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  • Pharmacy tech IQ lower than computer's

    I'm a call center customer service rep. I've been doing it a while, so I've dealt with more idiots, morons, SCs, and various other assundry of titles than you could shake a stick at.

    This one, however, has hit my #1 world record for most idiot person on the phone EVER!

    Not that he was necessarily unintelligent... no, not at all. I've had normal people call and just be stupid, and that's one thing... but he's a pharmacy tech. They let him run people's medications. I just don't... understand...

    I would give the call play by play, but sadly, only a fellow pharmacy-tech-support person would know what I was talking about. So, I'll explain the vastness of his stupidity.

    He didn't know what a coverage code was, but pretended he did.

    A coverage code is a Basic, Standard code in pharmacies: it determines How you're billing the people. For instance, if they're billing the primary insurance, or a discount card, or billing a secondary insurance after a rejected claim, etc etc, basic standard code. This is AFTER you've chosen WHO you're trying to bill.

    You choose WHO you want to bill, then you choose HOW you want to bill them. Simple, right?

    I told him use coverage code 8, and he was looking for "8" in the BIN numbers... as in, Banking ID Number, as in, he was looking for an ENTIRELY DIFFERNT PROGRAM/COMPANY to bill.

    So, I said, "Erm, no you had the right BIN, GRP, and PCN... those are all good. Just make sure you've got the coverage code of 8 in there."

    And he had NO CLUE what I was talking about.

    I handle pharmacy calls all day long. That was a large, chain pharmacy. I'll not say who it was, but it wasn't Wal-mart, CVS, or Walgreens... but it was right up their rank. I get calls from this chain all day long with rejections. I'm used to them, heck, I know internal system codes and stuff from talking with them all day.

    He didn't even know his OWN CHAIN'S plan code! This pharmacy is unique in that they like using special plan codes that they choose. He didn't even know what that was.

    We spent 20 freaking minutes trying to get this to go through... he was manning the phones, no one else there knew what he was talking about when he hurriedly asked them.

    That was scary. He's handling people's medications. He couldn't even figure out... with my patient (ish) assistance in EXCACTLY what fields needed to be changed to what... how to bill a secondary insurance.

    Here's a suggestion for all readers: not all pharmacies/pharmacists are created equal. If your pharmacy/pharmacist is having excessive difficulty with your insurance, or insists they can't take it, try another pharmacy.

    Trust me.

  • #2
    I've been lucky with pharamcies...I used to go to a Pathmark, which was the only pharmacy around when I was little so I just kept going there even after others opened closer, since they had my records for 20+ years. Then they closed so I switched to Acme cuz it was 2 miles from my house. The pharmacist who was usually there was great. I once filled my script and he was short a few pills, so he gave me what he had and said he would have the rest the next day. So I went back the next day and I didn't even have to give him my name. He saw me coming and had the bag in hand by the time I got to the counter. Then they closed and transfered all their scripts to another nearby supermarket pharmacy, and he transferred with them! It's a bigger pharmacy, though, so the techs run the register instead of the pharmacists, so I haven't had a reason to talk to him.

    The only time I ever had an insurance problem was when my company stopped using social security numbers. I hadn't gotten my new card yet and I didn't realize the switch had gone into effect. I went to pick up my script and the girl told me my insurance didn't go through. She called the insurance company for me and got the right number and all was well. Got my card a week later.
    I don't go in for ancient wisdom
    I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
    It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

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    • #3
      I worked at a pharmacy for three years. Hell, I practically grew up in that pharmacy. And our pharmacists and techs were great for the most part. The ones that sucked didn't last long. It's the doctors that are horrible.

      I was hanging with my favorite tech and she said, "Greenday, do you see anything wrong with these two prescriptions?"
      "What's wrong with them?"
      "Taking the two together produces a deadly reaction."

      How many years of schooling did these doctors go through?
      "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House

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      • #4
        Quoth bannedanna View Post
        DId they come from the same doctor? If not, it's probably the fault of the patient for not telling one doctor what the other prescribed.

        If it is, may god have mercy on the rest of his patients.
        You'd hope it was different doctors, but sadly, they were from the same doctor. Apparently this happens regularly with many doctors...
        "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House

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        • #5
          Having worked in medical stuff, that sounds about right for doctors.

          ...then again, if the patient was driving the doc mad...

          But, yeah.. thats a typical doctor. I don't hold that profession in much of anything these days.

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          • #6
            To be honest with all the thousands of prescription meds and what interacts with what I am not surprised at that happening. Also there would be a lot of patients and a doctor may easily forget what the patient was previously subscribed on.

            This is a reason why a lot of advisors to the medical industry want computerised note taking, prescription writing that would catch these goofs. Computerized record keeping that could easily be pulled up say with an ID card would elimante a lot of goofs as well.

            I cannot honestly tell a doctor every single med I have been prescribed or the names of the doctors I have been to in the past.

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            • #7
              Well, Greenday, let me say that I'm appropriately horrified.
              Unseen but seeing
              oh dear, now they're masquerading as sane-KiaKat
              There isn't enough interpretive dance in the workplace these days-Irv
              3rd shift needs love, too
              RIP, mo bhrionglóid

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              • #8
                I actually heard it suggested once that a person go to a doctor solely for a diagnosis, and not for a prescription, as it is the pharmasist who has taken the years of schooling to know what each drug does and how they interact. Not sure how or if that would work, but hey, kind of a good idea after hearing that...
                Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

                http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

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                • #9
                  Did the tech sound like a total noob?
                  Also, I know more about insurance billing than the pharmacists do, so although this guy may not know his way around the billing system doesn't mean that he's not proficient at other parts of his job.
                  Although it's also entirely possible that he's one of those that makes us all go (trained a number of those....)

                  My favorite scenario is when the doctor does write for something totally wrong, and then the PATIENT demands that we dispense anyways. Um, no, we don't want to be fingered in a wrongful death suit. You get to be patient and wait while we clear this sucker up.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Greenday View Post
                    You'd hope it was different doctors, but sadly, they were from the same doctor. Apparently this happens regularly with many doctors...
                    This is why it's a good idea to always go to the same pharmacy...they have your records and can see what else you are taking and hopefully act as an extra net to catch those kinds of mistakes...

                    My grandmother took so many drugs that my parents kept a list of what she took, how much, and when, as well as a synopsis of her medical history so if she needed to go to the hospital they could just give a copy to the docs and know they weren't forgetting anything.
                    I don't go in for ancient wisdom
                    I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
                    It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth Broomjockey View Post
                      Not sure how or if that would work, but hey, kind of a good idea after hearing that...
                      It's not practical nor even plausible to do. It can take a while to get a visit with the required medical professional say weeks or even months plus the costs of each visit. Plus you could very well get a different diagnosis. The question is do you really want to wait weeks or months for certain prescriptions to certain ailments to be filled? That could be quite fatal or determinental to your health depending upon the ailment.

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                      • #12
                        Quoth infavorofnaturalselection View Post
                        It can take a while to get a visit with the required medical professional say weeks or even months plus the costs of each visit.
                        <snip> The question is do you really want to wait weeks or months for certain prescriptions to certain ailments to be filled?
                        Why would I be waiting that long? I go to the walkin clinic, wait about an hour, see the doc, get him to write the diagnosis, take it to the pharmasist, then say "I need medication for this" *present diagnosis*, come back in 20 minutes after it's filled.
                        Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

                        http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth Broomjockey View Post
                          Why would I be waiting that long? I go to the walkin clinic, wait about an hour, see the doc, get him to write the diagnosis, take it to the pharmasist, then say "I need medication for this" *present diagnosis*, come back in 20 minutes after it's filled.
                          Ahem in the areas a lot of people live in a walkin if they can get one usually costs a lot of money. Plus often they cannot get one since the doctors see so many people a day that nearly all of them are appointments scheledued weeks in advance.

                          You also have to realize a number of ailments to get the diagnosis you have to have the medical tests those tests could very well be specialized ones that you may have to wait weeks or months to take because said testing center has a backlog of appointments since they may very well be the only place in the country or within several hundred miles to do said tests.

                          In the city I live one hospital complex has patients coming in from all over the world and it's enormous several thousand hospital beds with the special testing wards booked months in advance since they have testing wards that a lot of countries don't have. Sleep disorders are one area of the medical industry that has been exploding since a lot of people have them and it causes a lot of health issues.

                          Neurophysicians are also heavily booked as well.

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                          • #14
                            Interestingly, we do get a lot of calls from some noob doctors who pretty much just ask us what to write, so your scenario already kind of exists in retail.

                            In non-retail, there are quite a few specialty clinics where pharmacists are on staff to help the doctor pick the best med for a patient's condition, and come up with an overall regimen. I believe some of those do a fair amount of compounding, too.

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                            • #15
                              Quoth Greenday View Post
                              You'd hope it was different doctors, but sadly, they were from the same doctor. Apparently this happens regularly with many doctors...
                              And to think that the doctor that I used to go to would actually look up drugs in the PDR to make sure that's what he wanted! People thought that was terrible and couldn't figure out why we trusted him. Mind you, this was the same doctor that thought there was something wrong with my dad besides just a prostrate problem. He was just too sick. Had my da go to the ER and about 12 hrs later finally got a diagnosis of spinal meningitis. Still damn near killed my da, but the doc saved his life!

                              He was also the one that felt so bad because he couldn't figure out why I kept getting throat infections one after the other (@ 3 in 3 months). He'd have you call the next day to see how you were feeling. And he didn't try to be funny with you when you were feeling like crap, he was very sympathetic and compassionate.

                              He retired some time ago and I really, really miss him! I think his atitude towards patients had something to do with having practiced in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco in the 60's and the things that he saw there.
                              It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

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