On your last trip to the pharmacy, while you were waiting (again!) did you wonder what was going on behind the counter? Let me take you behind the counter for a day.
Although it can’t change much, it might give you a bit of compassion for the folks who work there.
I am a pharmacist. I work in a small independent store. Although I have not worked in a large chain pharmacy, I can tell you from talking with many other pharmacists that as a profession our problems and concerns are all pretty much the same. In a small pharmacy we do have a bit more of a chance to talk to our patients than our large-chain counterparts, but not much more. Almost every pharmacist I know would like to be doing a better job under better circumstances.
The first thing many people may not understand is the function of the people behind the counter. There are usually three types of people in a pharmacy: the pharmacists, the pharmacy technicians and the clerks. The technician can answer the phone, take refills, enter prescriptions into the computer and count the medications. They will alert the pharmacist if the computer flags any potential drug interactions or other problems; in the end of the process it must be the pharmacist who checks the prescription before it is dispensed. That is the law. Technicians can also help patients find over-the-counter items; help solve insurance problems, put away drug orders etc. In any given day, they will do all of those things, often interrupting one task to do another.
Clerks are usually support staff there to run the register, stock over-the-counter medications, answer the phone and be a liaison between the patient and the pharmacy staff. They can’t answer medical questions but can refer you to the pharmacist for the answer.
The pharmacist is the person most in demand. We are required by law to be there for the store to be open. No medication can be dispensed unless a pharmacist has checked it. We are required to counsel any patient that does not refuse the counseling. We take phone-in prescriptions from doctor’s offices. We must be constantly on the lookout for fraudulent prescriptions, which is a big problem. We answer patient questions over the phone and in the store. We recommend over-the-counter remedies for all kinds of ailments. We often have to handle insurance problems: drug changes due to formularies, drugs not covered by certain plans, refills too soon, etc. When medications are unavailable due to manufacturing problems we must find suitable alternatives. (In some stores, pharmacists even run blood pressure checks, blood glucose monitoring clinics, and administer flu shots.)
All of these functions and more are routine work for the pharmacist and usually more than one thing must be done at a time to try to keep the work moving at the pace demanded by today’s patients. It is very common for a pharmacist to only get to go to the restroom once or twice in a 10-hour shift and to never get a break to eat. If we get to eat at all, it is a bite between phone calls or checking prescriptions. In smaller independent stores, this is also true for the technicians.
So, now you know a bit about the function of the people you see behind the counter. Let’s now look at filling some prescriptions that you just brought from your doctor’s office for the terrible cough and fever you have. Your doctor was running an hour behind and now you are anxious to get your prescription filled and get home to fix dinner. It’s 4:30 in the afternoon when you arrive at the pharmacy and present your prescriptions to the clerk. Several people are already milling about, obviously waiting also. You are told it will be a bit, as there are several people in front of you.
The computer has spotted a drug interaction, so the technician must wait for the pharmacist to evaluate the potential problem before they can continue. Work on your prescription has just stopped. The pharmacist is checking several prescriptions for a person who was waiting there before you. She will look at the computer in just a moment. In the meantime another technician has answered the phone and there is a patient on the line who wants to ask a question. They will hold until the pharmacist is available. A second line rings and it is a doctor’s office needing to phone in a prescription. They will hold until the pharmacist is available. Your prescription is still waiting on the computer. The pharmacist takes the call from the doctor’s office.
The technician has the next set of prescriptions ready for the pharmacist to check. After doing that, the pharmacist is able to glance at the computer and must make a quick judgment about the potential interaction. Deciding there won’t be a problem she tells the technician to continue filling. Finally yours is being worked on again! After getting all of your prescriptions entered into the computer and through your insurance, the technician informs the pharmacist that your prescriptions are ready to be checked. The pharmacist nods, as she is now on the phone with the person who had called with a question. She will get to yours in a moment.
..to continue see post II
Be heard... Be the first commenter!
Comments are closed.