Why hasn't a tech company disrupted the pharmacy industry - 4 hour wait time for RX

[TopTuna]

I've spent hours waiting in the Walgreens drive-thru. I've learned never to take the inside lane in case I need to leave.

 

[General_Zod]

Real reason you waited is they don’t care. They get paid the same either way.

 

[Thumpin'Ram]

@pos_car

 

[fatmoocow]

Doc calls in prescription Friday.
They’re out.
Comes in Monday.
Call in at 3:00. Hey is this ready?
No it will be ready at 5.
Can you hurry up?
We’re slammed.

Bitch how about you do the prescription of the dude who has been waiting 3 days and is calling you on the phone in advance before the other prescriptions?

 

[Ranger-AO]

Find a different pharmacy. Most chain pharmacies are designed to keep you in the store so you do a little shopping while you're there. I got tired of it and went to a small non-chain pharmacy. They'd call me when it was ready to pick up and I'd walk in pay and walk out within a couple minutes.

Now I get my drugs by mail, which is 11ty times better than driving anywhere to get them.

 

[hootpie]

NowRx has, but it's only in the SF Bay Area I believe.

They fill prescriptions and deliver them to your door insanely fast.

 

[Platinum_Thunder]

subtle doesn't trust his immune system thread

 

[TheProwler]

All shit that should be done automatically with a simple app.

you should see all the alerts that are automatically generated. the app and developers would have to take medicolegal liability for everything, which is not going to happen.

 

[Colleen]

My pharmacist is amazing... The new prescription I got he talked to me about what it does and what I need to be careful with. I've never waited more than an hour for a prescription but I also call ahead most days so I can pick up on my own time.

 

[fatmoocow]

subtle doesn't trust his immune system thread

My drugs turn off my immune system because it’s too strong

 

[hypntyz]

It's not like picking up a loaf of bread from a shelf and simply handing it to the person in line. Most prescriptions aren't that simple. Most still rely on distributing the correct amount from a large supply into smaller containers for the customer. Each customer's dosage/volume vary from one another. Additionally, for every refill, the pharmacists are getting new prescription orders. And they need to check that there are no possible contraindications with existing prescriptions. Because a patient might be getting a number of prescriptions from different doctors, not every doctor will know what is being prescribed by another. So it's up to the pharmacist to ensure there are not possible complications associated with mixing these meds.

My guy. We have mastered the ability to launch and send robots to places billions of miles away, being at a specific point in space at a specific time, gather science data and send back info to us, a feat roughly analogous to throwing a basketball up in LA toward a goal in NY while blindfolded and hitting nothing but net. Hell, we remote piloted a fucking helicopter on another actual planet in near-real-time. You can't convince me that these small administrative obstacles can't be overcome if we want to.

 

[TheProwler]

My guy. We have mastered the ability to launch and send robots to places billions of miles away, being at a specific point in space at a specific time, gather science data and send back info to us, a feat roughly analogous to throwing a basketball up in LA toward a goal in NY while blindfolded and hitting nothing but net. Hell, we remote piloted a fucking helicopter on another actual planet in near-real-time. You can't convince me that these small administrative obstacles can't be overcome if we want to.

we don't even have self-driving trucks out yet or robot wait staff at restaurants. targeting fields that have people with doctorate degrees is not the first step.

 

[herpes]

we don't even have self-driving trucks out yet or robot wait staff at restaurants. targeting fields that have people with doctorate degrees is not the first step.

We do have robot wait staff lol

 

[Dusty Busterson]

My ex-wife is a pharmacist/pharmacy manager. Back in 2008 Walgreens gave her a $20,000 sign on bonus. They don’t do that shit anymore.

Don’t pharmacists make big bucks no matter where they work?

 

[Dusty Busterson]

you should see all the alerts that are automatically generated. the app and developers would have to take medicolegal liability for everything, which is not going to happen.

Just like faxes are the only “legally acceptable” way of sending a document even though the tech is literally so old that Abe Lincoln could have sent a fax.

Laws tend to be decades or even centuries behind current tech.

 

[Remy Bressant]

Just like faxes are the only “legally acceptable” way of sending a document even though the tech is literally so old that Abe Lincoln could have sent a fax.

Laws tend to be decades or even centuries behind current tech.

LoL wut?
Emails and attachments stand up in court all the time.
As does certified mail, process servers and courier services.
The fuck you mean fax is the only legally acceptable way?

 

[morrowasted]

People have no idea that pharmacists actually do a good bit more than count pills.

*39002 for pharmacy. Once I started consulting them on shit I never stopped. If I think the meds ordered by a provider don't make sense I just call the pharmacy before even calling the medical team so that all I have to do when calling team is say look I saw your orders, I called pharmacy and employee #whatever agrees that this order set could..... Use some revision. Assuming I am not completely in the weeds

 

[scotty]

Amazon Pharmacy https://pharmacy.amazon.com/

Or Mark Cuban’s new online pharmacy is suppose to have amazing prices. No middle man https://costplusdrugs.com/

 

[horus]

If you are on any recurring medication, you should be getting it mailed to you. Stop clogging up my pharmacy when I need to get antibiotics or something

the other people at the pharmacy are probably there for the same reason you are dummy. they’re getting a one off or picking up something that’s scheduled. insurance companies usually require you to get 90 day supplies of stuff you take regularly from whatever online pharmacy they work with.

and if it’s scheduled you can’t get it through the mail from your insurance online pharmacy or somewhere like amazon.

 

[atxmike]

This is America...for every home on your block, every apartment unit in every building, there are probably 3.5 prescriptions. So many customers.

 

[Pijanica84]

When I worked retail my average wait time was 15 minutes. Unless it was really ducking busy then I would tell people 30 minutes. It’s really about time management but you could get fucked with a problem that takes 30-60 minutes at a moments notice. Insurance companies are terrible to get a hold of and a lot of new prescriptions require communication with them outside of simple billing.

 

[.chris]

Imagine not getting your Rx filled with an app and then being notified when it’s ready.

 

[horus]

They can usually check insurance in the space of five seconds, ime. I imagine there are more difficult cases, but it isn't the norm with everyone who picks up their stuff.

As for drug interactions, they staple a big disclaimer to the bag, but I think most of that is cleared with the docs. I could be totally wrong.

you are very wrong about this fyi

 

[Jon91SE]

Imagine not getting your Rx filled with an app and then being notified when it’s ready.

This dude Publix’is

 

[rockdog]

Why do pharmacies take so long to fill a prescription that's already pre-packaged? I can understand the days when they had to actually crush, make and mix pills in the back but these are pre-packaged prescriptions.

Probably a mix of american bullshit (checking your insurance for prescriptions? WTF) and going to big chains. I use a local pharmacy and when they're busy it's about a 10min wait - went to a bigger chain to fill a prescription for my old man and it was a 2hr wait (they originally wanted me to come back next day). Plenty of places in Aus will let you take a photo of your prescription in their app to order it, then you just give them the physical prescription when you go in and get your meds - in and out in a few minutes.

a robot could do their job.

Local pharmacy near me has a big auto dispatching robot for the majority of their meds, scan in the prescription and it will pick it while the pharmacist does the checks on any contraindications etc.

My pharmacist is amazing... The new prescription I got he talked to me about what it does and what I need to be careful with. I've never waited more than an hour for a prescription but I also call ahead most days so I can pick up on my own time.

Yup some can be fuckin awesome - my pharmacist gave me huge amounts of detailed info on treating an issue I had - way more (and better) info than both the GP and specialist gave me, and aside from buying stuff there he wasn't getting paid the consulation fees of the GP or specialist!