This is Actually...

...how it's done!

If You Just Left the Physician's Office...

Every day I get a patient that comes to the pharmacy where I hear this:

"Hello. I just left the doctor's office a few minutes ago. He sent over a new prescription for me."

So what's wrong here?

* You JUST left the office? So you think your medication magically appears here ready to pick up?

OR

* You really don't think that because you realize that it takes time to fill the prescription... 

BUT

If that's the case, WHY are you pulling me away from the filling process to ask about it? Seriously... if you're in a hurry, you just ADDED time to the process!

I am so completely troubled by this scenario. It happens every day in retail pharmacy and it literally makes no sense whatsoever. None. Not a shred. Even the smallest bit of logic would suggest that coming to the pharmacy right after you left the doctor's office is ridiculous. 

Even when you go through the drive thru at McDonald's and place your order, it still takes time for them to make your Happy Meal. It doesn't take long, but if you go to the pick up window and pester them about it YOU ARE ADDING TIME to the process.

I'm just floored. I just don't get it. Please, someone, shoot me. I'm ready to leave the planet.

Uh, Walmart?

Merry Christmas!

The Crazy RxMan

wishes

you and your family

a very

Merry Christmas!

Laugh Now that all your Christmas Shopping is Done!

"Do Pharmacy," they said...

This is me...

When I look in the day's order

and the specific drug

I ordered late last night isn't there!

15 Minutes is Sufficient

This was shared with me recently on Twitter. It reads as follows:

"Please, I do not like waiting 30-40 minutes for service when 15 minutes is sufficient. Thank you, customer."

Cures and Side Effects

The Milk Emergency

I'm checking out a lady at the register. I do a lot more of that now since the new software requires me to check off a box that says I've counseled the patient on a medication they've had since 1986. Upper management has forced us into this behavior as a method to try and pressure us to discuss vaccinations with each and every patient like we have all the time in the world to do that.

I'm patiently waiting for the lady to push her credit card into the machine for the $1.24 purchase. My mind instantly wonders who comes up with these crazy co-pay numbers. Is there like a committee of three or four people at the pharmacy benefit manager that argued the merits of charging $1.24 instead of $1.20? I'm sure all these pennies must add up somewhere and it makes all the difference in world.

Of course the lady can't figure out that the chip end of the credit card goes in first so the machine barks at her. When I prompt her to turn the card around and she does so then it just sits there waiting because she hasn't pushed it in all the way. "Is it done yet?" she quibbles, angry with me. "Push it in a little more," I say, instantly turning our interaction from PG to PG-13.

At that point a lady walked up to the counter, violating all privacy laws everywhere and spit out, "WHERE'S THE MILK?!" I'm already tired from the day, looking for comic relief, and replied, "We don't drink milk in the Tri-County area," at which my patient at the register giggled.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! I'M IN A HURRY! JUST TELL ME WHERE IT IS!"

So I merely pointed to the back of the store and the words left my mouth before I could stop them. "Milk is in the back of EVERY grocery store in the nation," but it was too late. She had whisked away on her extremely urgent milk emergency. 

The sound of the POS machine (That's point-of-sale, not what you were really thinking) starts barking at my patient to remove her card and of course she's just standing there, apparently not hearing it. I'm certain she is now wondering why this whole thing is taking so long.

I look at the clock to see how much time until my shift is over.

Only eight more hours. I can do this.

Pharmacists Save Lives

This was sent to me by a follower on Twitter. 

To the average person, it looks like a normal prescription, right? But to a pharmacist or pharmacy technician this sends chills down our spines.

Why?

What's so wrong?

YOU DON'T CUT FENTANYL PATCHES IN HALF.

If somehow this had made it the patient and the patient had cut a fentanyl patch in half it likely would have killed the patient or sent him/her to the hospital.

Thank your pharmacist and the techs that work with him or her. Don't pressure us to work faster to push out prescriptions. Be patient while we work hard and work smart.

We save your lives.

We keep you alive from prescription errors like this one.

If you simply don't understand what I've just said, reread it until you do.

Stuffs to Laugh About