The phone rings at work....Me: Hi. This is Katie, can I help you?
Ok, it's me now...
You'd be surprised at how many people ask to speak to "a pharmacy." A pharmacy? Really? Now, the conversation above isn't a quotation of any previous conversation, but it helps you get the gist of the kind of things people talk to me about/ ask me on a daily basis. I have spent many minutes on the phone listening to the life history of the customer or the full history of the "scription" they want refilled.
One of my other favorite questions is, "How much is this going to cost on my insurance?" To the customer's credit, insurance is confusing. However, do they expect me to know every single insurance company, every plan, every drug on each tier of their formulary, and then deduce how much their copay will be IF they met their deductible? (And no one seems to think they have a deductible nor do they know how much their deductible is.) Ok, so would it be tacky of me to write a few essays and place them on the counters of the various pharmacies where I work? The titles would be as follows:
"No, We Can't Just Grab a ZPak Off the Shelf and Stick a Label on it: Why it takes at least 10 minutes to fill your new prescription."
"How Your Insurance Works: STOP ARGUING WITH ME ABOUT YOUR COPAYS."
"Why You Should Know What Medications You are Taking and What They Are For." (This is for all the people who say, "I need my little white pill and that pink pill. What's that big yellow pill I've been taking for?")
"YOU are actually capable of calling YOUR doctor to get YOUR medications refilled. Surprise!'
When I first started working at a pharmacy I was shocked that people expected the pharmacist to call their doctor for refills. That thought had never crossed my mind. I guess I thought that since I was the one taking the medication and since I was the one "keeping up" with how many refills I had, I should be the one to call my doctor and request more when I ran out. It's no problem for the pharmacy to fax your doctor for more refills, but don't get mad at us when it's been 3 days and we still haven't heard from them. By the way, the number of refills you have left on the prescription is printed on each prescription label. Don't act surprised when you call in a refill and it says you have no refills, people!
Ok, that ends my pharmacy venting session for the day. I'm sure all of you have issues at your jobs as well. Maybe you should consider mailing out an essay....
2 comments:
hm....bad day? call me and i'll tell you about mine....i sit, stared at a computer, got yelled at, (i still don't know why), then sat an watched my boss fall asleep in a huge meeting....then back to the cubicle!
-i love working!
Well... how about "don't pay no tention to her cuzz shes got that frenia" as in schizophrenia. Or how about "you're a liar from hell" or my favorite " I want yall to teach my boy how to wear a condom" and various other great things that go along with the job!
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