Dial-a-pharmacist? Can you say 1-800 good luck?
By Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
Updated Tue May 31, 2011
An indy pharmacy in Vermont has been sold. The new owner, Kinney Drugs, plans to operate it as a "remote" pharmacy. What's that, you ask?
There won't actually be a pharmacist on-hand. A pharmacy tech will fill the scripts using a computer link with a pharmacist. Got a question for the pharmacist? You'll have to dial an 800 number: If you'd like to speak with a pharmacist, press 1.
How cold and impersonal can you get? (Disclaimer: I use CVS and have no idea who the pharmacist is, nor do I ever have any questions). But, time and again, I report on how pharmacists can provide a useful, cost-effective link in the health care chain. Time and again, polls show that pharmacists are a well-respected, well-trusted bunch. This sounds like it reduces them to, say, a customer service rep taking orders for bean boots at LL Bean.
I think pharmacists deserve better than this. I also think patients deserve better. Last week, I picked up a 3-month supply of syringes. It was only after I'd gotten home that I realized the doctor's office had written the new prescription wrong, that I had the wrong size. Because it was sent via the doctor's new electronic system, I never saw the prescription (had I, I would have been able to get it corrected). Which just goes to show, there are still limits with technology.
Fortunately, I was able to easily return the unopened boxes for a refund. Not sure that would have been easy--or possible--to do with 1-800 disembodied phone pharmacist.
What's next?
Theresa Flaherty
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