Thought Provoking Comment
I got this recently from the Quilt Lady -- who is a long-time reader:
Hey TAP,
I endured a gruesome 14 hour shift Friday, the worst coming from a female customer who DEMANDED that I price match her 90 VICODIN to $6.00 because the pharmacy mgr said he would. It's against my better judgment to PM controls, but this woman was incorrigible so I said I would call another pharmacy to check their price ($12.49). She DEMANDED to speak to the store mgr. (obviously she thought he would overrule me), and I smiled and called him to the pharmacy. When she got done complaining about me and my attitude, the store mgr. TOLD ME TO FILL THE Rx FOR $6.00. I explained the rules... but an argument ensued between he and I. He convinced the woman to just buy the Rx for $12.49 and come back when the pharmacy mgr was on duty. HE THEN APOLOGIZED TO HER FOR MY ATTITUDE. I was dumbfounded!
My reason for writing is this... I would like to ask you to run a poll on price matching, especially on controlled substances. I want to know how my fellow colleagues across the nation feel about this practice.
You don't see Physicians and Attorneys price matching... why should Pharmacists?
This goes right along with the shit that I and Pharmacy Mike have been raising hell about of late -- having your nuts taken away by upper management with no control over pharmacy or knowledge of pharmacy law. I'm glad I don't have any issues like that to deal with anymore...If I did, I'd throw my weight around and they would cease to exist. Who do you think a company is going to want to keep more, a pharmacist or a manager that can be replaced with any other person with decent experience in the store? Pharmacists are too hard to come by -- especially in my area. The problem would be gone soon.
If I were you Quilt Lady, I would have completely lost my shit on the store manager...laid it all out there about how s/he had completely removed all your authority in a situation where the manager had none, given positive feedback to this "I want to see your manager" bullshit that Americans pull every day to get their way, and apologized for something you didn't do (and wouldn't be sorry for even if you did). I would have asked him/her why he thinks that's necessary, where he got his authority over my pharmacy, and when he was going to give me the $7 he cost my pharmacy. He'd tell me he was calling my DM and tell him I was rude. I'd tell him I'm not being rude, he's just an insignificant piece of shit when it comes to my pharmacy. Problem solved.
Tell your manager to go suck on a pork sword...I put up a poll for you - we'll see how it turns out...hopefully, we can get a good turnout on it - New Years Resolutions didn't turn out so great...
Tip: When some asshat calls upper management on me. I get the ear of the manager first. The walk to the pharmacy, I interrupt the patient and pull the manager into the pharmacy and into my bathroom. I tell the manager the entire story. I tell her why I am right, what the patient is going to say, and why they are wrong based on ethics and the LAW. I tell the manager that s/he has no say in the matter and the case is closed. However, to appease the person, s/he may give her a gift card or something, but that will come out the manager's bonus should they wish to do that. They'll do it the first time -- but as that shit continues and the positive feedback is given to the manager-calling-customer, it also gives negative feedback to the manager. Eventually, a balance is reached. The balance is that the manager will butt-the-fuck out and let me run my own fucking pharmacy like the law, my company, and God herself intended...
I'm really easy to get along with once people learn to worship me....:-D
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Movie review and a stupid bitch
I went and saw the movie Juno recently. I absolutely loved it. The one liners, cutdowns, and internal commentary of Ellen Page as the title character, Juno, is flawless. She created the character and played her as if it were second nature. I recommend that everyone go and check this movie out as soon as possible. I must say, though, that Michael Cera as Bleeker was likely the most awkward and uncomfortable character I've ever seen. His character in Superbad was equally awkward. Granted, that's what the director wanted for these characters, but while he was on screen, the awkwardness he portrayed made me fidget in my seat.
-=+=-
On the pharmacy front, I recently had an uncomfortable and irrational encounter. This tank of a woman came in and requested a transfer of her Paxil CR from a nearby Walgreens to my pharmacy. I thought nothing of it, and we got it filled up with no problems. However, the insurance card she presented and we put in was not accepted by my pharmacy. When the lady came in to pick it up, she was told 100 bucks or whatever that mess of a SSRI costs. She, of course, was livid.
I told her that we didn't accept the plan. She told me I was a misinformed liar (which is rather contradictory, right?). "I talked to my employer and they gave me a list and your pharmacy was listed as a provider."
"Do you have a copy of that with you? It could have been a typo. We've never accepted this plan. Walgreens paid a lot of money to be the only pharmacy that accepts this plan in this area. And, as far as I've been told, that's how it still is -- and has been for the last five years."
"I don't have a copy of the letter with me. But, I know you're on it, and you're going to take it." [Condescendingly]
"Well ma'am, now you are misinformed. These computer communicate in real time with the computers ran by you insurance provider. They say we don't take it, and therefore, won't pay for it. The only way you can leave here with this medicine today is by paying cash. If they are in the process of adding us, and that takes place in the next week to ten days, we can reimburse you." [Of course, I said this like a huge dick]
"This is ridiculous. You're an idiot. I want to talk with the store manager." [yelled -- of course]
"I'm sorry to say, but the store manager has no control over the pharmacy. He can't help you. However, I want to help you, but the fact of the matter is, I can't help you." [I said this really nicely, because I know that I can't help her regardless of how badly I wanted to]
"Fine, I'll just call your corporate headquarters. I'm sure they'll be interested in knowing that you are refusing to fill my prescription."
"I'm not refusing you service. I've got your prescription filled....here it is right here. What I'm telling you is that we are not contract with your insurance. We cannot just give this $100 prescription away. I'm sure if you called my coorporate headquarters and told them the entire story, and not just the part about you leaving here without a prescription, they'd apologize for not being contracted -- but they'd go on to tell you that we have no control over that here. Walgreens has cornered the market, and there's nothing you , I, my boss, or my bosses' boss can do about it."
"You need to find a new job -- you're not very good at this one." [This is the second time some fuckhead has told me this in a week because they didn't get their way when a situation came up that was completely out my control -- fuck this fat bitch!]
"You're wrong. I'm good at this. You're just not good at listening or understanding that certain things are out of the realm of control of workers. Do you yell and make a scene towards the cashier at McDonalds when the McRib is taken off the menu? I mean, he could call up the CEO and say he wants it back on the menu...but, that's kind of futile isn't it? Anyway - what do you want me to do here to help you, keeping in mind that there is no humanly possible way for me to bill this to your insurance provider?"
"Just transfer it back to Walgreens - I know I'm never coming back here again!"
"Sounds good to me! Happy New Year."
As she left, I acted like I was calling Walgreens immediately. Right when she got around the corner, I hung up. She can wait for an hour or two at the WAG. That's her punishment for being an irrational bitch from hell. [PS - I'm aware that this was unethical, unecessary, and crossed even my line...but I'm a dick...I get mad AND I get even...]
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I'm sick of Christmas BS
1. "Go on and make yourself a plate. I like to go last."
2. "No, you sit at the table. I'll sit over here on the arm of the couch and rest my plate on my knee."
3. "What does everyone want to drink? I'm getting myself a soda."
4. "I told you not to get me anything!"
5. "I'll make my plate after everyone else. I ate earlier so I'll be fine to wait."
Everything above is bullshit. I'll outline why:
1 - You don't want to go last. You are trying to be polite. It sounds insincere...because it is. Stop acting like you give a damn and go grab a plate. If everyone would just line up and eat we could get the hell out of here and go home and about our lives -- i.e. only contact each other when you send me emails with a subject similar like, "FWD: fwd: FwD: DUUDE! Microsoft iz GIVING AWAY FREE MONEY! Forward this to ^10!^ Peeople! NOOW! Note- I did this and it really workS!!!!!!!!" -- Then I respond telling you that you are a fucking idiot.
2 - Everyone wants to sit at the big table. Go sit the fuck down. What pisses me off most about this is that someone will sit somewhere uncomfortable like the arm of a couch or the floor and leave a seat open at the dinner table because no one has the balls to take the last seat. Earth to you idiots - you won't look like an asshole for sitting down. Relax!
3- You don't want to get everyone else drinks. You just want to get your Diet Coke and sneak back in. What you DON'T want to happen is have someone yell at you while your getting a drink, "Hey, grab me a glass of tea." Then you feel like a prick for not asking, you have to take the time to find the "glass cabinet" in someone elses house, get some ice, fill the glass, and you don't have the opportunity to spit in it our lace it with Visine because everyone else is watching going, "What a prick - he didn't even ask if anyone else wanted anything." My advice. Bring a cooler full of beer and sit on it. No one will ask you for one of your beers, and if your drinks are separate from everyone elses, they can't expect you to fix them anything.
4- I hate this one. Other variations include, "Ohh, we don't need to trade gifts this year - we're adults and we can save the money. Let's focus on the kids." What a bunch of pie-in-the-sky bullshit. You know damn good and well that you want a gift...and if by chance you really don't want anything or need anything -- if you make this pact with someone else, you still have to buy them something...in case that asshole runs out and buys you something. You have to have a rebuttal gift just in case. I combat this by buying a gift that I really want. A stack of gift cards merely signed, "Love, Your Angriest Family Member" works well. I hand them out like shuffling cards. If I have extra, I blow them on something for me.
5- Bullshit! You are to hungry! No one eats before Christmas dinner. You're a liar and an asshole for saying that. Get your ass up and make a plate. Make me one too since you're next to the food. That's your punishment for being a lying liar. You just don't want to be the first one to make a plate -- or the first one to jump up and go eat. I, on the other hand, didn't eat all day because I love the dressing my Aunt makes. You can bet your ass I'll be the first one to step up and make a plate. I didn't eat anything all day today so I could eat three servings of this shit. I'll also be the first one to jump at the pies - that way their still warm and I can cut myself a slice as big as I freakin want...rather than the dinky little fucker you would cut me.
There you have it. Everyone lies...especially on Christmas. Everyone's an asshole...especially if they say anything quoted above. Remember this next year before you leave your house on Christian-Go-Crazy Day...that way they won't smite you and beckon you to eternal damnation.
I'd like to thank Anheuiser Busch for being a proud sponsor of this post!
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Merry Christmas plus a GREAT POST and my thoughts…
Pharmacy Mike has made, quite possibly, the best pharmacy rant post I've ever seen in my life. It is eloquent, well-written, and just angry enough to make me smile. I'm envious of how well written it is, but I am not envious of the situation he and many of our colleagues are in throughout the country.
In the post, he references an older CLASSIC post of mine which was recently updated.
Just a few comments about our situations. Screw Pharmacy Mike's management. I have been in that situation. I've told those management to butt-the-fuck-out on many circumstances. I've pulled out my Pharmacy Practice Act statues and highlighted passages which gave me the right to tell them to butt-the-fuck-out. I make every effort to be nice and help every single person that comes in my pharmacy. Here's how I want to be viewed: I want everyone to see my pharmacy as a bad ass American Bulldog. I'm loving. I'm caring. I'm a great animal and perfect best friend. I love those around me. But, I'm protective of my own -- and especially protective of myself. I want dickheads to see me and realize that if they fuck with me, they might get the TEETH. You don't want the TEETH. To function adequately as a pharmacy/pharmacist, you have to have patients that respect you because of the TEETH. I'm not talking about fear (even though some pussies out there have irrational fear of dogs and/or pharmacies). I'm talking about a humble, head-nodding respect that goes both ways. Don't cross the dog and you won't get the TEETH...you'll only get superior pharmaceutical care.
Long, pointless metaphor -- but you get the point...I hope anyway.
Secondly, fuck Pharmacy Mike's State Board of Pharmacy. What a bunch of fucking hypocritic pricks. He's completely right -- he gives out that drug without a valid script on file and the patient dies, he loses his license and the pharmacy goes on probation. If that patient RESPECTED the pharmacy, he would have had the foresight to realize he was out of refills and called in his LIFE-PRESERVING prescription in a few days early. We're not talking about a statin here -- where he can miss several doses with no repurcussions. We're talking about insulin. A bad diabetic, if going uncontrolled over the weekend, could wind up in the unit by Monday...
Let me also clarify my situation. I don't own my pharmacy. I don't have dictator-esque control of my pharmacy either. However, I do have my staff and my customer-base convinced that my pharmacy is a dictatorship. Acknowledgment of that fact is recognition of my TEETH if you will. My power over my place of business is largely based on growth and success. If I'm running my pharmacy with minimal problems, showing positive growth, and having no problems -- I can do pretty much as I please with no intervention. This is compounded with the fact that my yearly wages are based on several factors. Pharmacists in my area could command as much as $60 dollars an hour. I, on the other hand, make only $50 per hour. In exchange for that, I receive a massive incentive-based bonus in December of each year. I'm not trying to measure dicks or anything here, but my bonus this year was around $38,000. So, the salaries are, in the end, very comparable. The difference is, I feel like I actually have an active role in earning my salary. Therefore, my corporate counterparts allow me massive leeway in making managerial decisions in the management of my pharmacy. They may make suggestions -- I can implement them or I can tell them why I'm not going to implement them (and why my way is or will be better).
My bonus is based on a ton of things: generic substitution rate, percentage of growth, number of competitors and their projected growth, number of fills (new are worth more than refills), payroll for other store personnel (negative dollars if above goal), coupons used (less used is more money), success of the store as a whole (even our beer sales make me a little bit of money), and a few other things that escape me right now (complaints and my review count somehow as well).
Because of these facts, I take it upon myself to toss out (or somehow get rid of creatively -- like 'not having their medicine in stock' -- unethical? Yes, I know.) the trouble makers that don't recognize the TEETH. I go ahead and show them the teeth. As Druggist2 said, 90% of your problems come from 10% of your customer base. Let's get rid of those pricks and treat the other 90% of our customer base that much better. That will increase our efficiency and growth in the long run. The small amount we lose in lost sales from the pricks is minimal when you take into account the man hours spent dealing with them and the stress we get from them.
MERRY CHRISTMAS from
The*Angriest*Pharmacist and Brian Peppers!!
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