Aug
Pharmacy Optimization With Enterprise Re-engineering: My Disdain, Thoughts, and CALL TO ARMS
Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as APhA, Drive-Thru, Drug Topics, Education, Government, Hospital Pharmacy, Just a question, Management, Me being a dick, Me hating others, Money, PHARMACY SECRETS!, Politics, TPA, True Story, Work Sucks
P.O.W.E.R. — (n. – ENG) Pharmacy Optimization With Enterprise Re-engineering.
It’s okay. It hasn’t hit my area yet, but my fellow citizens aren’t stupid. They are asking what it is, what my thoughts are, and what they should do. [Again, you have my word that I do *NOT* work for Walgreens -- at all...] Anyway, my marquee is exactly as I said it would be (Yes, heart included):
Your Rx Filled RIGHT HERE
by OUR Pharmacist ♥
It’s going over good. Some people know and they like it. Others don’t know and they ask…so I’m starting the word of mouth of all the rumblings and grumblings. All the fodder I need is on the Student-Doctor Network or other various message boards.
Everyone has a problem. No one has stated, supported, backed, and pushed a solution….We all know what it is. We all know what it would take. We all know what it would stand to gain. A TRUE Pharmacist’s Union is necessary, with the focus on us and the preservation of the profession as a primary goal and focus on the patient being synonymous with that — i.e. without a happy pharmacist, you cannot have confidence in the safety/best medical practices for the patient. It would be ridiculous in the power it [Such a union] could hold.
There are close to 60,000 pharmacies in the United States. With a diverse (randomized amongst the chains/businesses/clincal/hospital) group out of the some 220,000 pharmacists working those stores/locals, we could nearly control the flow of pharmaceuticals in this country (bring balance to the force).
Would we ever go on strike and grind the pharmacy business to a screeching halt — less the SCABS? I doubt it, but we have to be willing to do so to foster/compel change. We have taken Oaths to serve the public in positive manner (like the hippocratic oath). But, a collective bargaining agreement, could be much in our favor due to the 100% necessity of our presence at all times in every pharmacy in the country and governed territories. We could also bargain/work to set ‘maximum-allows” and work-flow/safety standards. So, a pharmacist cannot exceed say 300 scripts checked per 10 hour shift (Contradicting MY EXAMPLE, I exceed that on certain occasions, but all I do is check, no count – no type [mostly ALL single RX refills] which bugs the fuck out of me!), let’s say 5 techs working at a time to be monitored per RPH (again, examplenshot out of a cannon), required 30 min lunch taken outside of the pharmacy as well as maybe even a 15 minute break, otherwise your company must pay you $200 to miss lunch and/or $75 to miss a break or something egregious (I may go hungry for a price!). I bet I don’t swallow a sandwich laying on the counter under that deal.
I’ve said this all before….there’s just nothing to protect the pharmacist and his/her interests — only punish them severely after an incident/issue. We’ve given up control of our pharmacies for longer-term financial security and reduction/elimination of short term risk, and in doing so, given away basic job-related / human rights — like going to the bathroom when one must micturate.
Over time we’ve gotten used to not having these simple things that were rights and are now seen as luxuries, and that lackadaisical attitude absolutely sucks…it causes much of us disdain and could be attributed to many errors we may be responsible for….
Now, who’s prepared to lead the charge? Who shares a vision with the majority of people? Who can rally massive support and inspire people to rally to the cause? Who is intelligent enough to see through the bullshit pushed out by the corporations and trustworthy enough to bring the truth to those interested? We need to find that person. Pharmacy needs a ’savior’ — an advocate capable of achieving big things — huge things. It’s gonna be a long, bump-filled, gravel road (which will only lead you to a rowboat with which to sail across the ocean!).
If we don’t find this person(s)…we are going to find ourselves in a position we never planned for. We are going to have our backs against the wall (essentially) begging for another punch to the face.
Pharmacists are currently salaried management making between 50-65 dollars per hour for starting/initial staff jobs right out of school (per my snap judgment/absolute guess on 8/30/09). I’d say store and district management make more / MUCH more (150k/250k respectively on the low side).
Pharmacists — think about the debt you have right now. Let’s really say you’re in deep.
120,000k School Loans (I’d bed the MEDIAN)
7,500k Credit Card Debt (Playstations, Wii, and Drinking)
45,000k You needed a fucking Lexus SUV didn’t you asshole
+/- HOUSE NOTE — Depending on the location and the house this could be a starter at 80-100k or a huge house at 250k if you qualified for the loan (meaning you had less school debt most likely).
If you go from a dollar a minute to a dollar every two minutes due to an artificial decreased demand for your specialty (and you are the unlucky fired)….how fucked are you? Entirely, a lot, a little, not at all (due to mom and dad saving my ass), or this is good for me. Personally, I’d be fucked a lot — even taking into account my wife, and her job, makes more than I do!
It’s cliche as fuck, but UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. Come together as a single unified profession with a loud voice, or fall apart quietly….as 250 thousand single, quite voices that have been put in their place.
If you think things are bad in pharmacy…an engineering degree roughly involves the same amount of debt, yet most engineers only start at $50-$60k/year (or in $/hour, $24/hour), *if* they can even find jobs.
In regards to:
“+/- HOUSE NOTE — Depending on the location and the house this could be a starter at 80-100k or a huge house at 250k if you qualified for the loan”
Dude, I don’t know where you live, but I’m in the Boston area, which means that 80-100K might get you a nice garden shed, and 250K gets you a 1 Bed condo in the city, or a piece of crap shithole of a house in the suburbs.. the more distant suburbs!! I’m talking at least 15 miles outside the city limits!!
Just trying to say that it’s even more difficult than you think around these parts, which makes your point even more true around here.. and it’s also why I drive an ‘02 Accord, and not the 2010 Lexus SUV!!
Well, pin a rose on your nose. I live in what could be called a rural area. The town I live in isn’t exactly small, and we are close to a quite large city. I’m in: 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, full basement, large yard, fenced yard, nice neighborhood, new roof/carpet/paint and a huge in-ground pool. We bid 250k, and I thought we could have gone lower!
Is it not true that in areas where houses are more expensive, like urban centers such as Boston, wages are higher to adjust for the higher cost of living? I would assume so….
It certainly isn’t a bragging point, nor could you assume that my parent’s house sucks cause it appraised at 110k (they bought it for 46k about 12 years ago) and the average family house in New England is 400k.
It has hit my area and I’m not even a Walgreens Pharmacist. I work in a grocery chain in the south. We got a new enterprise pharmacy system and my district manager has already told us that in 1 year we will have our central filling station up and running. He said that Walgreens has cut 10-15 percent of their workforce “but we would never do that”. You could see him salivating.
Our system bar code checks the bottle and the stock bottle so the only thing the pharmacist has to do is look in the rx bottle to make sure the tablets are the same as the picture on the screen. How long till they get the pharmacy boards to change the law that says a pharmacist has to be in every store. If the computer checks the two bottles and a pharmacist checks the typewritten rx off site how long before we are all technicians or working at the central fill facility. Start looking to downsize now guys cause when the shit hits the fan I know I can’t make ends meet on a technicians salary.
“Well, pin a rose on your nose”… Dude, that sounds so gay, please don’t say that again!
As far as assuming that wages are higher in the Boston area, well, you know what they say about never assuming, right? Wages are the same if not LESS within the city even up to 30 miles out! We have 2 pharmacy schools that pump out new grads every year and that fucks up the supply/demand equation. My student just told me that at the job fair MCP the chains were telling all the students that the Boston market is saturated and they’re giving priority to students who had already been working for them for years! Current chain rates from what I know are in the mid $50’s, which is not very impressive considering the ridiculous cost of living expenses around here.
Again, I was just saying that you had a good point about what would happen if a pharmacist lost their job around here.. especially if their spouse doesn’t work.. like my wife!!
Smart asses get banned.
Yeah, because a pharmacy union would work /great/. Then you can bitch about the union president (who’s pockets are lined with bribery cash since he/she hasn’t worked a day in retail in his/her life) giving out demands and orders about how you practice our..er.. his/her profession. Then if he/she doesn’t get what he/she wants, he threatens a strike even though you dont want to.
Good luck with that Union.
I wrote this while drunk as fuck.
Let’s modify the thought — a union ran by you and I as co-presidents with the stipulation that our tax returns have to be made public and we have to continue to work 20hrs/wk in a community pharmacy.
Now that I think about it, you’re right. It is a weak idea due to the fact that almost all pharmacy organizations are poorly run and managed and do a better job wasting money as opposed to helping pharmacy.
But, an advocacy group with a pair of balls would be nice…
about that union president job… are they still accepting applications? sounds like my kind of gig.
You sound like my kind of guy….know anything about money, Mr. CFO?
That’s all you got “Angry”? Well pharmacy is going down the shitter but a union would be worse.
Jeeze man what is your great idea. I’m pretty sure you are an independent pharmacist so is your attitude who gives a fuck about us chain guys?
I’m sure he’s got an idea, but insulting him isn’t the way to goad him into making a post outlining the cure for the AIDS currently afflicting pharmacy….
On another note, I would gladly send my union dues to you. If you have enough passion to keep writing about pharmacy I think my dues would be safe in your hands.
Ha! Great…let’s see if he has a better idea first…
I’ll insult him too and see if I can get him going…Angry, your the dumbest person ever!
I don’t know RXJOE, but there was no reason to ban him. He was furthering your point by stating that in Boston it’s even worse than you said. (You cannot buy a home there for 250k and wages are not higher.) Perhaps if you reread his posts you’ll realize you reacted in drunken haste.
It’s cliche as fuck, but UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
and really……….don’t say “pin a rose on your nose.” that sounds gay.
I didn’t really ban him….
And apparently you all have no respect for the classics — like Full House!
“If you built it… they will come”
So that is my two cents worth of a cliche, and I’m going to put my words into action by making my own INDEPENDANT PHARMACY comeback. Even imagining the WORST that can happen is far better than the hell I’m going through now with corporate retail pharmacy…
Quilt Lady is in a tough situation. I feel for her, and I wish we could take her situation, broadcast it to pharmacist’s nationwide, and say, “Seriously, if they’re doing this to one of us, it won’t be long til they do it to all of us!”
Short, oversimplified explanation of her situation: Her corporate chain is forcing pharmacists to fill prescriptions for doctor shoppers — removing a pharmacist’s professional and ethical judgment for the almighty greenback.
Sites like this wouldn’t necessarily have to exist if everyone just exercised their option to not let the country’s system be your only hope. I’ve been suffering with BPD for over 10 years, and the financial pain is enough to deserve a prescription itself. Buy everything online from foreign pharmacies and 1/2 your troubles are solved. I know it is lame to plug companies and such, but I’ve been buying from one for so long (an Indian Pharmacy; here, for those of you that care… I’m a devout Christian and we believe in helping others, unlike your average amoral corporate scumbag)… you have no idea how much more energy I can focus on actually living my life instead of dealing with insurance and the rest of the f*cking scammers in the pharmaceutical companies who want to charge hundreds upon hundreds of dollars per month for a bottle that weighs a few ounces. It’s really quite ridiculous, and I’ve decided not to be part of that anymore.
I’m glad you’re doing well, but I’m not going to allow this site be a part of an advertisement for foreign pharmacies. The FDA doesn’t regulate them. The FDA doesn’t approve of them. My state operates under FDA guidelines, direction, and suggestions. Oddly enough, my state could consider my site as me practicing pharmacy and hold me accountable should someone harm themselves and sue everyone in the world. Same as if a pharmacist answers questions via email or other electronic means — my malpractice would cover me — therefore, I can be liable.
Also, I simply don’t approve. For every person that has had some semblance of success with an Indian or foreign pharmacy, I can show you five that have been screwed over or gotten bogus drugs or PEZ. You also have the issue of the illegality of importing controlled meds resulting in the receiving of a LL (Love Letter) from USA Customs. Rx or not, I’m pretty sure the US Government doesn’t want Oxycontin coming into the country from India.
I’d also like to see the stats on where the drugs are actually made. I’m sure that most of them are made in America, exported, filled, and imported, but I’d like to know how many are made in countries where Americans are spat upon, hated, and or shunned. Maybe that’s a little overboard…a little irrational…but I really have no clue. I have no way to find out either.
The point is, would you trust a Mexican Manufacturing Plant? We don’t even drink the water there. They can’t even produce potable water for their citizens — other than on resorts — and you want to trust their beta blockers? Forget that…
11 Comments »
Mark says August 30th, 2009 at 5:19 am
If you think things are bad in pharmacy…an engineering degree roughly involves the same amount of debt, yet most engineers only start at $50-$60k/year (or in $/hour, $24/hour), *if* they can even find jobs.
answer to mark: Engineer doesn’t have same liability like us, engineer doesn’t work in same workload pressure without proper lunch break like us.
I dunno about that…if you build a bridge or tall building and it collapses, would you not be just a little bit liable? Maybe not, but you’d prolly feel a little bad about being responsible for the death of all the innocent women and children…when an RPh screws up, he only kills one….An Engineer kills hundreds…
Come to think of it, Walgreens had a union at one point…long before I worked there, of course. From what my [former] coworkers told me, it hindered workflow. Riiight.
Seriously, I’ve been considering organizing a strike for some time, but what stops me is that there are too many people unwilling to take a stand. Damn, I hope Obama’s reform goes through…it wont fix everything, but it’s a start. *Dreams of Canada, where the reimbursement claims flow like wine*
I’ve heard that certain geographic areas were unionized within WAG — mainly, Chicagoland. I heard that the union within WAG was quite the powerhouse and went on strike several times resulting in major losses by the company.
ME, ME!!! I’ll be the sacrificial lamb… it’s really simple, pick a time and day and have the 220,000 pharmacists- and I’m sure techs too-to simply walk around the mini-mall for ten minutes on day one. Then a week later, for 20 minutes, etc. Management would be shitting in their pants and run to meetings.
Chicago was unionized and did a fairly good job of standing up for themselves from what I’ve heard. Then a few years back, WAG offered them a ton of cash to dissolve the union … and they did. Thanks to those pathetic douchebags for selling the rest of us out.
Phamacists have been complaining about work conditions for years, and things don’t change … they’re only getting worse. What’s it going ot take for things to improve? Media reports of deaths due to overworked pharmacies? 20/20 did a report a few years back … and nothing happened. Our state bords of pharmacy? Those spineless fucks are utterly useless. ( I pointed out an issue with WAG’s computer system that was a violation of state law, and they did NOTHING!) So what choice’s are left? Unionize. That’s the only way I can think of that would add some desperately needed clout to our profession. Thanks Angriest, for suggesting it. You’d think that all of us pharmacists who’ve complained relentlessly over the years would be posting their support in droves to your suggestion here. But the deafening silence on this issue from our pears speakes volumes as to how likely that will occur. Pharmacists really need to learn to stand up for themselves, as a group, or they will continue to get screwed by corporate bullies who are only concered with the bottom line and not with the front line.
Anyway, Angriest, I’d vote for you. Or maybe the Drug Monkey, if he’s up for it. Or Jim Pagliakis would do. Should we give him a call?
I love that marquee thing! I am putting on mine at my store.
However, the profession is dead. We were sold down the river by whoever signed the first PBM contract. That person is dead/retired now.
Pretty soon the PBM’s and Chains will pay off the right politicians, whack the licensing requirement and fill all Rx’s with robots and techs.
Then the average RPh wage (hospital too, due to the excess RPh supply) will be just a little bit south of Social Worker. Pay off your loan with that.
Good Luck,
Oz
I found your site on Google and read a few of your other entires. Nice Stuff.
I’m looking forward to reading more from you.
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