We have one doctor in the children's clinic that seems to be a tad bit... slow. For one thing, she refuses to write for any amoxicillin strength except 250mg/5mL. Even if she wants 400mg PO BID 10D, she'll still write for amoxicillin 250mg/5ML, when every other doctor would write for 400mg/5mL.
I once called down and informed her that the 400mg/5mL existed, and she told me she knew that, but had been informed that the 250mg/5mL tasted better.
I informed her that we get the two different strengths from the same manufacturer and they taste exactly the same, but still to this day she still will not write for the 400.
While this is just a minor annoyance, seeing that we can fill the prescriptions with whatever strength we please, it is when the doctor writes incorrect instructions that obviously means she does not look at the prescription she writes that pisses me off. An example:
Zithromax 100mg/5mL
Take 6mL tsp today, then 3mL tsp days 2,3,4,and 5.
Now, anyone with a brain would know that she accidentally put the tsp in there, but according to the law I had to call and confirm the prescription. Unfortunately, that took about 10 minutes. 10 minutes I had to stand there and listen to the little kid cry and cry and cry and cry and cry while his mom tried without success to calm the little womb fruit down.
*Sigh*
Oh well, it really isn't anything to get all worked up about, but it still gets on my nerves when I have to listen to a screaming kid because some doctor does not check the prescriptions she writes.
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Smart-Ass Comment of the Week
I work on Friday, but I don't think I'll get a better chance to be a smart-ass than I did on Tuesday.
A mother comes in with a prescription for her daughter. I ask if we've filled for her before.
"Yes."
Awesome. I pull up the profile and see we haven't filled for her since 2007. I then ask if she got new insurance since then.
"No, it's the same."
Awesome. I enter in the prescription, it gets rejected by insurance claiming "FILLED AFTER COVERAGE TERMINATED."
Ok, the patient obviously has new insurance information. I ask to see her card. She hands me a card from a different state than her old one was from. I give her a look that I hope conveys my feelings toward her. It was my "You're a fucking idiot," look.
I'm about to enter in the information when the woman pipes up and says:
"In the past, most pharmacies have found that it only works when you don't put the letters in for the ID number."
Oh holy shit, by the time she was half finished with that sentence I was smiling my sarcastic I-want-you-to-be-hurt-by-what-I'm-going-to-say-next smile. I said:
"Oh, really? Huh, because -"
"Yeah we know all those little tricks," the pharmacist bursts out, completely interrupting me, which is probably a good thing.
I was planning on finishing the sentence with something like, "I've been working in this pharmacy for a while now, and I've never seen that. Weird."
Of course, the patient might still have thought that I was being serious. Oh well. Maybe I'll get another chance to ridicule a patient on Friday.
One can only hope.
A mother comes in with a prescription for her daughter. I ask if we've filled for her before.
"Yes."
Awesome. I pull up the profile and see we haven't filled for her since 2007. I then ask if she got new insurance since then.
"No, it's the same."
Awesome. I enter in the prescription, it gets rejected by insurance claiming "FILLED AFTER COVERAGE TERMINATED."
Ok, the patient obviously has new insurance information. I ask to see her card. She hands me a card from a different state than her old one was from. I give her a look that I hope conveys my feelings toward her. It was my "You're a fucking idiot," look.
I'm about to enter in the information when the woman pipes up and says:
"In the past, most pharmacies have found that it only works when you don't put the letters in for the ID number."
Oh holy shit, by the time she was half finished with that sentence I was smiling my sarcastic I-want-you-to-be-hurt-by-what-I'm-going-to-say-next smile. I said:
"Oh, really? Huh, because -"
"Yeah we know all those little tricks," the pharmacist bursts out, completely interrupting me, which is probably a good thing.
I was planning on finishing the sentence with something like, "I've been working in this pharmacy for a while now, and I've never seen that. Weird."
Of course, the patient might still have thought that I was being serious. Oh well. Maybe I'll get another chance to ridicule a patient on Friday.
One can only hope.
The Filling Process
For those of you out there that are unfamiliar with the process that happens behind the counter at the pharmacy (although I doubt anyone but pharmacy people read this), I'm going to go through a step by step guide to how it works.
1. You hand me the prescription. This is pretty simple stuff that 99% of people understand.
2. I look at the name on the prescription and ask "Have we filled for (name) before?" There are only two answers to this question.
1) "Yes." 2) "No."
A third possible answer, "I don't know," is not what I am looking for, but I can understand if you really do not know. That's ok.
If you answered "Yes," or "I don't know," skip down to #4
3. I will ask, "Do you have insurance?" This is always a tricky question, because some people will just say "Yes," and about 90% of the time it's "Yes, we have MA." They then stare at me until I say, "Well, can I see the card?"
This is when you have your first opportunity to either be a pain-in-the-ass customer or a good customer.
If you say, "No, I don't have the card on me, don't you have the number from when we checked in?" I will want to punch you. No, we do not have the number. My computer system is completely different than the clinic's system. I will then direct you out to the clinic to obtain the number from the receptionist. She will not be happy.
Of course, if it isn't my state's or any neighboring state's MA or BCBS number, you're fucked. There are too many different processors and BIN numbers and especially group numbers to keep track of them all. Go find your card and come back.
If you say "Yes," and hand me a card, I will not dislike you.
Skip to #5.
4. I will pull up the patient's profile; if I see we haven't filled anything for that person this year, I will ask if your insurance information has changed since then. If it has, you better hand me that card.
5. Once I have the profile all set up, I will ask if there are any allergies to medications. Do not tell me "pollen." We do not dispense pollen in my pharmacy.
6. This is all the information I need. I will tell you it will be a few minutes. Take a step back, sit in a chair, and wait. Do not hover around the drop-off area. I will be able to feel your eyes on me, and while it does not make me nervous like it did when I first started working in a pharmacy, it does make me want to choke you.
7. Once the prescription is entered and successfully made it through insurance, I will then fill the prescription while the pharmacist checks to make sure it is correct.
8. If everything is peachy-keen, the pharmacist or I will ring you up, get you through HIPPA, insurance signatures, and about 1/3 of OBRA 90 (maybe 1/4). You are then free to leave. Please do so.
1. You hand me the prescription. This is pretty simple stuff that 99% of people understand.
2. I look at the name on the prescription and ask "Have we filled for (name) before?" There are only two answers to this question.
1) "Yes." 2) "No."
A third possible answer, "I don't know," is not what I am looking for, but I can understand if you really do not know. That's ok.
If you answered "Yes," or "I don't know," skip down to #4
3. I will ask, "Do you have insurance?" This is always a tricky question, because some people will just say "Yes," and about 90% of the time it's "Yes, we have MA." They then stare at me until I say, "Well, can I see the card?"
This is when you have your first opportunity to either be a pain-in-the-ass customer or a good customer.
If you say, "No, I don't have the card on me, don't you have the number from when we checked in?" I will want to punch you. No, we do not have the number. My computer system is completely different than the clinic's system. I will then direct you out to the clinic to obtain the number from the receptionist. She will not be happy.
Of course, if it isn't my state's or any neighboring state's MA or BCBS number, you're fucked. There are too many different processors and BIN numbers and especially group numbers to keep track of them all. Go find your card and come back.
If you say "Yes," and hand me a card, I will not dislike you.
Skip to #5.
4. I will pull up the patient's profile; if I see we haven't filled anything for that person this year, I will ask if your insurance information has changed since then. If it has, you better hand me that card.
5. Once I have the profile all set up, I will ask if there are any allergies to medications. Do not tell me "pollen." We do not dispense pollen in my pharmacy.
6. This is all the information I need. I will tell you it will be a few minutes. Take a step back, sit in a chair, and wait. Do not hover around the drop-off area. I will be able to feel your eyes on me, and while it does not make me nervous like it did when I first started working in a pharmacy, it does make me want to choke you.
7. Once the prescription is entered and successfully made it through insurance, I will then fill the prescription while the pharmacist checks to make sure it is correct.
8. If everything is peachy-keen, the pharmacist or I will ring you up, get you through HIPPA, insurance signatures, and about 1/3 of OBRA 90 (maybe 1/4). You are then free to leave. Please do so.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Student Duties
Ah to be a student. All of the fun of being a pharmacist, none of the real duties. Got a question regarding a prescription? Let me get a pharmacist for you. Want to bitch about what we have in stock for OTCs? Let me get a pharmacist for you. Want to be a total pain-in-the-ass? Let me get a pharmacist for you. 7 words I have learned to love. Yet, I can still send/receive copies, I can take a new script over the phone, I can call insurance for overrides, I can refill scripts, I can count out CIIs, I can fill the robot, receive orders, and update inventory. I can do it all, but the minute things get hairy, I can say those 7 magic words and all my problems disappear. I can go to the back and laaaaaaaaugh, and when the pharmacist gets back I can ask him/her all about it. Soon I'll be able to counsel, well, I can counsel now, but I only do it with amoxicillin and DNCB in pet, and when I can counsel more drugs those 7 words won't be as magic, and that will be a sad day.
But we students also get the shaft when it comes to bitch work. We do all of the bitch work. All of it. We empty all garbages, including the bathroom, boss's office, and the cashier's. We're in charge of washing all the dishes, so if a tech or pharmacist or student makes a compound or solution, guess who's in the kitchenette getting the ointment off the spatulas? Yeah, it's the student. We sort through and file all scripts according to number, and when the shit hits the fan, those can get out of order real quick-like, and with 100-300 new scripts a day, that's not fun. We fill the robot with vials and caps and drugs. We stock the shelves with all different dram sizes and caps. We wipe down the chairs and counters at the end of the day. We vaccuum. Oh boy do we vaccuum. This my friends, is the worst part of my day, especially now that the snow is melting. This means that all that dirt plow trucks throw on the road so your SUV doesn't slide off the road every time the mercury goes below 32 is piling up, and you walk on it. When that happens, it gets caught in your shoes and then you walk into my store, where it all somehow gets deposited in the big fucking grooves in the rug that my boss unwittingly bought. These grooves are fucking huge, making it impossible for the vaccuum to create a vaccuum on the rug, making my job of vaccuuming 10 minutes longer. I wonder how many times I can say vaccuum in one sentence? Hmm....
Which means on days like today I don't get out of the pharmacy until a half hour after I'm supposed to, because everyone seems to need their prescriptions filled 5 minutes before we close.
But we students also get the shaft when it comes to bitch work. We do all of the bitch work. All of it. We empty all garbages, including the bathroom, boss's office, and the cashier's. We're in charge of washing all the dishes, so if a tech or pharmacist or student makes a compound or solution, guess who's in the kitchenette getting the ointment off the spatulas? Yeah, it's the student. We sort through and file all scripts according to number, and when the shit hits the fan, those can get out of order real quick-like, and with 100-300 new scripts a day, that's not fun. We fill the robot with vials and caps and drugs. We stock the shelves with all different dram sizes and caps. We wipe down the chairs and counters at the end of the day. We vaccuum. Oh boy do we vaccuum. This my friends, is the worst part of my day, especially now that the snow is melting. This means that all that dirt plow trucks throw on the road so your SUV doesn't slide off the road every time the mercury goes below 32 is piling up, and you walk on it. When that happens, it gets caught in your shoes and then you walk into my store, where it all somehow gets deposited in the big fucking grooves in the rug that my boss unwittingly bought. These grooves are fucking huge, making it impossible for the vaccuum to create a vaccuum on the rug, making my job of vaccuuming 10 minutes longer. I wonder how many times I can say vaccuum in one sentence? Hmm....
Which means on days like today I don't get out of the pharmacy until a half hour after I'm supposed to, because everyone seems to need their prescriptions filled 5 minutes before we close.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)