Have you ever called a pharmacy for a refill only to find out that you have no refills left or that the refills have expired? Does your doctor’s office seem like it takes forever to respond to requests? Do you ever call up a pharmacy and tell them to just refill everything? Questions such as these and more will be answered in the following guide to what you should know about your pharmacy.
1. Know your medications
Don’t expect your pharmacy to remember all of the medications that you take. These are your medications and therefore your responsibility. If you sign up for an automatic refill service, make sure you keep your pharmacy informed of any changes that may impact this. Make sure that if you send someone to pick up your prescriptions they know exactly what they’re getting. Would you trust a gas station attendant to pick the right grade of gas just by guessing? No, so don’t expect someone to know what medication to pick up just by guessing.
2. Get your refills early (but not too early)
This may be difficult due to state and federal laws (as well as insurance policies) regarding when you can refill your prescription. For most circumstances, you’ll be safe requesting a refill no earlier than 4 days before you run out. This should give adequate time for the pharmacy to contact the doctor or order the medication if necessary. Be mindful of the hours of your pharmacy and your doctor’s office. Don’t wait until 8pm on a Friday to ask for a refill on a medication you don’t have. Do you wait until you run out of food or are starving to go shopping? No, so take some initiative.
3. Be nice
This really should go without saying, but be nice to the people filling your prescriptions. Heck, be nice to everyone really. They’re human beings just like everyone else. Budget cuts have forced many pharmacies to work under staffed which means some employees are likely to be more stressed. Screaming, yelling, demanding things, or being rude won’t help the situation. If anything, you may make them less willing to help you. As the quote goes, “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.”
4. Your doctor and you
This is somewhat of an aside to knowing your medication. When asking the pharmacy or doctor’s office for refills on a medication make sure they have all of the correct contact information on file (do make sure you have the contact information just in case it’s wrong). This may seem silly, but it solves many issues with doctors seemingly never calling in prescriptions. If there’s a dosage change on something you take, don’t just let your doctor tell you to take more or less. You should insist that they call in a new prescription to the pharmacy. Not having a correctly dosed prescription on file at your pharmacy is not only dangerous but can also cause problems with future refills. Besides, they’re just going to have to do it at some point anyway. Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today? Finally, remember that this is your medication so take initiative. Don’t wait until you don’t have any medication left to resolve any issues. If your doctor and pharmacy don’t seem to be able to connect then just go to the office and get a prescription yourself.
5. They’re only human
Understand that mistakes do sometimes get made. A great majority of these mistakes are simple enough to be caught by the patient. A little diligence on the part of the patient can make a world of difference. This goes back to the first point, know your medications. If something seems wrong, do not hesitate to ask about it. Problems are much more easily fixed before you leave the store and preferably before you even pay for the medication. Keep in mind that even a store that fills 1000 prescriptions a week could have an error rate as low as 1% and that’s still 10 prescriptions per week that have mistakes.
6. We don’t set the rates
If you have prescription insurance, and your prescription is billed to that insurance, then the amount they bill is the amount you pay. Any and all questions or concerns regarding this payment must be addressed by the patient to member services (their phone number is usually on the back of your insurance card). An experienced employee can make an educated guess about it, but in the end it’s still just a guess.
7. Drive-thru etiquette
If the pharmacy you use has a drive-thru, keep a few things in mind. If there is only one lane for picking up, remember there are people behind you waiting too. If you’re not just picking up or dropping off a prescription, don’t use the drive-thru. Complicated issues are more quickly and efficiently handled when you come in to the store. The drive-thru is NOT meant for speed, it’s meant for convenience. Chances are there will be only one person working the drive-thru at any given time whereas there will be multiple people working inside. Don’t walk through a drive-thru. Not only is it dangerous, it’s called drive-thru for a reason. Last, and most importantly, treat the drive-thru like you would the inside of the store. That means don’t yell and scream because nobody appears to be around, don’t honk your horn (look for a button to push for service instead), and don’t smoke (it gets inside and everyone can smell it).
8. Keep it brief
You don’t need to tell your life story just to find out if your prescription is ready. If you have a question about something, think carefully about how you’re going to ask it in a clear and concise manner before you call or come in. If your name is John Smith, you probably don’t need to spell out your name, but you probably will need to give your date of birth. If your name is complicated, you probably need to spell it out. If you’re calling in regard to someone else, give their name before you give your name. Keep in mind that you may not be the only person on the phone or at the store so be courteous of other people.
9. Information
If you have never been to a store before make sure they have your information before the prescription gets there. If your child has never been to a store before (even if you or other family member has) again make sure they have the child’s information before the prescription gets there. If your name is complicated, make sure your doctor can spell your name. If you have a maiden/married name, make sure that what the doctor uses is what your pharmacy uses. If you get prescriptions on a monthly basis make sure your pharmacy has your most current prescription insurance information. If you rarely get prescriptions, wait until you actually get one to update it. Don’t try to give the insurance information over the phone.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of all of the things you should know about your pharmacy. However, it does cover the main areas that cause problems for both the patients and the pharmacy. If you get anything out of this article (and if you made it this far) please be nice and be knowledgeable. A great deal of problems can be solved with a little diligence and a positive outlook.