Calling It In

Being in a medical building/clinic pharmacy our customers often hold us responsible for every prescription written in the building. We recently had a woman throw a fit when we requested Rx insurance information and she could not produce anything for us to work with. Somehow we were supposed to figure it out from her medical card. She then demanded we 'call' her prescription to another pharmacy. We told her the doctor could call it in, or send it electronically, or she could simply carry the prescription to the other pharmacy. She accused us of poor customer service. Two things, lady -- the prescription originates with the DOCTOR. The insurance information originates with YOU.

There have been times when I have called another pharmacy to get someone's insurance information. I'll also attempt to help someone out if I don't have the drug, IF I suspect it's going to be hard to find, and IF I suspect the person may have trouble filling it otherwise (elderly, disabled or just clueless.) I'll call other pharmacies in my organization, and then I'll try others in the neighborhood to see if they have the drug in stock. That's a courtesy ONLY. They still have to get the prescription there themselves. I'm not responsible for calling or faxing it there so that it will be 'ready when I get there.' (Okay, I can't say I have never done that either, but it's not something customers should expect. It don' work that way.)

It's like, if I go to Sears to buy a lawnmower and they don't have the one I want -- am I going to ask the Sears clerk to call Home Depot for me?