Study: Customers give pharmacy staff high marks
http://www.chaindrugreview.com/front-page/newsbreaks/study-customers-give-pharmacy-staff-high-marks
From the article:
Greater use of central-fill facilities and well-trained, certified pharmacy technicians also has helped free up pharmacists from dispensing chores so they can devote more time to advising patients. Some pharmacy operators, too, have redesigned their pharmacy departments to make the pharmacists more accessible at the counter and in private in adjacent consultation rooms.
When you look at the charted results… Independents came in FIRST and Chain pharmacies was only able to come out ahead of MAIL ORDER NEXT TO LAST
When you compare the typical indy against a chain… the indy doesn’t have a TRIPLE -A location, not opened as many hours/wk, smaller advertising budget
Indy typically has a Pharmacist that has a vested interest in the success of the business and the community and better staffing.
Yet – of those who participated in the survey – ~25% more patients are satisfied with having their prescriptions filled at a Indy over a chain.
I would bet that whatever “metrics” the indy has.. or actually patient driven metrics. What a concept !!!
Filed under: General Problems
Sounds like a lot of “BULL”! Since when did chain pharmacists become more available to counsel patients? Yes, it is “BS”! I have no more time to counsel today than I did 17 years ago when I started working for my nutty chain. And, this ‘hoopla’ about more pharmacist accessibility to patients just means that the pharmacy is more open to distractions from complaining customers, loud talking people on their cellphones, where they are telling their life history. And, adjacent consultation rooms? Have you been into a Wal-Mart lately? Did you see a counseling room? Nope! You saw those goofy plastic ‘barriers’ that are about as private as a conversation being sent over the intercom system.
The one that is true is the satisfaction with independents. They can actually take care of folks, rather than spend all their time with metrics. At one time, I worked with a really good lady pharmacist. We both worked at Wal-Mart. As Wal-Mart kept coming out with more and more policies and more things that hindered us in providing good care, she became disillusioned. She wanted, most of all, to provide the best care to patients. She quit and went to work for an independent. That was a number of years ago, and every time I talk to her she says she just loves her job with the independent. She can take care of customers in the manner she likes. She gave up some good benefits when she left Wal-Mart. But, to her, the switch was well worth it. And, as you say, the Indy has a vested interest in his store and he wants to make money and to do that he needs to ‘take care of customers’. And, that does not mean phoning them to pester them about it being time to refill their meds.
My heart is with the independents, despite working for a chain. For 20 years, I worked for independents. When I started working for Wal-Mart, it was a pretty nice job. But, it has started to go down hill as they are following CVS down the metric road. I once worked with a pharmacist that said he wished all the insurance companies would go broke. I can further that by saying that I wished all the chains would go broke.
I like my pharmacy; it’s the mail order goofballs I don’t trust.