$4 generics at Wal-Mart

[PharmEm]

I'm sure this has been discussed here already but I'm currently a tech at Wal-Mart pharmacy and we just started the $4 generic thing, and OH MY...I never had so many people come in wanting their Rx's transferred and so many phone calls asking which generics are on the list! There was literally a
2-3 hour wait b/c SO many people came in today wanting their Rx's transferred and stuff. All you tech's know what long lines me...RUDE people! I got chewed out by some woman for A WHOLE HOUR. Man what a day. Have fun all you wal-mart pharm techies!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[nubian_princess]

yeah..I'm a tech at walmart or (the pharmacy at wal-mart)
So, it didn't start yet here in Iowa..but we're waiting..we had a meeting on wednesday about it! It will be crazy..I'm SURE!! We are expecting it anytime in the next coming 2 weeks..sometime before thanksgiving!

 

[rxforlife2004]

I'm sure this has been discussed here already but I'm currently a tech at Wal-Mart pharmacy and we just started the $4 generic thing, and OH MY...I never had so many people come in wanting their Rx's transferred and so many phone calls asking which generics are on the list! There was literally a
2-3 hour wait b/c SO many people came in today wanting their Rx's transferred and stuff. All you tech's know what long lines me...RUDE people! I got chewed out by some woman for A WHOLE HOUR. Man what a day. Have fun all you wal-mart pharm techies!

I don't know what the heck Wal-mart is doing...seriously. That'll kill the pharmacy business, and soon pharmacist's salary will be dropped down. Just a matter of time.

 

[blumatrix]

some have called it a "bait n' switch"
others call it genius.

i call it bad for business. walmart is great at dropping prices, especially w/ their massive buying power. how are independents supposed to compete with that, especially in this prime "donut hole" period? it's just ridiculous...

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Yeah , whatever. I doubt Walmart's phamacy buying power is as large as the major pharmaceutical buyers Cardinal (Fortune 500 #19) and McKesson (Fortune 500 #16). Thanks to these two, independents can still get a good price on drugs that are very competitive. The truth is that just about anyone could sell those generics listed on Walmart's list for $4 and still make a profit. A 30 day supply of generic Lasix costs about 18 cents. If that.

 

[duskandlight]

yeah it might make the pharmacist wages go down.. but i dont belive it will significaly change the wage becuase they would leave and go to a diff pharmacy. other pharmacies will change and start showing how great theres are with customer service..just always works out

 

[GrignardRX]

It's just a way to get people in their stores. Once they lure em in the store, they are banking on customers buying other merchandise. But this is great, because I work at CVS and I'm hoping all the goddamn rude customers transfer their scripts to wal-mart so I don't have to deal with their *******es.

 

[FruitFly]

yeah it might make the pharmacist wages go down.. but i dont belive it will significaly change the wage becuase they would leave and go to a diff pharmacy. other pharmacies will change and start showing how great theres are with customer service..just always works out

I know I'm bumping an old thread, but if this continues, other pharmacies will have to lower their prices on generics, as well. Pharmacist salary would go down across the board in retail, it would seem... It was estimated that $1billion was saved for patients by Walmart. That's an argument I heard the other day, but I don't think profits would go down at all for the major retail companies. Salaries for Walmart pharmacists didn't exactly go down during all this. Saving the CUSTOMERS $1billion doesn't mean the company is losing 100% of that $1billion, and frequency of Rx fillings may even go up to compensate (folks may be more adherent to filling scripts when meds cost less). Also, you don't have a huge Walmart on every corner... thankfully (for sheer aesthetic/urban planning/environmental purposes).

What's everyone's take on this?

[[[moving to Pharmacy forum]]

 

[Sparda29]

Hold on, its $4 without insurance for generics?

 

[genesis09]

It's $4, period. The insurance companies have a contract normally saying they will pay whatever is lower either the cash price or a price determined by a formula.

 

[njac]

It's a co-payment with insurance, I believe...

nope, $4 for a 30-day supply for selected medications.

 

[Epic]

$4 per gallon diesel hurts.

 

[JESUITM]

Wal-mart Website:

"As part of our commitment to lowering healthcare costs, Wal-Mart offers over 360 prescription drugs at only $4 per 30-day supply.* Customers are eligible for this program whether or not they have any prescription-drug coverage. Since its inception, this program has already saved our customers over $1 billion."

 

[MountainPharmD]

I know I'm bumping an old thread, but if this continues, other pharmacies will have to lower their prices on generics, as well. Pharmacist salary would go down across the board in retail, it would seem... It was estimated that $1billion was saved for patients by Walmart in this past year. That's an argument I heard the other day, but I don't think profits would go down at all for the major retail companies. Salaries for Walmart pharmacists didn't exactly go down during all this. Saving the CUSTOMERS $1billion doesn't mean the company is losing 100% of that $1billion, and frequency of Rx fillings may even go up to compensate (folks may be more adherent to filling scripts when meds cost less). Also, you don't have a huge Walmart on every corner... thankfully (for sheer aesthetic/urban planning/environmental purposes).

What's everyone's take on this?

[[[moving to Pharmacy forum]]

Safeway and Kroger have all come out with a $4 list of medications within the last month. The good news is we no longer do coupons or match competitors coupons.

It is very simple really. The list of $4 medications are old drugs that are very inexpensive. The profit margin is still good on these drugs just not as good. The plan is to replace the lost revenue by doing more prescriptions which sucks for us. We get the same amount of hours and have to do double the work to make the same money. Way to go Wal-Mart awsome job.

Retail chains are also looking at alternate forms of revenue such as, immunizations, MTM and the like.

 

[AngelaCL]

Remember, Wal-mart has probably also raised the price of some of the non-$4 prescriptions to make up the difference. We price match, and this woman wanted us to match all of Wal-Mart's prices, even the non-generics - we were cheaper than walmart on their drugs that aren't on the list.

 

[FruitFly]

Remember, Wal-mart has probably also raised the price of some of the non-$4 prescriptions to make up the difference. We price match, and this woman wanted us to match all of Wal-Mart's prices, even the non-generics - we were cheaper than walmart on their drugs that aren't on the list.

Interesting. If what you say is true, that would seem to be just be a short-term bullying measure (helps marketing, and throws the competition off its game- like the Safeway adjustment MountainPharmD mentioned). They probably make up that money with the drugs not on the list, as you say. It's good for marketing because it's simplistic enough to spread that word- in the form of a $4 menu of meds. It would seem sustainable, though.

 

[genesis09]

Wal-Mart is using $4 generics as a loss leader. They are hoping you come in and get your cheap HCTZ etc prescription, and while waiting, you'll go and buy a DVD or something like that where the profit margins are better. Most of the drugs on that list are fairly cheap to begin with.

 

[PharmDstudent]

Remember, Wal-mart has probably also raised the price of some of the non-$4 prescriptions to make up the difference. We price match, and this woman wanted us to match all of Wal-Mart's prices, even the non-generics - we were cheaper than walmart on their drugs that aren't on the list.

That's surprising.

 

[pharmpilot]

$4 per gallon diesel hurts.

$3.50/gallon gas, hurts, too.

And I know it's more expensive elsewhere.

Sorry.

 

[meister]

I work at CVS in southern California and we were explicitly told that we cannot match the $4 prices at Wal-Mart (and now Ralphs top). It's pretty silly because we are definitely losing patients to the prices but they seem to think giving out $25 gift cards somehow makes up for it. It's pretty ******ed.

 

[firefighter9015]

I wasn't working anywhere when Wal-Mart started the $4 prescription thing, but I worked the day after the Krogers around here started it and I have never transferred out more prescriptions that what I did.
The independent that I work at is doing "Medi-sets" for all of the assisted living communities in Lexington, which helps pull business in that was potentially lost due to $4 generics. I think that this and MTM will be where independent pharmacies will end up going to keep up.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I wasn't working anywhere when Wal-Mart started the $4 prescription thing, but I worked the day after the Krogers around here started it and I have never transferred out more prescriptions that what I did.
The independent that I work at is doing "Medi-sets" for all of the assisted living communities in Lexington, which helps pull business in that was potentially lost due to $4 generics. I think that this and MTM will be where independent pharmacies will end up going to keep up.

Pharmacists have to branch out to keep up. It's really no different than any other profession/occupation/business.

 

[imount]

What are these companies doing? First a drive through window and now a $4 menu. Looks like they are following the fast food business model.

 

[Twins fan]

I tech at a Wal-Mart. What was said earlier about raising the price on many non $4-generics, as well as name brand meds is absolutely true. Wal-Mart has done a great job with their marketing by convincing people that they are the cheapest place to buy everything...which is not true at all! The $4 generics just get people in the store...what do you think these people are going to do while they wait an hour to get their Rx?

If I'm a customer, Wal-Mart is pretty much the last place I would want my scripts filled. The waits are almost always very long since the volume at these stores has increased incredibly since the $4 list began, but pharmacists and techs are not being hired fast enough across the board to keep up with the increased # of fills. Also, if you get any other prescriptions not on the list, chances are the cash price of those prescriptions are at least as expensive if not more so than what they are at another pharmacy. Yes, Wal-Mart does price match, but people just blindly believe that Wal-Mart is going to be the cheapest on everything and don't check their options.

I've got to hand it to Wally-World for coming up with this genius marketing move, playing on people's belief that Wal-Mart has the lowest prices "Always". But the truth of the matter far from that.

 

[MountainPharmD]

Wal-Mart is not run by dummies. Some of the smartest people in business work for Wal-Mart. Make no mistake they are in business to make money and they make lots of it.

Wal-mart preys on the stupidity of the American public. They have created an image of being the low price leader and stupid people blindly believe it. If anyone actually took the time to compare prices they would find that Wa-mart is lower on some things and higher on others. Another trick they use is having different size packages made specially for Wal-Mart. A 16 oz box of crackers is $3.00 at Kroger and what appears to be the same box at Wal-mart is $2.00. The box is the same shape and size at Wal-mart but only has 10 oz in it. I saw a story about this on the news.

As far a prescriptions go Wal-mart is not in the business to lose money or offer things as a "loss leader". Every chain, including Wal-mart, who offers $4 generics is still making a profit off of those drugs albeit a smaller one. The hope is the increase in volume will offset the loss of profit. They are also hoping the increase in store traffic will increase store sales. So what happens when you can get your generic medications for $4 every where? I guess we will have to wait and see what Wal-marts next ridiculous move will be.

 

[confettiflyer]

What are these companies doing? First a drive through window and now a $4 menu. Looks like they are following the fast food business model.

Yup...it's all marketing. It's the company's job and best interest to get people into your store, that's just how business works. The $4 generics are just loss leaders.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I used to go to Wal-Mart frequently, but now I stay as far away as possible.

It's exhausting to spend an hour shopping for groceries. It would always seem like there was something that I would need on the opposite side of the store right before I was ready to check out. I could never get out of there!

 

[njac]

haven't spent a penny at WalMart in over 5 years. Lots of other places will price match them and have their own $4 lists (primarily grocery stores).

 

[AngelaCL]

If anyone actually took the time to compare prices they would find that Wa-mart is lower on some things and higher on others.

Well, to be fair I'm sure that's true of every single pharmacy ever. If one store was the lowest on every single drug, they'd have a really low profit margin and no way to make it up. Every pharmacy knows that people are generally not willing to travel to 9 different pharmacies just to save $1 here, $2 there - especially if they have insurance and just pay a flat copay for most things. So they have lower prices for some items so people think they are getting a great deal, and jack the prices on other stuff to make up for it.

That's of course true for non-pharmacy businesses as well. You might run to Kroger because they have a great buy on milk and eggs - but while you're there you'll go ahead and get their more expensive cereal and soda because it's not worth your time/gas money to go to every grocery store in town.

 

[pharmpilot]

I used to go to Wal-Mart frequently, but now I stay as far away as possible.

It's exhausting to spend an hour shopping for groceries. It would always seem like there was something that I would need on the opposite side of the store right before I was ready to check out. I could never get out of there!

My goal in life is to make enough not to ever shop at WalMart again.

Never enough cashiers open, and you're right, seems like everything I want is on opposite ends of the store.

And it seems like the $4 prescriptions is often a bait and switch game.

 

[The Fargoan]

Here in ND we don't have to compete with Walmart, Target, or Walgreen's pharmacies. Though for our out-of-state mail customers we did start getting requests to match the prices. Every customer who called to threaten moving their prescriptions decided against it. It turns out they wanted the $4 price but it wasn't actually worth driving to Walmart to get it. When I explained that we could not afford to sell them $4 scripts AND not charge a dime for mailing I had one guy say "Oh well I just wanted to let you know what the competition is doing."

 

[PHARMDhope2b]

I tech at a Wal-Mart. What was said earlier about raising the price on many non $4-generics, as well as name brand meds is absolutely true. Wal-Mart has done a great job with their marketing by convincing people that they are the cheapest place to buy everything...which is not true at all! The $4 generics just get people in the store...what do you think these people are going to do while they wait an hour to get their Rx?

If I'm a customer, Wal-Mart is pretty much the last place I would want my scripts filled. The waits are almost always very long since the volume at these stores has increased incredibly since the $4 list began, but pharmacists and techs are not being hired fast enough across the board to keep up with the increased # of fills. Also, if you get any other prescriptions not on the list, chances are the cash price of those prescriptions are at least as expensive if not more so than what they are at another pharmacy. Yes, Wal-Mart does price match, but people just blindly believe that Wal-Mart is going to be the cheapest on everything and don't check their options.

I've got to hand it to Wally-World for coming up with this genius marketing move, playing on people's belief that Wal-Mart has the lowest prices "Always". But the truth of the matter far from that.

I'm not sure who you are, but here is what i have to say about your comment. I am a firm believer in being loyal to your employer, which in turn makes for a better business, sometimes, lol. However your statements about the company that puts money into your pocket is not a good step. Just to be clear, I am a Walmart Intern who loves my company. Sure each company has its own problems, but you should support the place that pays your bills. Furthermore, yes, I do plan on staying with the company for many years to come.

Lets face it companies, schools, etc., look at these forums, myspace, facebook, etc., to analyze potential employees. Not saying that they can figure out who you are, but dont be naive and bet that they cant. If you are looking to become a Pharmacist with the company after graduation, I dont think that you are putting yourself in a good situation by making remarks by this. I have been with the company for a long time and I KNOW FOR A FACT, that Walmart will promote a person who has drive and zeal for the company that he/she works for. THIS IS ALSO TRUE IN MOST SETTINGS.

I am not saying this solely because you made remarks about Walmart, this holds true if you had said those things about ANY company that you worked for. We all have to remember that talking bad about your employer can eventually put YOUR OWN job in jeapardy! just my two cents, lol

And like another post reads, no ONE company can have the lowest prices in everything. That is just unreasonable business practice.

 

[confettiflyer]

I'm not sure who you are, but here is what i have to say about your comment. I am a firm believer in being loyal to your employer, I have been with the company for a long time and I KNOW FOR A FACT, that Walmart will promote a person who has drive and zeal for the company that he/she works for. THIS IS ALSO TRUE IN MOST SETTINGS.

Though I admire your sticking to the ideals of the 1950's, employees like you are just as likely as the next guy to be laid off in the next downturn. Granted, the Wal-mart pharmacy isn't the same as being an analyst at Bear Stearns. Call me a cynic, but I disagree with your statement. In this economy and in this time period, loyalty buys you nothing but a false sense of security.

I've seen company yes-men promoted, while others demoted and fired, despite having the company kool-aid and shared fervor. I barely gave a rat's *** about my company back when I did sub-prime for a big mortgage co. and managed to get promoted based on quality of work.

I implore you to keep your options open and investments diversified instead of buying into the "one company one life" mantra. I doubt your corporate shareholders share the same sentiments about loyalty as they do profit margins.

Slight tangent: People need to not load up on company stock options but instead exercise them and immediately diversify.

 

[Twins fan]

I'm not sure who you are, but here is what i have to say about your comment. I am a firm believer in being loyal to your employer, which in turn makes for a better business, sometimes, lol. However your statements about the company that puts money into your pocket is not a good step. Just to be clear, I am a Walmart Intern who loves my company. Sure each company has its own problems, but you should support the place that pays your bills. Furthermore, yes, I do plan on staying with the company for many years to come.

Lets face it companies, schools, etc., look at these forums, myspace, facebook, etc., to analyze potential employees. Not saying that they can figure out who you are, but dont be naive and bet that they cant. If you are looking to become a Pharmacist with the company after graduation, I dont think that you are putting yourself in a good situation by making remarks by this. I have been with the company for a long time and I KNOW FOR A FACT, that Walmart will promote a person who has drive and zeal for the company that he/she works for. THIS IS ALSO TRUE IN MOST SETTINGS.

I am not saying this solely because you made remarks about Walmart, this holds true if you had said those things about ANY company that you worked for. We all have to remember that talking bad about your employer can eventually put YOUR OWN job in jeapardy! just my two cents, lol

And like another post reads, no ONE company can have the lowest prices in everything. That is just unreasonable business practice.

Just to be clear, I am very loyal to my manager and the other folks I work with. When I go to work at Wal-Mart I give it my all and am extremely customer service oriented. I have no worries about my job being in jeopardy just because I don't think Wal-Mart is the best thing since sliced bread. The company doesn't just put money in my pocket...I work VERY HARD for them and put money in their pocket. My manager realizes this and has rewarded me for my efforts by giving me the highest raises he is allowed to give for each of my performance reviews.

I was simply pointing out what I thought to be some pretty obvious observations. Those being:

1. Wal-Mart is not "Always" the lowest price. This goes for prescriptions as well as potato chips and car batteries. People should realize this but Wal-Mart has done a great job convincing the American public otherise. Kudos to the marketing people.

2. The increased volume due to the $4 generic list can cause some ridiculous waits. Our store's volume has gone up a ton since it kicked in...but the staffing has not. This can cause some long waits with lots of angry people.

I really have nothing against Wal-Mart, just saying it wouldn't be (and isn't) my first choice to get an Rx filled. I've enjoyed my employment there and have learned a great deal. However, I am not one of those Wal-Mart employee zombies who are ready to fight if there is single word uttered against Wally-World (we all know they exist!) and who live every single minute of every single day for the betterment of the company who puts bread on their table. I'm of the opinion that people through their own hard work put their own bread on the table, not the company they work for (completely rhetorical, I know)...but then again, actually it's my wife that puts the bread on the table for my family, at least for now

So the moral of this rant.....go give your significant other a hug!

 

[PHARMDhope2b]

Yeah, I somewhat agree with you all comments. And no I do not place all of my eggs in one basket, although im not too worried about being laid off. But yeah i do know people that have been laid of from other companies when they have put a lot of hard work into their job.

I guess that I just haven't stayed on at a company that I didnt like working for, but yeah some people do end up having to do that. So i get your points.

 

[MountainPharmD]

Just to be clear, I am very loyal to my manager and the other folks I work with. When I go to work at Wal-Mart I give it my all and am extremely customer service oriented. I have no worries about my job being in jeopardy just because I don't think Wal-Mart is the best thing since sliced bread. The company doesn't just put money in my pocket...I work VERY HARD for them and put money in their pocket. My manager realizes this and has rewarded me for my efforts by giving me the highest raises he is allowed to give for each of my performance reviews.

I was simply pointing out what I thought to be some pretty obvious observations. Those being:

1. Wal-Mart is not "Always" the lowest price. This goes for prescriptions as well as potato chips and car batteries. People should realize this but Wal-Mart has done a great job convincing the American public otherise. Kudos to the marketing people.

2. The increased volume due to the $4 generic list can cause some ridiculous waits. Our store's volume has gone up a ton since it kicked in...but the staffing has not. This can cause some long waits with lots of angry people.

I really have nothing against Wal-Mart, just saying it wouldn't be (and isn't) my first choice to get an Rx filled. I've enjoyed my employment there and have learned a great deal. However, I am not one of those Wal-Mart employee zombies who are ready to fight if there is single word uttered against Wally-World (we all know they exist!) and who live every single minute of every single day for the betterment of the company who puts bread on their table. I'm of the opinion that people through their own hard work put their own bread on the table, not the company they work for (completely rhetorical, I know)...but then again, actually it's my wife that puts the bread on the table for my family, at least for now

So the moral of this rant.....go give your significant other a hug!

Oh sure! I bet you do the Wal-Mart chant every night before you go to bed!

W-A-L-M-A-R-T WHOOO!!! WALMART!!!! YEAH!!!!

I swear I think Wal-mart is a quasi-religeous cult with Sam Walton as the godfather.

 

[Twins fan]

Oh sure! I bet you do the Wal-Mart chant every night before you go to bed!

W-A-L-M-A-R-T WHOOO!!! WALMART!!!! YEAH!!!!

I swear I think Wal-mart is a quasi-religeous cult with Sam Walton as the godfather.

For most Wal-Mart employees it doesn't get cult-like. Most employees that I know actually do care about the company and want it to do well which is admirable, but they are a lot different from the people that get sucked in to the "Sam Walton is our Great Provider and Benefactor" camp. The people that do get sucked in like that frighten me...you are right, they do exist.

 

[andrewattheU]

Fred Meyer has $4 generics now too

 

[LudgerBJoonyuh]

Wall-o-China-Mart...it's adoringly titled by one of our most cynical pharmacist.

which reminds me: i was walking through the back to clock out one time and witnessed an unusual skeptical--the night shift staff doing synchronized exercises/stretches in preparation for the store's remodel! huh. i thought walmart was blue-colored not red.

alright, they prolly didn't wanna suffer job-related casualties. but to random bystanders, it was a humorous approach nonetheless!

 

[b*rizzle]

What are these companies doing? First a drive through window and now a $4 menu. Looks like they are following the fast food business model.

Just like the whole coupon nonsense, it's another bastardization of retail pharmacy.

 

[david594]

Can someone clarify something for a pre-vet, but I am assuming this special price wouldnt do anything for people with scripts for meds for their animals?

According to walmart you can get 20 doxycycline 100mg tabs for $4 with this. If a client showed up with a script for 120 tabs for their pet, I assume they wouldn't walk out the door with them for $24 would they?

 

[b*rizzle]

Can someone clarify something for a pre-vet, but I am assuming this special price wouldnt do anything for people with scripts for meds for their animals?

According to walmart you can get 20 doxycycline 100mg tabs for $4 with this. If a client showed up with a script for 120 tabs for their pet, I assume they wouldn't walk out the door with them for $24 would they?

$24 is exactly what they'd pay for #120. Doesn't matter that it's for a pet, or anything like that. It's $4 per "30 day supply."

 

[Twins fan]

They sure would david. Everything on the $4 list is just prorated...if you wanted 240 doxy it'd be $48. We fill cat and dog prescriptions fairly often. We even get to fill some Rxs for chimps and other animals in the local zoo. Fun stuff...except all of the chimps usually want flavoring added to their amoxicillin, which is kind of a pain

 

[dgroulx]

Walmart just added 90-day supply for $10. This is to counteract Walgreens $12.99 for 90 days. The fine print says that not all of the $4 30-day supply meds are available for the 90-day supply $10 price. I'm sure it will be very confusing for everybody.

 

[MountainPharmD]

Walmart just added 90-day supply for $10. This is to counteract Walgreens $12.99 for 90 days. The fine print says that not all of the $4 30-day supply meds are available for the 90-day supply $10 price. I'm sure it will be very confusing for everybody.

I wonder when Wal-mart will start giving them away for free? Good 'ole Wa-mart, dumbing down and ruining our profession one $4 generic at a time.

 

[Lopyswine]

I am a tech at CVS.

The current policy in our district is:

ANY TIME, a customer asks for a match on a $4 generic WE DO IT. We aren't supposed to say "hey would you like a price match" but if a customer says "do you guys have the $4 generics?" We will immediately price match.

We also are supposed to have all scripts filled in 15 minutes.

This has lead to people showing up with 5-10 scripts that we have to bust our *** to fill in 15 minutes.....


To me, they are cheapening the whole profession. First optometry, now pharmacy... I guarantee dentistry it next....


Total side note: why can't wal-mart pharmacies turn scripts out as fast as CVS? I worked in a wal-mart with $4 generics for 2 days, it was much slower than the CVS I currently work at. The CVS I work at turns out 500-700 scripts a day with 5 techs and 1 pharmacist from 8am-4pm and one from 2pm-10pm, so only a 2 hour overlap with 2 pharmacists.

Also, we NEVER tell someone more than 20 minutes, NEVER. very very rarely do we fail to hand someone ALL their meds in 15 minutes.....

 

[genesis09]

Ah, fellow UIC-er.

For some pharmacies, they actually cannot price match because of insurance contracts. Many of the contracts say they must have the same cash price for all patients for each particular day of business. Having a price match violates the same price requirement.

 

[Twins fan]

I am a tech at CVS.

The current policy in our district is:

ANY TIME, a customer asks for a match on a $4 generic WE DO IT. We aren't supposed to say "hey would you like a price match" but if a customer says "do you guys have the $4 generics?" We will immediately price match.

We also are supposed to have all scripts filled in 15 minutes.

This has lead to people showing up with 5-10 scripts that we have to bust our *** to fill in 15 minutes.....


To me, they are cheapening the whole profession. First optometry, now pharmacy... I guarantee dentistry it next....


Total side note: why can't wal-mart pharmacies turn scripts out as fast as CVS? I worked in a wal-mart with $4 generics for 2 days, it was much slower than the CVS I currently work at. The CVS I work at turns out 500-700 scripts a day with 5 techs and 1 pharmacist from 8am-4pm and one from 2pm-10pm, so only a 2 hour overlap with 2 pharmacists.

Also, we NEVER tell someone more than 20 minutes, NEVER. very very rarely do we fail to hand someone ALL their meds in 15 minutes.....

Wow...how do you do it? Do the phones ever ring? Do you ever have any insurance issues? I'm interested in what the work flow difference is, because as a Wal-Mart tech, I would have to say it's pretty rare that we ever make the 20 minute wait time for a new script, and our pharmacist overlap is about 6 hours (two pharmacists from 11:00 to 6:30) but they each get a half hour lunch.

I mean seriously, it is very rare for me to work a day when a situation similar to this comes up: say the one pharmacist on duty has to take 5 prescriptions off the doctor message line, which could conceivably take up to 5 minutes, especially if a message has to be listened to more than once, and in the meantime a nurse is on hold for the pharmacist waiting to give a new script, as well as a customer who is on hold calling in with a question about his or her med. Those phone calls could take up to 10 minutes alone...meanwhile, the dropoff window will have a steady stream of people dropping off scripts, all of which can be inputted by techs but the pharmacist still needs to double check those, not to mention anything already filled needs to be double checked by the pharmacist as well. Oh, and Grandma Jones needs to have the pharmacist answer some questions about which vitamin is the best. In that situation, which we get pretty regularly, I don't see how it is possible to get all prescriptions SAFELY filled within 20 minutes unless you have Clark Kent as the pharmacist.

Not saying you are lying Lopyswine, just wondering what your workflow is like to allow such fast times on a consistent basis. I admit, some times we don't have that sort of tech staffing (5 techs for one pharmacist never happens at Wally World), which I'm sure contributes to the slower times. Also, we have a few not so bright full-time techs and seem to perpetually have people quit and new people needing to be trained in...if we had more stability in the techs that work in our pharmacy I'm sure we'd be a lot faster.

 

[Lopyswine]

Wow...how do you do it? Do the phones ever ring? Do you ever have any insurance issues? I'm interested in what the work flow difference is, because as a Wal-Mart tech, I would have to say it's pretty rare that we ever make the 20 minute wait time for a new script, and our pharmacist overlap is about 6 hours (two pharmacists from 11:00 to 6:30) but they each get a half hour lunch.

I mean seriously, it is very rare for me to work a day when a situation similar to this comes up: say the one pharmacist on duty has to take 5 prescriptions off the doctor message line, which could conceivably take up to 5 minutes, especially if a message has to be listened to more than once, and in the meantime a nurse is on hold for the pharmacist waiting to give a new script, as well as a customer who is on hold calling in with a question about his or her med. Those phone calls could take up to 10 minutes alone...meanwhile, the dropoff window will have a steady stream of people dropping off scripts, all of which can be inputted by techs but the pharmacist still needs to double check those, not to mention anything already filled needs to be double checked by the pharmacist as well. Oh, and Grandma Jones needs to have the pharmacist answer some questions about which vitamin is the best. In that situation, which we get pretty regularly, I don't see how it is possible to get all prescriptions SAFELY filled within 20 minutes unless you have Clark Kent as the pharmacist.

Not saying you are lying Lopyswine, just wondering what your workflow is like to allow such fast times on a consistent basis. I admit, some times we don't have that sort of tech staffing (5 techs for one pharmacist never happens at Wally World), which I'm sure contributes to the slower times. Also, we have a few not so bright full-time techs and seem to perpetually have people quit and new people needing to be trained in...if we had more stability in the techs that work in our pharmacy I'm sure we'd be a lot faster.

yeah I completely understand. Maybe we better software? Maybe we have a better technique for 3rd party billing? I am sure our techs are better trained. I base this on 2 things:

1) my 2 days spent at walmart vs my time at CVS
2) first hand accounts of walmarts slowness/mistakes from other techs and customers

Maybe CVS just has things ironed out a bit more? One thing that is probably true is that CVS attracts a "higher" income customer (maybe even more educated customer). I am guessing here that many low income/low education level customers are seeing the commercials for $4 generics and running to get medicine that they would not have got otherwise. This could also have the effect of freeing up the pharmacist to check scripts. Maybe the low income customers have more "issues" or more questions for the pharmacist at walmart than the CVS customers do.


*** total side note ***

To all of you pharmacists and future pharmacists. CVS has introduced a new program called Patient Care Intiative (PCI).

This is a HUGE new program. Some new steps:

1) With EVERY script we take from a customer we have to ask them if they want us to transfer scripts in from other pharmacies. We have to explain to them that its easier to for maintenance scripts to be all filled at the same pharmacy. We also have to explain that the pharmacist an better check interactions if they can see all medications together.

2) With EVERY single diabetes/blood pressure/depression medicine (maintenence scripts), the pharmacist is REQUIRED to council the customer. This is the HUGE CHANGE. We used to just ask every customer if they have questions for the pharmacist, if no, they just get rung up and leave. If yes, they go the council window and speak with the pharmacist. This new program requires that the customer and pharmacist speak. It has already become a HUGE slow down factor for our store.

I know that many of you will be excited at the prospect of more interaction with the patient, however while the pharmacist must leave his station every 5 minutes, things start to back up. The phone keeps ringing, MDs keep leaving messages, and we the techs continue to "line em up" to be checked.

3) CVS is now following the lead of walgreens and calling and ASKING customers if they want us to auto-fill there refills.

I think all of these factors may contribute to CVS slowing down the level of script filling to walmart and lead to more stress for the pharmacist. The positive side is that the pharmacist gets to play a more active role in the health care of the patients.

 

[gaba101]

More like Wal-Mart attracts a good % of crazy & rude customers--drug addicts, fat moms who scream at you for no apparent reason, having to spend an extra 5-10 minutes trying to "communicate" w/ a Spanish-speaking patient when you yourself don't speak Spanish, having customers complain if you don't ring up all their cart full of crap but if you do then you run into some issues w/ the cash register or scanning the item and waiting an eon for a slow-*** assistant manager to come. I have since moved on to Walgreens and I noticed that the quality of phone calls is also different:

Walgreens--people actually call to ask about meds they're taking because they are concerned ab drug drug interactions. people who call and request to speak to a pharmacist actually do have questions geared towards the pharmacist (DDI, CI; completely not looking at screening phone calls here), there are rarely any waiters for a long time in the pick-up area because the more educated customers are trained by Walgreens to know when to come get their meds...this is because they are smart not to just drop off 10 prescription bottles w/ 0 refills or early refills (and hence no third party rejections) and instead do the automated touch or call you.

Walmart--people who call to ask for the pharmacist ask questions that are a waste of a pharmacist's time (how much is this drug, has my doctor autorized a refill yet? completely not looking at screening phone calls here), or how much XYZ OTC is (when you have a million people waiting in line), a lot of issues we run into (why the waits are long) is because people give you 10 prescription bottles at 10 till closing w/ issues (0 refills, too early, some other issue), customers are not "trained" well (aka irresponsible)--they show up at whever time thinking their med is ready instead of calling first (not to say this does not happen at Walgreens).

disclaimer--I'm not saying the lists are mutually exclusive! So don't badger me w/ "but Walgreens has bad..." or "but Walmart has good...". I know. These are just my broad-spectrum generalizations/observations--you will alwyas have those negative customers at Walgreens (esp. that pesky drive thru) and those fantastic sweet customers at Wal-Mart. Overall: walgreens customers are more educated and hence proactive in their healthcare. Wal-mart customers are less educated/lower income and less active when it comes to maintaining their healthcare.

yeah I completely understand. Maybe we better software? Maybe we have a better technique for 3rd party billing? I am sure our techs are better trained. I base this on 2 things:

1) my 2 days spent at walmart vs my time at CVS
2) first hand accounts of walmarts slowness/mistakes from other techs and customers

Maybe CVS just has things ironed out a bit more? One thing that is probably true is that CVS attracts a "higher" income customer (maybe even more educated customer). I am guessing here that many low income/low education level customers are seeing the commercials for $4 generics and running to get medicine that they would not have got otherwise. This could also have the effect of freeing up the pharmacist to check scripts. Maybe the low income customers have more "issues" or more questions for the pharmacist at walmart than the CVS customers do.


*** total side note ***

To all of you pharmacists and future pharmacists. CVS has introduced a new program called Patient Care Intiative (PCI).

This is a HUGE new program. Some new steps:

1) With EVERY script we take from a customer we have to ask them if they want us to transfer scripts in from other pharmacies. We have to explain to them that its easier to for maintenance scripts to be all filled at the same pharmacy. We also have to explain that the pharmacist an better check interactions if they can see all medications together.

2) With EVERY single diabetes/blood pressure/depression medicine (maintenence scripts), the pharmacist is REQUIRED to council the customer. This is the HUGE CHANGE. We used to just ask every customer if they have questions for the pharmacist, if no, they just get rung up and leave. If yes, they go the council window and speak with the pharmacist. This new program requires that the customer and pharmacist speak. It has already become a HUGE slow down factor for our store.

I know that many of you will be excited at the prospect of more interaction with the patient, however while the pharmacist must leave his station every 5 minutes, things start to back up. The phone keeps ringing, MDs keep leaving messages, and we the techs continue to "line em up" to be checked.

3) CVS is now following the lead of walgreens and calling and ASKING customers if they want us to auto-fill there refills.

I think all of these factors may contribute to CVS slowing down the level of script filling to walmart and lead to more stress for the pharmacist. The positive side is that the pharmacist gets to play a more active role in the health care of the patients.