Pet Peeves (February 2015)

Self-Filling Prescriptions

A patient comes to pick up a prescription that the doctor just e-prescribed. When I tell the patient that it will be ready in 20 minutes, she asks, “Why is it going to take so long?” Uh, because I have to fill it; it doesn’t fill itself.

Impatient Patients

Patient: “I have to wait 15 minutes for a flu shot?”

Me: “Yes. You can make a doctor’s appointment if you prefer.”

Early Refill Requests for Oxycodone

I get many excuses from people requesting an early refill of oxycodone tablets. One female patient said she started coming to me because she wants to pay in cash and her regular pharmacy won’t take cash. A male patient told me he was traveling overseas and the airport inspecting agent confiscated his prescribed medicine because it was a schedule II narcotic.

Deadbeat Computer Systems

Sometimes when we receive a transfer prescription from another pharmacy, the patient will come in to our pharmacy and we can’t get the insurance to pay because the other pharmacy’s computer system has not returned the insurance money. This isn’t the fault of the pharmacist at the competitor; it’s a problem with the computer system at the other pharmacy. Sometimes the previous pharmacist will have to call the insurance company to reverse the claim so that the medication can be dispensed at our store! Meanwhile, this leads to even more frustration for the patient.

What’s bothering you? Bossy patients, abandoned prescriptions, drive-throughs? Pharmacy Times wants to know. Send your pet peeves to PetPeeves@pharmacytimes.com. We’ll add them to our ongoing published list. Share your Pet Peeves with Pharmacy Times today!