The Pharmacy Chick

I think we all agree that, as pharmacists, we live and die by our support staff. Gone are the  days where pharmacies were staffed by pharmacists only, with an occasional clerk to ring up sales.  Even more so now with our labor cuts, we have to have support staff that measure up.

For the last several years, Pharmacy Chick has endured both feasts and famine when it comes to her tech help.  I have had the best…I have had the worst..I have also had the late, the absent, the sick, the no shows, the home-dramas, the babysistter crises, and the show-up-at-wrong-store techs also.  During these droughts of quality I have struggled with keeping up the facade that Pharmacy Chick pharmacy runs like a fine automobile. 

It wasn’t always easy…or successfull.

I recently had the opportunity to hire a new tech, when one of my other techs failed to return from a scheduled leave.  I had several applicants but one stood out.  She had been in the store before and knew tech-ing like she was born to do it.  So I hired her.

It has been a blessing BEYOND blessings in the recent weeks and I pray to the Lord above that all stays the same.  Here is what I have to “endure” now.

I get to “endure” two techs who like each other and enjoy each others company.  I get to “endure” techs that show up to work on time.  I get to “endure” techs who are capable, know how to do the job and work independently without drama, self aggrandizing, or prima-donna-ness. I get to have days off where I return to work and everything has been done as it should be. 

And this is what I do not have to endure:   competition,  backstabbing, gossip, excuses, and  passive agressiveness. 

So, even tho my techs do not know I  write this blog, I say thanks!  My job is 100 times easier than it was 6 months ago. I dont even have as much to whine (and therefore WRITE) about.

Now I am going to go back and sit on my patio, enjoy the afternoon sun, drink a Coke and toss a wet slimy tennis ball to my dog.

Tags: employees, pharmacy life | |

Pharmacy Chick is all about second chances.  I rarely throw out the baby with the bathwater and perhaps that is why she gets too many high maintenance people.  I really try to WORK with people.

Recently I aquired a technician from the float pool who has placed into my store to cover another technician on medical leave.  To be fair, I had been warned.  “She has attendance issues, and she isn’t the fastest”.  I had my choice of two techs and the other option was even worse, I can guarantee.  She had covered for another medical leave and probably missed a good HALF of her shifts for “illness”, “car trouble”, “husband trouble” or “etc”.  How SHE stayed employed with this company is beyond me.  Either way,(for lack of a better term) I chose the lesser of two evils and chose Sandy. 

Sandy has a pleasing personality and is quite likeable, which makes discipline even more difficult, and I noticed right off the bat that the office was right, attendance (or tardiness) was an issue.  Sandy relies on public transport to get to work and frequently she would be 15 minutes late because the bus was late.   I asked her to take an earlier bus.  She has some health issues and with in 2 weeks of starting she came down with H1N1 due to her immunocompromised state and missed almost 2 weeks of work. 

However the issue I have had the most problem with is her time management.  She doesn’t have any.  She is the only person I have ever seen that can look like she is running her arse off and is actually getting NOTHING done.  She can take a simple selling transaction at the pharmacy counter and turn it into a long ordeal.  Every thought that passes into her head comes out of her mouth. Everything that CAN be explained MUST be explained even if its completely reduntant.

Here an example. Say a customer says ” I missed a meeting today because of traffic”.  I would say “bummer man”.  END of conversation.  Sandy, on the other hand would launch into a long diatribe.. “yea that totally is a bummer because I have to depend on the bus to get me to places so I completely understand and it seems that all the time they are late or there is traffic and its becomes totally impossible to get to places or the bus doesnt’ go to where I need it to go and I have to get a friend to take me which makes them mad yadda yadda yadda”.  OMG…you may think I am exaggerating..  I kid you not.  THIS is how every conversation goes with Sandy.

She has to ask every customer of they want a bag..or if they want the receipt in their hand or in a bag….”STICK THE RECEIPT IN THE BAG AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE SANDY”  as the line grows longer than the premier of Twilight.

And..her questions.  She has to ask me a question about everything…and I mean EVERYTHING.  At first I chalked it up to her wanting to do things the way I preferred them.  At least that what SHE said when I finally threw my hands up in the air and asked her “Can you accomplish any task without asking me about it?”.  This is a true example:  “Sandy, will you go over to Mc Donalds and get me a Filet o Fish?.its only 1 dollar..heres the dollar”.  I wanted her to take my dollar, go to McD and get me a fish sandwich.  Simple HUH??  Not so much….” Oh, would you like  coke too?  How about some fries, you haven’t eaten much lately?  Do you want me to go now? Or do you want me to wait til Tina comes back from lunch.  Do you want me to take my lunch at the same time and if so do you want me to bring it back AFTER I come back from lunch? or before? 

I think my head exploded.

We finally had a sit down pow-wow and went over line items that needed to change.  I told her about the time management issues and why the days she worked were so much difficult than when Tina worked. We talked about the long lines at the cash register and how she can make them better (SHUT UP for starters). And we talked about attendance and tardiness, and how when her shift begins at 9, it means be-ready-for-work-at-9-and-not-combing-hair-getting-a-coke-and-changing-shoes-at-9.  She promised to make the change. She promised to be on time. and she promised she would make the effort.

The very next day she called me at 15 minutes before 9am and left me a txt.  “I dont think I can make it in today, my leg hurts”.  I txted her back “unless your leg has been removed from your body, you need to come to work”.

Sadly, that was the last straw. The previous week 5 hours late because of a Dr’s appointment she had made 4 months ago but “forgot” about.

I called the office and asked that she be placed back on the float team and a different person cover for the medical leave.  I was sad because I felt I had failed in transforming this tech.  I truly felt that by providing 1) a stable work environment that she liked (she said she loved my store) and 2) stable hours that she would be on time/and work more efficiently.

I broke the news to her the other day.  She had some tears, but she clearly understood that she had used up a lot of chances beyond the normal. 

Sandy has taught me some skills however…how to be tougher. ..how to be more of a manager than a friend because with Sandy, I have had to learn to separate the personal from the professional: something I think we all can relate to when we work closely with people for so long.   At work I have to be a manager..a professional..and if it means having to be tough on an employee then I have do to it.  Being soft has cost me.

Its tough being tough.

Tags: employees | |

I have a tech whose sense of humor rivals my own.  We are cut from the same piece of cloth.  This is in stark contrast with my other tech who has NO sense of humor.  I also have an intern who is sweet, innocent and (as of yet) uncorrupted by the idiocy of pharmacy.

Yesterday I had filled a prescription for a gentleman for Viagra.  On his label it was indicated that he preferred NON safety caps.  Without realizing it, I had used a standard safety cap and had set the rx aside to be bagged and placed on the shelf.  My intern noticed my cap error and said to nobody in particular: “How come this prescription for Viagra has a safety cap on it??” 

To which my Tech extraordinare replied (without batting an eye)  “Because its not his HANDS that have the problem!”

I  bent over in laughter. 

Ba Da Boom…She will be here all week folks..

Tags: employees, interns, pharmacy life | |

One of the things that makes or breaks a day for Pharmacy Chick is the general smoothness of the day, in other words, how many petty annoyances I have had to deal with. You all know what I mean, its all those little straws that add up and finally break this camel’s back. What bugs me may not bug another pharmacist, and vis-a-versa. Here are a few “straws” that start adding up after a while. Best stay away from PC when they do.

1. Visitors: when some guy from the corporate office comes by and pretends to be interested in talking to me when actually all he is doing is keeping me from getting my own work done. Giving me a firm handshake as he leaves, I have no doubt he had forgotten my name before he hit the door. Meanwhile I am 15 minutes behind from this 5 minute encounter….Any Rep who wants my time to extol the virtues of his new $400 a bottle me too antidepressant/PPI/antihistamine enantiomer.

2. The pointless cash register questions: why is it that some people cannot take one prescription from the counter without having to have it taken back to the computer for SOMETHING? “How much would this cost without my insurance?” Why? are you losing your insurance? “Just curious.” Well, I am sure the 6 people behind you are more curious as to why you are holding up the line than you are about the price of this rx. OR “I only paid $25 for this last month…why is it $35?” (trudge to computer and find that she has paid $35 every month since Jan and tell customer..to which she replies) “Are you sure?” NO, I AM A COMPULSIVE LIAR!”

3. Out of everything: Some days we get RX’s for every weird item under the sun, none of which I have and have to special order. Must be the moon.

4. The price checker who wants to know BEFORE she fills her 4 prescriptions what her copays are…right now…while she stands there….Come back in 15 minutes. If you dont want them fine, but go away for now.

5. The refill auths that have to go back because something is different and no notes are added. We ask for Fiorinal, they fax back Fioricet. We ask for Levoxyl 112, they fax back 125. We ask for TAC 0.1% cream, they fax back ointment. We ask for 90 +3 and they fax back 30+11 refills. Geez, dont they even READ the refill requests?

6. I have a transfer max. Give me more than 2 copies a day and you are pushing the Annoyance Quotient dangerously high. Same for price match requests. (an aside: Pharmacy Chick is of the firm belief that when you put the control of price in the hands of the customer, you have lost control of your business) …probably a entire other blog post on that one statement.

7. No time for food. Pharmacy chick needs to eat something between 2 and 3 pm. Thats when her body speaks to her and says “feed me or I will become surly”. I get testy when people annoy me and keep me from eating my food…especially for piddly, pointless, petty questions like “My dr told me to take Advil–should I take tablets or caplets?”

8. The normally brilliant Tech who left her brain at home. “How do I ring up this WIC?” Its on the wall, follow the procedure..” Where on the wall?”. Look up! ” I dont see it” (walk over and almost hit her nose taking it off the wall) “Oh, thanks” Then she still F’s it up despite the fact its written so clear a 6 year old could follow the directions. AND “Do you want me to ring up this insurance check?” We do it every day. why would this day any different?.. “Do we carry Harry’s Hair Potion?” I am apparently the all knowing psychic because I am assumed to know if we carry everything without having to check.

9. Any more than 2 calls per day from any customer wanting to know if a prescription is ready when they have called it in only 2 hours ago…on a friday afternoon…

10. Any more than 2 conversations that begins with ” I know you are busy, but….”

11. my Annoyance Quotient gets into the red zone when too many people come back to pick up their prescriptions BEFORE they are done. I tell them 20 minutes, they come back in 10 and hover over the counter. I dont lie folks, 20 minutes means 20 minutes. I get testier when I hear a tech say “yea, its ready, all the pharmacist has to do is check it”, like its no big thing. Sometime I have to remind my techs that THE PRESCRIPTION ISN’T READY UNTIL ITS CHECKED, SO DON’T TELL THE CUSTOMER IT IS. THATS THE FINAL CHECK, AND ITS NOT TO BE RUSHED OR TAKEN LIGHTLY. I have caught a fair number of mistakes on this final check.

12. anybody who orders a refill at the checkstand…and wants to wait…right there..and the clerk lets them… They come in bunches, they do.

Some days I skate thru a day with few of these annoyances, other days they make me ready for the loony bin. I find that its rarely the big things that make me crazy but the little ones that bring me to the brink. I dont mind the challenge of a big project, but when you tap on my shoulder every 15 seconds, the breaking point comes into view.

….I’m just sayin’

More to come. I have decisions to make.

Tags: behavior, customers, employees, pharmacy life | |

She wasn’t the most stable of individuals. Her profile was a plethora of antipsychotics and anxiolytics. She was also the poster child for the non-compliant patient. She wasn’t taking her meds regularly and given that fact, she might have saved her $2 copay and not taken them at all for what good they were doing her.

She came in for a refill on a Friday afternoon. She complained she was out (it had been around 45 days on a 30 day supply of meds)but she didn’t have the $2 until Saturday, so being the kind and benevolent pharmacist that I am, I gave her 3 chlorpromazine to “tide her over”. Even if she never showed up again, we’d be out about 15 cents of meds, 1 vial and a label. So what.

I filled the rest of the meds and put them on the shelf, minus the 3 tabs, marked as such. I finished the day and went home.

Unfortunately (as it turned out) the next shift was to be covered by a relief pharmacist from an outside agency. I got a call late Saturday afternoon from the pharmacist. No conversation starts out well with “I thought you should know about this”….

This gal had decided to go to a different store (in our same chain) to pick up the chlorpromazine. It was about 5 miles away. In her unstable mind it didn’t matter where she went. The pharmacist went to the shelf, discovered we had advanced her 3 tabs and refused to transfer the prescription to the other store. This enraged the patient. (remember: profile filled with antipsychotics and anxiolytics?) She drove to our store, made a complete scene at the counter, pretty much ruined the day for the pharmacist and the tech, and just just to complete the tirade, grabbed a display of wine sitting on an endcap and pulled it to the ground, shattering about 2 cases of wine in the process.

I was speechless. All I could think of was “Linda (fake name), it was 15 cents worth of drug. Do you honestly think it mattered that much?” She muttered something about the principle and her not being in a position to make that kind of decision. The tech thought I would be proud of them for not transferring the prescription.

For 15 cents of med, an enraged woman brought $200 worth of wine crashing to the floor.

The next monday, I had a LONG discussion with the tech about looking at the big picture.

Tags: behavior, customers, employees, pharmacy life, words of wisdom | |

Pharmacy chick is rarely at a loss for words. After practicing for 20+ years, I have answers for just about anything. I am used to digging myself out of holes and looking like the winner. If I forgot to send the order some night and I had to call somebody to tell them that their item would be one day late, I could say there was a “transmission failure”. It was an honest truth…I failed to transmit, hence: tranmsission failure. Its all in the spin.

When I talk to customers, I generally try to speak in normal street talk. I dont want to talk over them, I want to speak to them like we were talking over drinks or something. One night I filled a rx for a med that was rather expensive. All the strengths cost the same so there was a lot of benefit in buying the larger strength and taking half-tab dose. When I filled the rx, I automatically subbed the higher strength and gave him half the tabs. When I rung him up, I explained that by doing this, he saved a lot of money, getting “more bang for the buck!” I said. I finished the transaction and sent him on his way.

I turned back into the pharmacy and my two techs were virtually ROLLING on the floor with laughter. “WHAT?” I said.

“I cannot BELIEVE you just said that!” one said. I had no clue. Then the sorry realization hit me.

The prescription was for Viagra.

Tags: customers, employees, pharmacy life | |

I am gonna go out on a limb here and state that most of us who take vacations probably need a vacation AFTER we have cleaned up the messes and disasters created by those covering for us while we were gone. This is not going to be a rant about relief pharmacists. No way Jose, I am not cutting my own throat by insulting my fellow professionals. Its a hard sucky job. I run my store wonderfully, but I fully realize that if I had to walk into Big Box Pharmacy down the street and run their business, that I’d probably have it royally screwed up in oh, 1 hour tops. The fact is, every store runs uniquely. It cannot be changed. We will never completely standardize every single store in the chain, no matter how many corporate directives to the contrary. I must say however that I wish that more of my relief pharmacists would prescribe to “go with the flow” and work within the existing framework of the store instead of forcing my techs (who already know how I like the place run) to conform to a new and unfamiliar routine, thereby screwing everything up. That being said:

With the 5 total employees in my department, we have a combined 50 years of experience within our company, half of them in the two pharmacists alone. This means that we have accrued a significant amount of vacation time, 8 paid weeks between the two of us. Neither of us are workaholics that claim victory by never using vacation. I use every single hour of it. I earned it and I deserve it.

More and more however I am thinking I need to prepare my customers for my iminent departure. They just don’t seem to get it. Perhaps I need to create bag stuffers and distribute them a couple of weeks before I leave:

Dearest Customer: One of us is about to go on vacation. Because of this, do not expect that everything will run exactly as usual. In fact, it might actually get chaotic around here. It will likely take longer than usual to process your prescription. Thats just how it is. We’d be grateful if you’d make yourself scarce for a change instead of breathing down the neck of the staff wondering why its taking so long. The pharmacist you dont recognize will be a guest one day and the next day it will be somebody different. They do not know the store. They do not know you. They will not know that you go by “Scooter” but the name on your label is Harold. They will not be familiar with the store so don’t get your tail in a knot when they cannot tell you the aisle that the english muffins are on. Find them yourself or ask a courtesy clerk. Thats what they are for. The Pharmacist might not even be all that familiar with our computer system so if you need a prior authorization or a weird split bill for your loyalty card, accept the fact it probably won’t get done til we come back. Since they dont have any roots in the store they don’t have any particular allegiance to your needs so don’t expect them to perform any special services. Honestly, they are here just to keep the place open and legal… They may be unfamiliar but they are not idiots, so don’t lie to them. Don’t even think about saying “but Pharmacy Chick always does such and such for me”. Even if its true, doesn’t mean that they have to cater to your whim. I may do such and such just to keep you from throwing a toddler tantrum at my counter. I would also appreciate not hearing a blow by blow analysis of your miserable experience here at the hands of the relief pharmacist. It does not make me feel any better. It will only validate my opinion of you being an impatient impish whiner. If the pharmacist actually wigs out and calls you the impatient impish whiner that you are, then I will make a convincing but half assed apology to you but tell the pharmacist “way to go, gutsy dude”. In short, do us all a favor and cut us an inch of slack for a change. Thank you.

Oh, I know it will never happen. I’ll go away and come back to a weeks worth of unopened mail, a stack of notes to call a half-dozen people, and 50 phone calls within the first 15 minutes of my first day back (since everybody who asked was told exactly what date and time I would be back). This came to my mind today when I was fed a sob story of the horrible injustice a customer had to endure because the relief pharmacist changed (correctly) the quantity of a drug to meet the insurance company limits. The customer felt so wronged and didn’t appreciate my telling him the pharmacist was correct.

It will never stop me from going on vacation, but I’d like to have a little less anxiety about coming back.

Tags: customers, employees, general junk, pharmacy life, rambling | |

Pharmacy Chick has developed a tight relationship over the years with her customers. She learned Dale Carnegie’s tennets of winning friends: Let them talk about themselves and what interests THEM, and listen well. If you love golf, I will ask about your game. If you love to sail, I will ask you if you got to the river last weekend. If you love Nascar, well, I’ll just smile and let you talk. I may not have any interest in golf, sailing or Nascar, but I care enough about you to ask you about your life.

I do not however discuss politics. Now now, nor at anytime in the future will I discuss politics with you, so do not even ask. Thankfully not too many people ask me my opinions about anything other than health issues. I learned a long time ago that when people politely ask me “how are you?” that its purely a rhetorical question and the only answer they want to hear is “Fine, thank you.”.

I only wish “Dan” would learn that lesson. Dan is a tech that blows thru our pharmacy now and then like a bad wind. If you ask him how he is, he will tell you in detail, with great length and flair until you are left glassy eyesdand begging for whatever oxygen remains in the room. If you share a story, he can one-up you. No matter what disease you might have had, he has either had it or know somebody who has. No matter what weird experience you went thru, Dan did it better (or worse) than you did. Go ahead, make up something and he will trump you every time.

Dan also has an opinion, and wants to share it with you. The trouble is, he has no interest in hearing yours. He is vocal and very boorish. If you share a counter-opinion he will turn you off like a switch. He loves to hear himself talk.

(an aside) Around Pharmacy Chick’s pharmacy, sex, religion and politics are off limits. Nothing good can come from talking about it. We are a diverse group here and I know that we do not share the same moral values/political preferences/social backgrounds. It is much better that we discuss work issues at work and non-work issues someplace else. We work in a small space, if somebody doesnt’ get along, there isn’t a good way to separate the feuding parties. You may ask about what I did over the weekend, but any commentary you may have must be kind and polite, even if I told you I went to homophobic hate rally. You slept with your best friends wife? I don’t wanna know. Don’t even go there..

When Dan works, there will be the inevitable subject of politics broached. And, PC will squash it like a bug. If he sees somebody wearing a button supporting some candidate he either likes or dislikes, he will say something. And, PC will shut him down. I had to tell Dan one day that if he makes one more comment to a certain customer about a certain hot issue that I will make him personally apologize to this customer, a public official of some rank.

All that hot air and no release valve–I have to wonder, if I poked him with a pin, would he hiss like a tea pot?

Tags: employees, national news, pharmacy life, ranting | |

This is specifically for new pharmacists, or at least those who might have been practicing for a short period of time…ok and even interns who are just about to take their boards.

Smartly dressed with a crisp white jacket with a gleaming new “RPh” after her name, she was overwhelmed by the reality of working in a busy retail store. She snapped at the techs, got lippy with a customer. She was disorganized and didn’t take constructive assistance very well. It was her way or the highway. The problem is, she wasn’t experienced enough to have a “way” that worked well. She was also floating, a position fraught with difficulty already. I heard all about the day.

When you became a pharmacist you probably figured it out right away: its completely different than when you were an intern. Overnight, all the rules changed. No longer could you hide behind a counting tray while the pharmacist ironed out all the messes. You now hold the iron. Gone are the days of being the “extra” person. You work alone. Forget about coming in late or leaving early for dinner plans/a play/a wedding/CE seminar..whatever. Tag! you are IT! Welcome to Jail: Do Not pass Go, do not collect $200. Most likely you weren’t quite prepared for it. No newbie is. I certainly wasn’t. I waved my just-arrived-license in the air and the pharmacist dropped his spatula and announced “I am taking the rest of the day off”. Once I picked my chin off the floor I realized he was serious. He grabbed his coat and left. Just like that, he was gone. Whoa.

The safety net was gone.

I have a few words of advice for the newly minted pharmacist (or rph soon-to-be)

1. Pharmacy school only gets you a license, it does not teach you to BE a pharmacist. That takes time and a good mentor. You are not done learning just because you passed your boards. In fact, you are just starting. Everything in school was black and white. In reality, everything is a thousand shades of gray. What works for one person will fail miserably with another. Don’t expect to have a policy that works in all situations. It won’t and when you understand that, you will have a better chance of surviving your career. Be flexible or you will get broken.

2. You are not better than everybody just because you make 6 figures now. You may have all sorts of facts and figures memorized, know every therapy course for every disease state, but you have nothing on Clyde the 60 yr old pharmacist who has a following that can only be described as “cult”. He takes care of them. They love him back. He may not have the most current protocol in the anti-coag clinic memorized like you do, but he has the respect and admiration of a thousand people. Try to pull that out of your palm pilot!

3. A haughty attitude will get you nowhere. Trust me. I learned the hard way. If you have chip on your shoulder, somebody is gonna knock it off. You will not command respect or believability simply because you got the white coat. In fact, expect that people will look to your OLDER techs for advice instead of you until you age a bit. It will be harder on you if you are young and female than if you are young and male. You are gonna look like children playing dress up to some senior citizens. Get over it and move on.

4. Look at people thru different eyes. People tend to see what they want to see. If you train yourself to find some good in everybody, you’ll be able to forgive them when they disappoint you, and more importantly, they will forgive YOU when you disappoint them.

5. You never have the right to be rude. N.E.V.E.R. Unless you are signing your own paychecks, you will always have a higher authority to answer to and rudeness will never be defended by your boss, even if its seemingly justified. You will just end up looking like a dink.

6. It is rarely the message that offends somebody, its usually how you say it. If there is one thing I would teach in Ph- school is Effective Communication. Don’t talk at somebody, Talk WITH them. Use your ears, and not your mouth. Its ok to say to somebody “If I understand you correctly, you are saying…..” If they think you understand them, you have won half the battle. Empathize. If somebody believes that you are on their side, they will likely not give you as much grief. For example: Nobody likes to hear that their refills aren’t ok’d by the dr and its been 2+ days. But to curtly drop the news on the table like a sack of potatoes will irritate the patient. Try this: “I understand your frustration! I makes us crazy too–who needs that kind of time? It seems way too long doesn’t it? We have asked them twice and they still have not responded. Perhaps you might like to ask them, since its your dollars that pay their wages huh?” If the patient in my previous post had heard that (instead of the curt response he did hear) I’d likely not have had to spend a half hour listening to him chew my rump.

7. Read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I mean it. READ IT. Twice. Its a small pocket book with a wealth of information. It changed my practice forever. His principles are timeless and people will pay $1500 for a seminar teaching his techniques.

8. Be friends with your customers. Do not create an adversarial relationship with them so when you mess up, and you WILL mess up, they will be less likely to sue your butt into poverty. They will also be more inclined to do things your way if they LIKE you! Think of this common example: if you grab a dog by the collar and pull towards you, what is gonna happen? He is going to resist! Its his nature. So it is with people.

9. Your techs are your ass-savers. They can make or break you. Some are better than others, but try going it alone for a few hours and even the sketchiest of techs help you more than you know. Just because they don’t have a degree doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable, so don’t condescend to them. Actually dont treat anybody condescendedly.

10. Don’t drop the ball. If you say you are going to do something for somebody, then you better do it. And if you couldn’t do it, then you better have tried everything in your power before you failed. You will be called to be accountable for what you do or don’t do, and you will look darned silly if you drop the ball. I can honestly say that if I couldn’t do something for a patient, they KNOW that I have done my best.

11. Don’t roll the dice: you will be surprised at who knows who in the community. I’ve always been surprised at the few degrees of separation some of my patients have. People I would have thought had no connection whatsoever are best friends, or neighbors, or go to church together, etc. Its often AFTER the fact that I hear from a (sometimes challenging) patient (that I would have liked to get rid of) “Thanks, Joan Jones sent me here”.. Whew..that was a close one.. I go to church with Joan…SEE?

I guess what it boils down it is live the golden rule when you step behind the counter. Your patients may not be as good to you as you are to them, but they’ll never have the upperhand on you if you keep your composure, have realistic expectations, learn your limits, behave properly, and become their advocate.

Tags: customers, employees, general junk, pharmacy life, words of wisdom | |

The people who have the most time on their hands choose to bug me when its the busiest?–you know who they are–Joe Retiree-Flyfisherman has to call you at 9:30 am on Monday morning to order is 6 rx’s and Oh, can I pick them up at noon?

Every phone call that comes in at 2 minutes before closing are never simple? (don’t you just want to let them ring?)

Nobody ever loses their HCTZ?

the complexity of the problem I have to solve is inversely proportional to the amount of time I am allotted to fix it??

“quick questions” never are?

“help desks” never do?

“customer service” only serves their companies and not their customers?

an audit will never find an UNDER payment?

customers will beat you bloody if you short them a pill but will never call you if you toss in that extra 1 pill just to see if they notice??

the phone rings and customers flock to the counter just as the first bite of food enters your mouth?

GOT any more??

Tags: customers, employees, insurance, pharmacy life | |