OK, well we're almost through with January, the dreaded "new insurance" month. I don't think we're out of the woods yet. All those people who got 90-day supplies of meds at the end of 2013 haven't returned for refills yet. I'm guessing the hammer will really drop around mid-March. This is when folks will discover all the things they "didn't know" about the new insurance.
Y'know, after a tough day with pharmacy customers I think about the meaning of "education."
Everybody talks about how important education is to the citizens of a country. To me, it doesn't mean how many people will become rocket scientists, because most of us will not. It simply means training someone to read, comprehend, and apply information. That's really all it is. Sitting down to read something (longer than a tweet, anyway) is becoming a lost art. People won't read their insurance policies, they won't read the drug information that comes with a prescription.... heck, they won't even read the label. I had a guy complain furiously that the tablets he was given in unit-dose packaging would crumble and break up when he pushed them through the foil. This is why, I pointed out, that on each and every tablet unit was the UPPER CASE warning DO NOT PUSH. A wide-eyed look of disbelief is shot at me when a bottle that prominently says NO REFILLS is presented for a refill.
And it's not limited to the customers --- my fellow staff members are asked to read a new policy or procedure and show up the next day clueless ("So, how am I supposed to do this?")
Electronic prescriptions are sent with nonsensical directions that no one bothered to double check.
Refill requests are denied ("we just sent you a new prescription on January 8th"--- Me: "Yeah, that was January 8th, TWO THOUSAND AND THIRTEEN.") I don't know why this bothers me so much. It's such a waste of time. This is supposed to be the easy stuff.
Anyways, I truly appreciate my technicians who are battling, and often winning, the insurance wars.
We shall persevere.
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3 comments:
I once informed a school teacher that she was out of refills on a prescription only to get the reply "You guys should figure out a way to let people know when their refills are running out". I stifled the urge to be a smartass and show her how to "read" a prescription label-customer service, you know.
I don't if it is just me but this has been a particularly tough year. I've never seen as many people in the past that are so completely clueless about their coverage. Do you people NEVER open your mail?
As head of HR for my company, I feel your pain. Our very good insurer switched the company they use to process claims last year, and suddenly my previously happy employees are gettting claims denied, delayed, etc. This is with the SAME insurance - just a different processor. Harumpf.
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