Me: "Ok, what is your birth date?"
Lady: "August 25, 1971."
Me: "Ok, I have no one with that birth date on my computer. I'll have to add you in..."
Lady: "Oh, it's not for me. It's for my husband..."
You have absolutely NO IDEA how often this happens.
6 comments:
At the drive through:
Tech: "What's your birthdate?"
Customer: "Susan"
sigh.....
"Is the prescription for you?"
"No, it's for my husband."
"OK, his birth-date please."
Pretty straight-forward.
"You have no refills, we will fax/call/ email your doctor?"
"When will he call you back?"
(Let me look into my crystal ball).
My thought exactly. All statements were true, all questions were answered correctly in both scenarios. Note the different outcomes. And, yes, I am a pharmacist.
Rephrase the question to "What is the patient's birthday?" That usually works about 75 percent of the time for me.
Most people calling in refills for someone else have done it before, maybe a few are doing it for the first time but the majority are familiar with the process and know that the pharmacy is only interested in the vital info of the patient, not the caller. Answering with their own DOB means they either think it's cute to waste time or they're simply absentminded.
You wouldn't call 911 and give the operator detailed directions to your house, let them get to the point where they say the ambulance is on the way, then say "Oh no, I'm not at home right now this is happening elsewhere, let's start over". You know what, nevermind, people probably do that too.
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