It would just be so nice if it was an instantaneous process like on the TV show "House." It's not, though. It actually takes time to fill a prescription. Want to know why? See: LINK.
But suppose you want to wait longer for your prescription because you're weird or stupid or just have no clue. Here's some definite, absolute, and sure-fire ways to ensure that it takes longer to get your prescription filled:
* Stop by the pharmacy right after you've left the physician's office and ask about it.
* Pack up your prescription bottles and take them to the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist or tech to refill all of them.
* Waiting for the doctor to authorize a refill? Call the pharmacy several times a day to ask if it's ready. If they don't answer the phone right away, keep calling back until they do.
* Never use the automated system. Push ZERO to get ahold of a pharmacy associate right away. He or she isn't doing anything and is just sitting there waiting for your call.
* Thinking about ordering a refill a few days before you run out of your medication? NO! Wait until you're completely out of your medication THEN ask for more!
* Never call the pharmacy on the weekend when they're slower. What are you thinking? Wait until Monday morning when the pharmacy is hopping like mad!
* When the pharmacist or technician tells you it will be twenty minutes to fill your prescription, stop by in ten minutes and ask about it, drawing them away from the filling process to answer your question.
* When you call to ask if a prescription is ready, wait for the pharmacist to go see if it is ready, and if it is, THEN ask how much it costs so he or she can go back to the shelf again and check on that. THEN when you find out the price, ask one more time, "So I can pick it up now?"
* Insult the pharmacist or technician. This instantly adds time to the filling process by a factor of five.
* Stand out there in the aisle and stare at the pharmacists and technicians.
* You have several prescriptions to drop off? Use a different GoodRx code for each prescription. This will add oodles of time to the filling process and save you a whopping $2 or $3 on all of them!
There! By following these simple ideas, you can add a lot of extra time to filling your prescription. What works for you? Comment below!
Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I generally prefer to bring all of my meds to be refilled about a week before I run out, have the tech take down the numbers and return the bottles to me. I tell him/her that I'll be back in a few days to pick them up; there's no hurry. I usually pick them up in the evening after work, on my way back to where I'm staying(I work short term assignments around the country). Does this cause problems for the pharmacy? I generally use the Walmart pharms, as they are good about keeping track of where I am and my baseline Walmart is close to my doctor's office.
ReplyDeleteTrying to transfer a prescription that has no refills!
ReplyDeleteThe pharmacy has no way to do it. Call your doctor yourself!
And always be sure to bypass that telephone BS about talking to a "pharmacy associate." Just press the button that indicates you are a physician or hospital. We know you are important, don't have time (you've been retired for 15 years) and must only speak to the pharmacist because they are the only ones who know what is going on. Then when asked when you want to pick up your refills, just tell them.... probably later today or maybe Thursday.
ReplyDelete