PHARMACIST STEVE

Pharmacist as “healthcare disrupters “? Think PHARMACY CRAWL ?

9 Responses

1. 

   Doug, on February 26, 2016 at 4:17 am said:

   If you’re being treated awful by pharms, you’re already dealing with machines. Stop taking your business to the pharmacy giants and look for a neighborhood / family owned Pharmacy. I understand that they may be far and few between but they are usually the ones that will treat you like a human being. Family operated businesses will always give the best customer service because they depend on return customers. The Corporate agendas of Pharmacy’s like CVS, WAGS, RITE AID and Walmart are only to make money hand over fist. They don’t want their employees to get to know the people they are doing business with because it slows the whole process. They want all their pharmacist and pharmtecs to be machines and never stray from the policies that uper management has implemented. Just look at the line at the pharmacy counter the next time you walk into Walmart just to shop. It’s always long and everyone in it looks pissed off, it just goes to show you that it’s all about quantity, not quality. The bigger the store, the bigger the lack of customer service.

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2. 

   criminally inpain, on February 26, 2016 at 12:42 am said:

   Having been treated awful by pharms. I would rather deal w/ a machine that does it’s job w/o judgment, humiliation, & just down right nastiness that is always directed toward almost all CPP’s!

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3. 

   boilerrph87, on February 24, 2016 at 12:54 pm said:

   OMG….I have a BS and 30yrs experience…20+ of it in LTC….IMHO…MTM is really no different than doing a DUR in the computer before filling in chain but just exclusively one patient at a time…..I can do MTM based on my experience alone…its the same thing. I write recommendations to doctors all the time regarding drug changes and I dont need a PharmD or a certificate to do this. Yet I’m unable to get this across to potential employers, it’s sad, I can run circles around these younger grads. I still take issue with the whole doctor over the internet thing diagnosing….I think there is still something to be said for actually seeing the patient in person to listen, touch, and see the symptoms in person because several illnesses have similar symptoms and the chances of misdiagnoses are still high.
   Don’t know about anyone else, but I found his comments about pharmacists being Doctors to be misleading and someone needs to remind him there are still alot of us out there with BS degrees that are as well educated as PharmDs if not much more experienced

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4. 

   lespaul1963, on February 24, 2016 at 10:52 am said:

   And yet another reason why I got out of the traditional dispensing pharmacist role. I was told in Pharmacy School, back in the late ’80s/early ’90s, that the chain drug stores would be using machines to dispense prescriptions before I hit retirement age. I still have about a decade and a half to go…so we’ll see if my Pharmacy Practice Prof was right. The truth is that it does not take 8 years of education to count pills by fives. What the average US trained pharmacist walks out of school with nowadays, in terms of education, is overbore for the retail pharmacy setting. They hand out diplomas to these kids and there they stand…all dressed up and ready to go…right into a job that conceptually is no different than the McD’s job that I had in high school, except the product can potentially kill you faster then fast food…although after watching Morgan Spurlock’s documentary, Super Size Me…Big Pharma products aren’t much quicker.

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5. 

   kandiapple, on February 24, 2016 at 8:55 am said:

   There have been Rx vending machines around for quite a while. My doctor in the early 2000s had one. I never used it but I assume it was for antibiotics and other widely-prescribed meds, or maybe it was for pediatrics…? In this setting and for that purpose I believe it’s ok, but for impersonal use at a drug store, no. I think many pharmacists are all too happy to lend us information — at least those who are happy with their jobs and aren’t grumpy or egomaniacal. I have to believe that there are a ton of pharmacists who are unhappy campers, (CVS, lol).But i’ve always said, know your banker, your lawyer and your pharmacist best. I’ll take the opinion of a pharmacist and a NP over a doctor any day.

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6. 

   Doug, on February 23, 2016 at 11:11 pm said:

   As with the chain Pharmacy’s like CVS that are thinking quantity over quality, when does the pharmacist have time to consult a patient?
   For example, I used to have all my prescriptions filled at my local Rite Aid. When I would pick up my prescription the cashier would scan it and I would follow the instructions on the Verifone credit card reader and when it came to the screen that asked about consultation with the pharmacist, the cashier would always tell me just to check the top box. That box is the, “I decline to speak with the pharmacist ” box.
   I think that technology is actually at fault in this case, but I really think that the pharmacy super stores are taking the personal touch out of the medical profession. I’m really surprised that these chains haven’t come up with a self service pharmacy vending machine for standard prescriptions yet. Just insert your bar coded prescription, swipe your driver license /ID, slide insurance card then pay. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that someone is working on such a contraption if they haven’t built it already and are just waiting for approval. If no then does someone out there want to help me design one, we could make millions.

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     Richard, on February 24, 2016 at 5:24 am said:

     I’ve been saying for years that phamacy is heading toward vending machines. The doctor will load a debit card with the RX and insurance info, slip in the slot and a flat pack falls out with an 800 number on the back for any questions you may have. I say within 5-10 years it will be here. I heard tell of an Emergency Room somewhere already has one in place.

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     Simple pharmacist, on February 24, 2016 at 7:55 am said:

     So Doug, why do you check the box?

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       Doug, on February 24, 2016 at 4:25 pm said:

       I don’t just check the box anymore because I don’t use chain Pharmacy’s. Before it was if everyone in line was an inconvenience to the tech/cashier and remember, they are trained for quality not qualify plus I’m almost blind and I don’t play well with others. In other words, I get claustrophobic in crowds and very anxious. Now using a small chain of family owned Pharmacy’s , 3 stores to be exactand if I have a question, I simply ask. It is not a patients fault for the removal of face to face interactions with a medical professional, it’s also not the patients fault that the pharmacy counter has become the express lane. The pharmacy counter is for the dispensing of medications, the administering of vaccines and for the medical advice from a professional, not for paying for a six-pack of bud or a gallon of milk. These are the reasons why prescription mistakes are made almost every day at either Wags, Rite Aid or CVS. Because these chains decided to supplement their income with Booze and greeting cards.

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