Mail Order Pharmacy Questions

[MolarGuy02]

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could shed some light on mail-order pharmacy.

What does the work day involve and is it tedious or stimulating?

Is it stressful?

Is it more of a desk job rather than the standing involved in retail?

Is it easy to find jobs in this and salary information?

I understand that you sit down during your working hours as a mail order pharmacist, what other pharm jobs do you sit versus stand.

Thanks in advance,
-MolarGuy

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[tlh908]

Depending on the hospital, some hospital pharmacists spend a major amount of time entering orders into computers which is done while sitting......

Sorry, I don't know much about mail order though.

 

[SHC1984]

Good thread. I was wondering the same thing....Does every state have mail order pharmacies or just certain states??? anyone have any idea about mail order pharmacies? Please answer any of the above questions! thanks alot!

 

[rxliteguy]

I work in a mail order pharmacy. We have facilities in 2 states only but we provide service throughout the US, including guam and puerto rico.
You sit down in a cubicle environment for 8 hours a day. The hours vary depending on which facility you work in. If you work in the facility where you type up prescriptions and make outgoing calls, you have good hours from 8-4:30 with options of 7-3:30. If you work in the customer service facility, you handle incoming calls from patients. The hours there are not flexible. You may work night shift and over the weekends. There is the fulfillment facility where you fill the actual prescriptions before it gets mailed out. I work in the facility where you type rx's and making outgoing calls to patients and doctor offices if there are any questions. The bad thing about mail order is lack of patient care. Many retails hate us because we take away their business. That's what I have gathered. Any more questions, please ask.

 

[AirAggie09]

i work as a tech in one of the largest mailorder pharmacies. as mentioned above there are different departments that tech's and Rphs work in. we have facilities all over the nation...AZ, TX, PA, FL, and a lot more elsewhere. our hours vary on the shift you work but they stay the same unlike major retail pharmacies where they are not set. i work in a call center but not in Customer Service. Customer service really isnt made up of techs & rphs in our PBM. can answer more questions later.

 

[elleNY]

What about starting your own mail order company? Has this industry been McDonalized or are start ups possible and/or profitable?

xo
Elle

 

[SHC1984]

More questions:

1) does mail order pay the same as retail? 110K a year? 55 dollars an hour?

2) how hard is it to get a mail order position? harder than retail or easier?

3) Retail does not really look at where you get your PharmD degree...does Mail order look at where your degree is from??

4) How many hours a week does a mail order pharmacist work?

5) Does a mail order pharmacist have to be a pro with insurance? (not that it will be a problem...I rather deal with insurance then annoying people LOL...)

 

[bluesickle]

I'm surprised that so many people are interested in this because I don't see a point in going to pharmacy school to become a pharmacist who works 8-5 behind a cubicle. If that was where majority of the graduates end up, I would have kept my old job and saved myself the 100k in tuition.

 

[chrisraymundo]

I'm surprised that so many people are interested in this because I don't see a point in going to pharmacy school to become a pharmacist who works 8-5 behind a cubicle. If that was where majority of the graduates end up, I would have kept my old job and saved myself the 100k in tuition.

One of the great things about this field is you have options, its always nice to know what you can do anyway.

 

[rxliteguy]

I've worked in both retail and mail order. But when I graduate from pharmacy school, I will try to stay away from them both. I haven't worked in a hospital pharmacy so I don't know if I really like it. Every field has its pros and cons. In retail, you have the fast pace environment, repetitive work, customers yelling in your face, dealing with insurance, and talking behind backs with each other. In mail order, you are constantly graded on your production and accuracy rate. You sit down 8 hours straight, staring at the computer screen. After the day is done, your eyes hurt, your neck hurts, your back hurts, your wrist hurt from typing too fast, and your butt and legs hurt. I would rather stand up 8 hours, than sit down 8 hours. When you sit down 8 hours, your have no blood circulation and everything hurts. I find mail order boring. Everyone is focused on production and accuracy, that there is very little interaction between pharmacists and technicians. Sometimes, I miss that interaction that I had when I was in retail. Most communicaiton is done through email and phone. The only time you really talk to the pharmacist is when you say hi and bye. Like I said before in mail order, there is a lack of patient care. I also believe there is a lack of employee care also. Mail order is also excruciatingly detailed and picky. The procedures in typing up a prescription is insanely and ridicuoulsy detailed. If you don't follow the company procedure, you get ticked. All the ticks add up and affect your overall score, which affects whether you get a bonus or not. If you don't produce, they move you to another section of the building and have you do the menial jobs.
In terms of salary-wise, I do find a big difference between mail order and retail. In retail, they tend to pay the pharmacists good but the techs not so good. In mail order, it is the opposite. They pay the techs better than retail and the pharmacists worse than retail. I guess in mail order, techs are in more demand. In retail, pharmacists are in more demand.

 

[SHC1984]

Anyone care to name the best mail order companys to work for? Medco? Caremart? I am strongly considering mail order after graduation. Also can you choose to just work in ONE department or do you have to rotate around??? I prefer NOT having to deal with people, so I would rather verify and be on the computer than answering phone calls. Anyone that has any experience with mail order please respond. thanks.

PS. is getting a mail order position very competitive? I would imagine most people would prefer mail order over retail...

 

[Passion4Sci]

Does that date really say 2003??? Wow.

 

[SHC1984]

Does that date really say 2003??? Wow.

Sorry, I got bored studying so I decided to come on here and talk about my future career...hopfully it will get me to motivated to study some more...

 

[phathead]

As a hardcore independent retailer, I despise mail order pharmacies. They are kind of the antithesis to what pharmacy is all about, patient care. It's the equivalent of being an 'online doctor' and never seeing your patients.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

Yeah I really really don't think I ever want to do mail order because I actually LIKE dealing with rude challenging people. lol Maybe I'm just weird, but my day gets kind of boring if someone isn't yelling at me... haha jk I've actually never worked in retail pharm but I've worked at other retail jobs and as a waitress in a bar so I'm pretty sure drunks are comparable to angry people who want their drugs.

There is actually a girl in one of my MBA classes at Nova who just graduated from their college of pharmacy and she does mail order for Walgreens. She seems to like it because she has a family now, but I'm more of a people person I guess.

 

[SHC1984]

Mail order actually has a many different capacities--filling, order entry, DUR/Doctor call verification, Specialty (ex. cancer, blood factor, RA), customer service (patient phone counseling), managed care and other special areas. There are also work-at-home positions. Mail order is a good alternative if you are looking for something different.

I would LOVE to work at home. I think thats proberly everyone's first choice though! Everything on that list sounds great except for customer service (patient phone counseling) that part would suck.

 

[SHC1984]

I know Florida, Arizona, and Nevada have Mail Order pharmacies.

Any other states??? I did a search on what states have mail order pharmacies several times and could NOT find anything on it. If someone know of any other states that have mail order pharmacy please let me know. Thanks! Hopfully California, New York City, and Hawaii have it too...

 

[Tinkerbell22]

Idk but the hotter it gets here in Florida the more I'd like to live someplace like Breckenridge, CO where it's freezing lol

 

[SHC1984]

Idk but the hotter it gets here in Florida the more I'd like to live someplace like Breckenridge, CO where it's freezing lol

OMG! you are crazy! I will take Miami over almost any other city (except San Fransciso and NYC)! If I can get a mail order position in Miami I will be SO HAPPY!

 

[Kim310]

As a hardcore independent retailer, I despise mail order pharmacies. They are kind of the antithesis to what pharmacy is all about, patient care. It's the equivalent of being an 'online doctor' and never seeing your patients.

Completely agree! I can't believe that some people that are in pharmacy school are even looking forward to working mail order. Retail is one thing, but mail order? Such a joke. Independent pharmacy owners are what true pharmacists are and represent, QUALITY PATIENT CARE. Isn't that why you wanted to become a pharmacist in the first place?

 

[rxphd]

Ugh I hated working in mail order. No ppl interaction, headphones on all day, just filling like a machine.

 

[CHOPKINSCaFe]

Hey there, I should be studying but thought I'd put my two cents in here My mom-in-law works in mail-order, and it's wonderful for her. The schedule is great if you have a family there are 3 different shifts to choose from 6-2, 7-3, or 8-4 they don't work weekends. It is set up kind of like a production line where some people are filling scripts, some are verifying, some are communicating with the insurance companies, and so on. The pay is a little less, the hours are great, and the most senior workers get the best vacation time.

Hope this answered some of your questions. The great thing about being a pharmacist is that you can always get a change of scenery and eventually find your fit. weather it be retail, clinical, mail-order, compounding and so on.