#446 – A Pharmacy First

Shoppers Drug Mart

As you know, I love surprises. Here is one that came from the last place I would expect.

On the weekend, I had a call from a pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart, inquiring how I was doing with the medication I was taking for shingles. That’s something that hasn’t happened in decades. (Perhaps because shingles is an acute condition, which makes follow-up somewhat different. Watch for a future post about acute versus chronic illness.)

I don’t normally frequent this pharmacy, mainly because of the bone-rattling speed bumps they have in the parking lot of that mall. However, I may have to reconsider, especially because of this ongoing issue, but not without seeing if those speed bumps can be altered. I wonder how many people stay away, for that very reason.

The irony of this is that during the past week, I was thinking fondly of Wayne, a pharmacist at the Court Street Safeway pharmacy in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He would do things like call to see how I was doing with the new medications I was taking. Not only was he  thorough, but he made time to get to know me personally; something he did with his other customers, as well. (I’d love to be able to thank him and tell him that I appreciate his care and concern.)

That was almost thirty years ago, and I’m still looking for that same sort of service. Could it be I’ve found it?

What has your experience been with the pharmacy you use?

Your Number is Up

Every joint aches. You’re tired. You want to go home and rest, but you have one more task to do.

You have to stop at the pharmacy to pick up your prescription. So, you make the very long trek to the back of the store. (Why are pharmacies always at the back, when the people who most need them are often feeling poorly?)

You arrive at the pharmacy counter, only to inwardly sigh or curse. A long line-up awaits.

The pharmacy has the right idea – they’ve provided a bench or a stool. But, how do you rest your weary bones and keep your place in line when everyone else looks as tired as you feel?

The solution rests with management. It’s as simple as providing a number dispenser.

Are you familiar with a pharmacy that makes it as easy as possible for the patient to pick up their prescriptions? What do they do?

Make It So – Not Necessarily

On All You Gotta Do Is Ask, I talked about getting your
medication transferred into a “chubby” with easy-off caps.

“Make it so,” may work for Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but it sure doesn’t work for me – with any degree of consistency, anyway.

It should be a simple matter. The request is placed on my computerized file. Each time I phone in my prescription,  the pharmacist reads my request on the file and puts my medication in the chubby bottle with the easy-off cap. More often than not, my request has gone unheeded.

It seems that history is repeating itself. I moved to the current pharmacy because of a similar situation occurring all too often at another one. Fortunately, there are a lot of pharmacies in my neighbourhood.

I have two questions in regard to this issue:

1. If they’re missing this bit of information, what else is being missed? My drug allergy?
2. I use the automated telephone service so I don’t have to wait to pick up my prescription. (Those of you who live with a chronic illness know what a blessing that service is. ) If they have failed to honour my request, I then end up having to wait while they transfer my prescriptions into the chubby bottles with the easy-off caps.

The whole “put in on my file” exercise becomes an aggravating waste of time. There is no point in saying that they can put in on the file, if the file doesn’t get read. Rather than setting up false service expectations, I’d prefer it if the pharmacy didn’t offer that service at all.

Take time to find a pharmacy you trust – one where you can build a relationship with the pharmacist. They exist because we exist – a chronic illness is usually a lifetime of medication.

Do you have examples of exemplary service from your pharmacy?

Image courtesy of Nathan Sudds.