Pet Peeves (September 2020)

METICULOUS MEASURER: Patient receives Rx with directions to take 1 1/2 tablets daily for blood pressure. Patient calls the pharmacist and asks, "Are the tablets in the bottle 1 1/2 tablets?"

PHONE CALL FLIP-OUT: Patient gets very upset that they have to wait for pharmacist to get off a phone call to counsel them on new medication. Then once you get there, all they do is scream.

ANONYMOUS AUTOBIOGRAPHER: Patient calls and gives you their life story, then asks for a refill without telling you who they are.

RESPECT THE TECH: "I need to speak to a pharmacist" for things such as, "Where is the toilet paper?" or "Can you refill my Rx?" or "How much is my copay?" Or any of the other million things that do NOT need to drag the pharmacist away from counseling, filling, and verifying...Most especially when [the patient is] rude to the tech who IS the billing specialist, knows the store layout like their own home, or was the one who spent 30 minutes on the phone with the insurance to make sure [the patient was covered].

What's bothering you? Bossy patients, abandoned prescriptions, drive-through demands? We want to know! Send your pet peeves to cmollison@pharmacytimes.com. We’ll share them here and online.