We get e-Scripts all the time. We fill them. That's what we do.
It's kind of like someone calling in an order for a pizza to pick up, except it all comes electronically. On our end an e-Script is like a pizza order. "One medium size pizza with mushrooms" pops up on the computer, so we make the pizza.
Except there's one prescriber here in Snootyville that doesn't get it. A few days ago she sent over several e-Scripts for herself. As is customary, we process and fill her prescriptions. She's ordered several pizzas, so to speak, and we're going to have them ready for her!
Today she came in to the pharmacy and I pulled all the prescriptions off the shelf that she e-prescribed for herself. I set them on the counter and starting ringing them into the register.
"Oh, I don't want these," she says.
WHAT?! WHAT?!?!?!?!? is going through my mind.
"Why did you send them to us?" I ask. I'm not happy, and it is showing. I personally filled all these medications and maybe I'm just an idiot for thinking this, but I feel like my time is valuable and she wasted a lot of it.
"So you could have them on record when I needed them," she says, defiantly, completely unaware of how it works on our end... I assume.
"You know, when you send over an e-Script, we're going to fill it, right? That's what we do."
She looks at me and doesn't say anything. I'm not sure if she's embarrassed for wasting my time or just doesn't give a damn. I'm leaning toward the latter.
I undo what I've done at the register and ask her why she's at the pharmacy today. She asks about getting a refill for a medication she didn't e-Script to us, nor bothered to even let us know ahead of time that she needed. In her head it is completely reasonable to just show up at the PICK UP window and ask us to refill a prescription on the fly, right during the busy dinner hour, without any idea or concern about the issues this creates for us.
I fill her prescription. As I'm ringing it into the register, three people in line are now staring at me. As politely as I can, I tell her we need to know 24 hours in advance what she needs filled, and if she's going to send over a prescription electronically, it would be nice if she added a note to "do not fill ~ place on hold" if she doesn't want it filled.
Her puzzling reply: "Oh, but I'm used to you spoiling me."
Euthanize me.
Recently the Crazy RxMan went to see the doctor. It was time once again to see the doctor for a routine matter. It's not like retail pharmacy is killing me or anything. No, it was all routine, I tell you. Routine. The appointment was for 10am.
This is not my usual doctor. The "If you like your doctor you can keep him" didn't seem to apply to me, so this is a new doctor for me. I can't see my old doctor because he's not on my new health plan that I didn't want to change.
9:55am ~ I show up and announce myself to the receptionist. She tells me to take a seat.
10:10am ~ My name is called and I'm led to the examination room.
10:45am ~ Finally the doctor comes in and performs the examination.
"Well, we're going to keep your medications the same."
He fiddles on the computer, using the e-Script system to send off refills to my pharmacy.
"Ok, I sent them off. They'll be ready when you get there."
My eyes squint. My lips curled. The demon inside me is rising within me.
"How could you possibly know that?" I asked. You see, I've kept my mouth shut about my job and where I work because I wanted to see what he would say after submitting my refill prescriptions.
"Well, uh..."
Obviously he's never had this question before.
"I'm a pharmacist," I said, "And I actually work at the pharmacy you just sent those prescriptions to. When you say that to people, they come to the pharmacy expecting their medications to be ready for them. It doesn't work that way. Sometimes the e-Script system is delayed up to an hour from the time you hit <submit> to the time we actually get it on our end. Plus we need time to enter it on our computer, print a label, fill it, and check it. That takes time too. And if we're busy at the pharmacy, that takes even more time."
The doctor was silent. No one has ever explained this to him before. And that's why us pharmacists have such a hard time with this system. It sure looks great on their end, and after making the patient wait almost an hour before they are ever seen, they're either ignorantly or intentionally sending people to the pharmacy with the idea their prescription will be ready for them when they get there.
Well, that's one down, 893,850 to go.
