Saturday, November 8, 2014

The Emergency Supply

Belinda Volk is on the phone again. When she calls, she starts talking and goes from one sentence to the next without pausing or giving you a chance to get a word in edgewise. You'll be listening to her for a good four to five minutes before she ever gets around to her request or question.

It's always about the same thing, though. Belinda takes generic Xanax. The way she talks on the phone I certainly see why. Belinda gets her Xanax from her mail order pharmacy. Belinda also panics every month when she sees only 10-15 tablets left in her bottle (that she takes one time daily) because her mail order refill hasn't arrived yet and she's anxious about not having her medication.

So every month we get the same call:


"This is Belinda Volk. My doctor is calling in an 'Emergency Supply' of Xanax for me because my mail order refill hasn't arrived yet and I'm almost out of my medication and I can't be without my medication for even one day so my doctor will be calling in an 'Emergency Supply' which I want you to fill right away. Now I know it is not going to go through my insurance but I've already called my insurance and they're going to authorize an 'Emergency Supply' of Xanax to be filled at your location because I'm almost out of my Xanax and it hasn't arrived in the mail yet. So you need to call my insurance and check with them to make sure they authorized an 'Emergency Supply' of Xanax because I'm almost out and I can't be without my medication. Did my doctor call in my 'Emergency Supply' of Xanax yet?"

We handle it appropriately for Mrs. Volk every month. But she sure wears me out every time.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi. it's so much fun reading your blog. i am a pharmacist in Malaysia. you are so lucky that you have dispensing separation there. in Malaysia, the doctor has the right to dispense the drugs. so we rarely receive any prescription.

Josh said...

Haha, Anonymous says you're the lucky one! I think we all have those customers. I had a customer recently who had a hard time dealing with his new Diabetes diagnosis and would talk at great length to understand his prescriptions. What drove me crazy was the inane questions i.e. "You keep the insulin refrigerated, correct?" "Yes sir." "So when I pick it up, it will be cool to the touch." "..........yes."