If Only it was This Easy

Dear Prescribers

We're getting a lot of prescriptions now from prescribers with drug discount program info embedded into the prescription. It's even showing up in e-Scripts.

Please stop this nonsense. We're not here to provide you another kickback.

We'll take care of the billing part of the prescription process. YOU handle the physician part and prescribing. We'll handle the filling and payment part.

Fair enough?

A Laughfest Awaits You

Damn it All, Give Me my Tramadol!

Welcome to the Twilight Zone of Pharmacy!

This is where we invent new math that turns a two to three day supply of medication into 14 days!

In four days the patient will return to the pharmacy and declare that we shorted them. Why? Because they're OUT of their medication! The label will clearly show "for 14 days" as we're required to have on the label. So what happened to the rest of the medication?

Swearing, finger-pointing, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth will then ensue. Gift cards will be activated along with lots of "I'm sorry" statements, all because someone at the physician's office either can't calculate or because the physician neglected to tell the patient to make it last two weeks.

A clump of my hair just fell out.

Again.

That Look...

...on her face when I ask why she's out

of a 30 day supply of medication in 21 days.

The Magic Words "But I'm Out!"

Ring... ring...

"Goofmart Pharmacy, may I help you?"

"This is Larry Lateagain. I was calling to see if my doctor refilled my prescription."

"Not yet, Larry. We haven't received a response from the doc."

"But I'm out!"

Those three magical words:

"But I'm out!"

The three words that are the trump card for any pharmacy situation. It doesn't matter if you don't have a new prescription or a refill authorization.

"But I'm out!"

It doesn't matter if the physician can't be reached. None of that matters.

"But I'm out!"

It's as if saying those words magically makes things change in the pharmacy... like somehow, somewhere, a fairy sprinkles some magic dust to make the fax machine spit out a refill authorization... or somewhere, a little angel pops up on the shoulder of the physician and whispers "Larry Lateagain needs a refill on his medication."

"But I'm out!"

Oh, now Larry could have called the pharmacy to request a refill when he had three tablets remaining in his bottle. We would have zipped off a fax to the physician, received a reply, and had a fresh new bottle of medication waiting for him. But no, Larry Lateagain waited until his bottle was empty to ask for a refill.

He's out. Out of medication. And out of brains. And we're supposed to scramble around like fools since it's an emergency... because...

He's out!

A Sure Sign...

Someone else should be

using the e-Script software...

Pharmacy to Decide?

Uh, doc? Strength?

Is the pharmacist to decide?

And for those of you playing the home game... what this REALLY means is that a technician or pharmacist gets the honor of calling the physician's office, listening to all the options before making a selection because the menu has recently changed (back in 2008) and then waiting on hold for who knows how long, only to be routed to the physician's assistant where we will likely get routed to voicemail or put on hold forEVER.

Thirty seconds to write, 15-20 minutes of precious filling time wasted.

Thanks.

Where is the Pharmacy?

Where is the pharmacy that can measure out this exact amount of medication?

And who is the parent that can measure out exactly 3.6ml for their child?

Laughing is a Human Thing