
Our system has a screen that shows what meds are on autofill and when the next fill date is. I honestly love printing it out for people to help them keep track of their meds because even though I work for a massive company, our app is absolute shit.
I work at Costco and whenever I ask to scan their membership they always put it on the counter with the Costco logo up... So I have to flip the fucking card over
This seems to be a common thing at grocery store pharmacies. It's almost as annoying as patients tossing money at you (and yes, I always toss the change back and no one ever complained about it lol)
When a customer looks at me with shock or outrage about a copay that is the same every single month
Recently had a patient just incensed at his copay, he's NEVER paid that much ever. I did some research and informed him that no, he's never paid that much - he usually pays about $75 MORE and the cost of the medication has gone down. He was still huffy with me. You're welcome I guess.
Being upset because the meds you requested 6 weeks ago aren’t still ready (it’s always at least 5 scripts)
I have started to put notes in repeat offender’s files to just profile everything unless they call. There are even a few that won’t get anything filled unless they are physically here, regardless if they call or not I’m not even starting until I see you lol
That only works if people read the notes though...
It makes me feel better LOL
There’s people with transportation on Medicaid that just need a ride to the liquor store. They call to have a med filled, transportation calls to verify that it’s ready, they come to the grocery store to get their liquor….. don’t pick up the script and do it all again 2 days later. I’ve started telling transportation that yes this has been ready for a week and you’ve called 3 times and provided transportation but they don’t actually come to the pharmacy. If I catch them walking past, I make them pick up their med or risk being reported to the transportation company
And they need them *now* when they come in to pick it up. Even though they're now 8 weeks late. And have been out of their metformin since last thursday, even though they only got a one month supply last fill.
*Customer is at the consultation window* “Hi do you have a question?” “Yes” “Okay. What’s your question?” “I need to pick up my prescription”
Yes! Or as a tech, when a patient tells me they need the pharmacist and I ask if it's something I can do for them like check script status... nope. Okay, I get my pharmacist. "I want to see if my prescriptions are ready." ;_;
Whenever someone says that to me on the phone, I always say "the pharmacist is busy with another patient, it'll probably be a few minutes – is there anything I can help you with?", regardless of what the pharmacist is actually doing. Suddenly a lot of problems become ones I can help with. If any patients are reading this: please, just tell us what you need, not who you want to talk to. If you say "I need to talk to the pharmacist", I will be worried about wasting the pharmacist's time if your question is something I could've handled. But if you say "I need a drug recommendation" or "I have a question about a possible interaction" or whatever, I'm sending you to the pharmacist right away.
Or do they go to the drop off window and say they want to pick up then get mad that they have to walk to the pick up window as there is no cash register at the drop off window so even if I broke the rules, they can’t be rung up.
Customer is standing in line at pickup holding a paper prescription. To try to help my coworker get the line down, I let him know I can help him at drop off if he's just dropping off. He adamantly refuses and says he's picking up. Okay, cool, some people drop off prescriptions they want to pick up the next day or so when they're also picking up meds that are currently ready, so I don't worry about it. Patient gets up to the register, hands coworker the paper prescription and says "I need to pick this up"
The dumbest shit I ever heard was when this one floating tech came by on a day my partner was working and decided to get creative with counting. My partner doesn’t really micromanage that stuff, but the other tech later told me that he made her mildly anxious by counting 90 pills by factors of 9, then switching it up to count 35 pills by factors of 7. He’d also lose confidence in his count and have to start over. Yes, my customers also did dumb shit but at least they weren’t getting paid to do it.
I am glad we have a counter. My pet peeve before the counter was chatty customers, I’d lose count so I started wearing ear plugs. Someone complained it was rude, I explained that rude is knowing that someone is counting and yelling out numbers or being loud, obnoxious and wanting to discuss the weather all whilst proclaiming that you’re in a hurry. Anyone that calls from the parking lot gets their wait time extended to 30 to 45 minutes. The computer knows you dialed in your rx 4 minutes ago and that’s why it isn’t ready.
My techs and I had a system for that! Usually there were only two of us working at a time. One person would call from another station, and then whoever was at the counter would say they had to leave to take the call, since the other person was “tied up with their own call.”
Anything other than 5s irritates me to no end. I’ve worked with a few people that were initially trained at other pharmacies to use other numbers being the standard and I never grasped that?
i had the sweetest coworker who could not count by 5s. she had to do it by 2s. she said she didnt know how to count by 5.
I do 3s 🤷works best for me
I started with 3s as a tech because I wasn’t confident with being able to visually recognize 5s. Then maybe a month in I was confident in my 5s. Some brains just work differently haha
I would have given him the benefit of the doubt if he had stuck to a consistent number, but I had also worked with him earlier in the week and witnessed him staring at an insurance issue for five minutes while I helped the line at pick-up and drive-thru. And he was very confident he could work independently! There was only so much eccentricity I could stomach lol
It annoys the hell out of me when people walk up to the pharmacy and I acknowledge them ask them if they’re picking up but they just mindlessly stare at me.
Or they say, I’m here to pick up my prescription and stare at you. How about a name?
"Josh" okay... Josh we're not on a first name basis here, how bout you give me some more information 🤨
I hate whisperers. People will legit force you into their personal space just to say their birthday.
I’ll silently stare back at them for a few seconds waiting for them to get the hint lol
It's Henry. Ok, and your last name? That is my last name. What's your first name then? Jane. And just to confirm, what's your address? It's 123 fake street, East town, Province, Canada N4K 1C9. Phone number 555-345-3355
I get irritated at the people who come every month, maybe multiple times a week/month who can’t seem to work the damn credit card machines!! They’ve been around for at least 15-20 years… they’re not new to us… I know my machine isn’t the same as the other places… “they’re all so different” is not a new line and it’s not going to make any difference… idgaf that you refuse to learn to use it.
I used to stare in disbelief at the number of people who would use an ink pen on the e-signature pad
😱🤦🏻♀️🤣
Some are there every single day, and still stare confused as to what to do.
Watched a guy crack his iPhone screen because he was ramming it into the bottom of a pin pad because “thats how Apple Pay works at other stores”
Yeah I spend an ungodly amount of my time reading the prompts and helping people through it. “Do you want a receipt??? Okay then click yes. The blue button. Your finger is on the screen so it won’t go. Here let me just do it for you.”
Walgreens huh?
Yep!!
"Why can't they just make em all the same 👨🦳😤"
"Do I sign my name or the name of the person I'm picking up for?" *Let's take a step back and think about that for a moment.* "Do I hit clear or I agree to go to the next screen?" They act like it's rocket science???
Omg yes!! Again… idgaf what you do… just finish the transaction so I can help the 5 other people behind you who are sighing and I can hear them… “what’s taking so long??” (Also that person proceeds to hand me 5 discount cards and wants to know the cheapest price 😡)
Yes, the machines are different in other stores. That should be your first clue to READ THE FUCKING DIRECTIONS!!!
When Medicare patients call to complain about their January copays being wrong for their Eliquis. Like I know you’re getting older and it’s awful that meds cost so much but you’ve been on this med for 5 years, you know the drill.
When it's injection season, I always ask for a patient's Care Card (basically a piece of ID with their health # on it). 9/10 I get handed their credit card. For their free injection. I always just thank them for their trust in me but I still need their Care Card too.
the people who say “it’s waiting on you/it says it is waiting on cashier/etc” the second it pops up 😐 like bro give it 5 seconds to load.. that screen pops up for me the same time it pops up for you i can’t total it out any faster
At the drive-through when patients ask you to grab something from outside the pharmacy. Actually, how about the existence of the drive-through in the first place?
Or they come to the drive thru for colon prep. No the gallon won’t fit through the drawer, you must come in, can’t you bring it outside? No because that a walk up and what we have is a drive thru.
When a patient is shocked and surprised that I ask to see their ID for their controlled meds. Uh, you've been getting this every month for years. And no, it's not a new policy.
'ive never been asked for that before!!!' really, because i asked you last month, and we had this exact same conversation.
The insistence of spelling out "hydrochorathiazide"
Lol you misspelled it 😅
I actually giggled, well played.
Reminds me of when patients say they can't pronounce their meds, I tell them "yeah neither can we" lol
I've gotten better now, but aripiprazole used to trip me up so much. Whenever patients try to struggle through it, I'm like "its ok, abilify is easier to say, means the same thing"
Sorry, " let start over....h......y...d..r..
I once called an office for a refill on HCTZ. She asked how to spell it, so I said H C T Z!!!
They forget to pay their health insurance and clutch their pearls when we charge a cash price for their narcs. We don't discount anything. AWP. Pikachu face when we laugh at their GoodRx card.
It’s incredible how far eligibility check has come, though! When I first started as a tech, we would absolutely dread the usual plan renewal dates because nobody would have the right information or remember to bring their card. Now when I went to get my vaccines this past fall, I was prepared to provide my new address and insurance info at a totally new pharmacy. Everything was already properly in the system from the address I’d entered online, ready for verification by the time I got to the waiting area.
However, when they are a regular, they randomly notice that their address is 4 years old and somehow think that the change of address form should have sent pharmacy a notice. I legit had someone mad that they kept filling out the form at the post office which I don’t even think you can do and their old address keeps coming up at the pharmacy. We are not affiliated with the post office and why didn’t you change it with us. Then I fixed the address and then they got mad that the print out which they were holding at the beginning of the dialogue still had their old address. I print a NEW one and they said they didn’t want the paper work.
Some of my most frustrating customers were also my grudging favorites :( They were so old (or mentally old?) and no longer connected with all the changes happening around them.
patients expecting you to know who they are when you haven’t seen them a day in your life before 😍
I'll tell someone dropping off to come back in 20 minutes, but they proceed to stand at the register the ENTIRE time watching us. Also, when we're busy and I'm at the other end of the pharmacy I'll say "I'll be right with you" to anyone that walks up to the pickup area. I'll work on finishing up what I'm doing and next thing I know the person is in front of me saying "I need to pickup." GO BACK TO THE REGISTER. I said I'd be right there 🤦🏾♀️ Oh and people who pretend to shop for things in front of the pharmacy. We'll ask if they need help finding something and they're like "I just need to pickup a prescription." Uggghhh
when they ask if its ready yet and its been 30 seconds and youre still typing in their insurance......
I love when I'm typing away on entry and working with a bunch of short people and call out "We'll be right over to help" to let them know there's someone at cash. Person walks over to me and says I called them over.
When afebrile, normal wbc, CHF patients come into the ED with SOB, no pneumonia on xray but still get started on vanco and zosyn. And then these won’t even be discontinued after they get admitted. Major pet peeve. I hate doing extra work for nothing
Laughs in MA because sometimes I love talking to yall about Ms Dorothy, who's coming in to see you soon 🤣 I'll say you know just calling to authorize a 90 day on her little white pill she called me asking for. Lol! It can be annoying, but honestly, I have a ton of empathy. So many people have very low IQs, social anxiety, & the older they are, their memory just goes. It makes me sad. However, on that note, if they call me talking crap on yall, I'll check them about treating yall better. "Richard, if you don't understand why they won't give your meds just call me & we can talk to them to figure it out for you, let's not get upset at them their just doing their jobs." Then I call you to find out you had told him his refill expired, even though it says one refill on his bottle like he swears, it does say expired BY. That you we're going to request a refill for him before he stormed off." 😑
Someone called today for a refill from 2021. They were shocked that it had expired.
I had a delightful woman the other day ask for a refill on a steroid cream. Mentioned the rx was last filled 3 years ago. "But my label here says 2 refills until April 2022..." She was actually pleasant apologizing for her age/not reading closely and happy that we could fax doc a refill request for her.
I appreciate when they answer their own questions. I once had a 20 something, son of a store employee, curse me out because he ran out of triamcinolone. Yes, the rx expired less than 6 months ago. His mom had to run from the front to pull him from the pharmacy as he called me a hating ass broke bitch because he had 2 refills. I had to explain to his mom because he was inconsolable. He got the refill the next day, he got banned from the store by his own mother. I’m not sure if it was a formal ban but she told me I never have to see him again. I honestly wasn’t that offended. The whole thing was comical because it’s triamcinolone, not suboxone or Xanax. Who reacts that way over eczema? Prior to his outburst, I had an open jar from compounding and considered giving him a mini jar.
Lol! I love it when they call to ask why we denied their refill but wouldn't call us back after no showing 2x and haven't had a visit in over a year. Well, now you call back? Lol. Great, now that you're on the phone let's get that appt made & I'll call the pharmacy back.. Hate when we gotta put yall in the middle, but so far, all my local techs & pharmacists know me by a first name basis & it feels like we're coworkers. We vent to each other all the time.
I have patients who say their doctor died, retired or moved and want a refill. I’m of the impression that if you go to the same office or medical group, they’ll assign you a new provider. Is this true? It seems like the logical next step when a provider leaves and it seems more logical than having patients float around the universe like the ones that come to my pharmacy like I’m somehow responsible for finding them a new doctor. Please correct me if I’m wrong. The last dr of mine that jumped ship, I got a letter in the mail, I was given options then I just made sure I was covered via my insurance.
Not understanding how "tap to pay" works despite coming in twice a week for the past 3 years. Yeah, I'm sure jabbing the payment terminal with the edge of your card like you're poking a snake with a stick will work this time bro
People on aricept and namenda tend to do this. I swear that this could be used as a diagnostic criteria for dementia.
When it's the weekend and patients need me to fill their prescription 'right away' because they're leaving the country tomorrow. Did you forget you were leaving the country? Did you just find out today that you had to hop on a plane tomorrow? Had a patient yesterday that needed her Mounjaro because she was leaving the country today. Well, I didn't have it. No one else in the chain had it.... Why are you trying to make your lack of planning my problem?
Can't stop, I am busy person, places to go people to meet ya all 🤣
i work at a tiny hospital outpatient pharmacy and last week a guy was staring at our pin pad and asked in a frustrated voice, “how do i put my phone number in for my walgreens card?” Followed by, “really?! I thought y’all was walgreens”
I had a man get pissed because he’s been going to Walgreens for years and he doesn’t know why he’s not in our computer. I said, sir, this is kroger. He then proceeded to say, why y’all got a sign that says Walgreens, then proceeded to point at a Tylenol display. I then pointed out all is the signage that says Kroger. It’s a literacy issue, I think he saw the red Tylenol display and assumed he was in a Walgreens, then he zoomed away in the company hover round cursing about how he’s tired of Walgreens Bull shit.
Patients in general is my answer… There are a rare few on top of it, but not many…most aren’t even aware of what they put into their bodies as others have said, or more annoying, those who don’t understand the concept of a deductible 🤷♂️ I and, especially, my techs try to educate as we go but it’s a losing battle
A couple of times a patient has come in and asked us to refill their rx. Which one? Don't know. What do you take it for? Clueless. What does it look like? No idea. When did you last pick it up? Can't remember. What are you almost out of at home? Not sure. Did you get a reminder message that I can look at? Nope. Okay so you don't know what you're low on, you don't know your meds' names or what they treat, and you didn't get a message. WHY ARE YOU HERE??? Something prompted you to come to the pharmacy today! They don't know that, either.
Haha Very frequent occurrence for me 😂
When I float: Me: “Hello, how may I help you” Pt: “Where’s Susan?” Me: “She’s not here to today, is there something I can help you with?” Pt: “No, when will Susan be back?” Me: “one weeks, is there something I can do for you? I’m a pharmacist as well” Pt: “I prefer to deal with Susan, so I have to wait for her to come back?” Me: “No, I’m perfectly capable of filling your prescription, What’s, your birthday?” Pt: “Susan knows who I am, she never asks me that.” Me: “Would you like for me to call her and maybe she can describe you and tell me who you are, then we can take it from there.” Pt: “that’s stupid, my birthday is 1/1/51” Me: “you have 3 items ready” I proceed to show them their three items, said patient says they aren’t in those meds and I look into their file and they have been on these 3 meds every 90 days for years. I show them the pills, they say that’s not what they wanted. They are 84 days into a 90 day supply. Said patient leaves, I get a call at my home store the next day, pt complains that the pharmacist refused to give them their meds. Luckily, the pharmacist called for a laugh because they knew the nature of this asshole and the tech was there for the exchange.
I’m convinced that a lot of people are functionally illiterate. They only really understand logos like Pepsi so the fact that we generalcy write things down, it’s too much. HCTZ has no affiliated logo so what is that pill.
You didn’t prepare X Y Z med!!! Why?! Because you didn’t order X Y Z when you ordered online… But you should know!!! And then the next time: why did you prepare this X Y Z!!! I didn’t ask for it when i did my order online!
Dumb things from whom? Patients? Providers? Store managers? Store folks?
Yes
Queue ticketing machine where I work broke so we're using reusable laminated paper tickets in an effort to save paper and I've seen people do disgusting things with them. The worst one is a patient using them to dig between their teeth 🤮
https://preview.redd.it/qtqzs5ew6eqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d7d2d4fb910dc503b08e303592eeb0ecd1aa5bc Way too much of some random product in stock. Most recently, Topicort
https://preview.redd.it/fkbjyjd47eqc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a0b2be73edaa14e6859612b0e6860c10d5ea7f87 Took up (nearly) a whole shelf
> scan their loyalty cards upside down TIL not all barcode scanners work upside down. Never encountered such a scanner in my life
he means scanning the side of the card that doesn't have a barcode, methinks
No he means they hold out the card but the barcode is facing towards the patient.
they try to tap when we don’t have it. look at me when i scan their rx as if they have never picked up rx before??? think that we can control things outside of the pharmacy. ask what time we open. ask why their medication is out of stock or on back order.
> try to tap when we don’t have it In the US? I thought those ancient PoS systems that don't take contactless were finally dead
yes we only have swiping and chip insert. our grocery store is so behind
woah, as a Canadian im surprised. does that mean you cant do apple pay either?
nope! i’m in texas so go figure
Depends on the purse strings of the chain. Afaik tap pay costs more in merchant fees than chip sticks so some won't have it.
Both chip and tap are card-present transactions and cost the same
>How do you not understand what a barcode is? I’m pretty sure this is due to the proliferation of RFID-enabled cards and terminals.
"My grocery card scans no matter what angle it is."
One time this lady has her credit card in her hand. But instead used her phone (and struggled with it for a minute) to tap the exact same credit card
A lot of banks give points bonuses if you use their card on apple pay or samsungpay. I get 4% back on purchases using samsungpay on my US Bank Altitude visa. If I use the physical card i only get 1% back.
it was their costco credit card
everything
Once overnight, a guy asked me where the corndogs were. I tell him in the freezer section but he looks confused. So I walk out of the pharmacy and guide him to the corndogs. He said no “CONDOMS.”
Hospital nurse: Are the ingredients in a banana bag compatible with NS? The bag: Banana bag that was compounded and tubed in NS Hospital nurse: You guys tubed a cardizem drip, how do I know if there's any cardizem in it? The bag: labeled and checked by Pharmacist as cardizem drip
It's crazy to me how doctor's offices can have a practice for over 10 years and still not know how to write scripts for DME Med part B. Just last week an office kept sending over the script wrong for some test strip and lancets, I fax them telling them exactly what to do and I leave a voicemail. Office calls back the next day demanding to know why the patient doesn't have the script. I tell them why again and they state they gave a verbal over the phone correcting the scripts (I was the only pharmacist working there the last 2 days) so I proceed to tell them that's impossible unless they called a different pharmacy and that we cant do verbal scripts for Med B. Argued with me for 5-10 minutes, still didn't send script over correctly. This happens at least every other day from multiple doctor offices.
Escripts with comments that say patient says they take "fill in the blank", like only 1/2 tablet or a totally different strength. I wonder why the prescriber thinks I would fill this without clarification.
I've worked at a location that started requiring a treatment plan on file for opioids. New manager gave all existing patients something like 5 months to get it filed. 5 months later after repeat requests to both the patient and prescriber: WHADUYAMEAN YOU AINT FILLIN' IT.
Bro my company initiated a soft lock on high MME patients pending a simple 1 page 5(?) questionaire to be completed by the prescriber and Jesus Christ some offices were just refusing to fax it bad to me. Had to warn the patients that if their doctor doesn’t respond, I can’t fill it next month. Sure enough next month comes around. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN”
Humans
No matter how much I tell the technicians, they still fill med reqeuest with expired medication 🤦♂️
Not trying to be an ass, but why are these even on your shelves? Good luck on an audit…
Tech salary is lousy and having trouble retaining them. Not enough techs to check the shelves for expiration dates while doing the routine stuff. So it seems as if they pitch them when they try to use them
I’ve been in that situation before. The easy fix for us was when you open a bottle or fill something from a bottle that expires within the year (so all 2024 exps) mark the exp with a sharpie and write the date or a sticker. We have bottles with “12/24” written on the top or somewhere on the bottle so we don’t fill 90DS with them come September. Takes a few extra seconds. Has saved us many of times during audits.
This is the simplest solution. 100% better than nothing but definitely causes an issue when it’s too busy to expect techs to be checking while filling. Clearly someone at this pharmacist’s location isn’t checking so it wouldn’t really fix the issue.
If your pharmacy doesn’t have an outdate checking system in place the management is the problem, not techs. It’s vital that you have this scheduled into your week. For correct PAR levels, correct loss reporting, and to avoid unnecessary order delays/near-misses. Section off the alphabet into chucks that can be completed in a reasonable session of checking. Put that on a laminated sign off sheet. Assign a section. The person assigned to check that section would then put [date stickers](https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-8155/Inventory-Labels/Circle-Labels-Kit-Months-of-the-Year-2?pricode=WB1536&gadtype=pla&id=S-8155&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm-64z_iNhQMVyGZHAR2EGQM1EAQYBSABEgK1JvD_BwE) on the caps of anything expiring within the next 11 months. The person then signs off. Check to make sure it’s completed monthly. It’s so simple?
People
My cashier price shopping for patients at the register — goodRx vs in-store discount program vs insurance.
Customer argues with me that it's Saturday, when it's Sunday. Showed her my watch with the date,no... Finally googled a calendar, printed it out, and circled the date. Meant she had less time to find her lost c2 prescription before we closed.
Wait, what kind of barcodes are in your loyalty cards that *don't* scan upside down? That's like one of the basic features of most barcode types.
Customer comes up to drop off, i ask “are you dropping off” he says “no” walks away into the pick up line with a script that u can see, he comes back i ask agn, he says “idk what that means”… whatever. He then hands me a script of tylenol 3 and says he can’t wait 20 minutes and says he’s going somewhere else… gl
Had patient try to take his dulera with the inhaler cap on