Starting a job at CVS

Rawrrrr said:

Hi guys,
I got a job at CVS and will start training this week. I'm going to be working at the pick up counter. Do you guys have any advice for me? I've never worked in the pharmacy and I'm kind of nervous about having to know a lot. Has anyone worked at teh pick up counter? Will we have to do a lot and know drug names?

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My best advice is: listen carefully and don't be afraid to ask people to spell their last name when they come to pick up. After a while you get tired of looking in the wrong place for their script...and realize they either talk very quietly or are mumblers. That always made me feel dumb.

You'll probably need to know some drug names...I don't know the CVS protocol for pick up, but people may ask what they are picking up, where is their lisinopril, etc. etc. but that will come with practice. Use any spare time in the pharmacy learning those top 200 drugs.

here's a tip.....when you get a voicemail from the pharmacist to type, and you don't have it stock, don't give the cvs pad to the patient and tell them to go down the street to walgreens

HARRRRRR yes that did happen.

Rawrrrr said:

Hi guys,
I got a job at CVS and will start training this week. I'm going to be working at the pick up counter. Do you guys have any advice for me? I've never worked in the pharmacy and I'm kind of nervous about having to know a lot. Has anyone worked at teh pick up counter? Will we have to do a lot and know drug names?

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I gained my pharmacy experience via retail. I don't think they expect you to know much off the bat. I pretty much learned everything I needed to know on the job.

Here is a tip or two for pick up:

Always search the patient's info. in the computer by BIRTHDAY first.

When you go retrieve the bag of prescription, make sure to look though the entire section (example: John Smith, search the entire S section shelf). Sometimes, multiple bags were done for the same patient.

good luck!

so you can work at the pick up counter just being a student?

always ask for their extra care card

I can't get people off my back for that. The pharmacists dont care but the mangers blame me for bringing the scan rate down.

always verify 2 patient identifiers on the prescription before ringing up the patient. You never want to give way the wrong medication to the wrong patient! Big no no especially for a control 2 drug which can kill the patient. Even though you may think there are only 1 Willa Bonkers in the world, you may be wrong. Never ask yes or no questions to the patient when asking for their name or birthday. Some patient will say yes to everything. For example, don't ask the patient "Is your name John Smith?" or "Is your birthday July 7, 1776?". I bet you some patients will say yes even though their name may be Juan Pablo and they were born March 21,1990. Always ask their name and birthday and make sure they match on the prescription. If they won't give their birthday, ask for any other identifiers such as their phone number or address. Since you are new, take your time. Don't rush. Better to be safe than sorry. Your first 2 weeks will be hell, learning the cash registers, running the drive thru if there is one, and getting yelled at constantly by the customers. You will then start thinking why the hell you got yourself into pharmacy in the first place. But after 2 years of experience, everything will run smoothly.

Are you currently a student? How many hours per week are you working?

When people start acting up, call the SM or PIC asap lol. Trust me, you don't want to argue with them.

Rawrrrr said:

What is SM and PIC?

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store manager and person in charge

Ask for their last name, then first name for pick-up. Then ask how many prescriptions they are picking up. Verify their bday. Do not let anyone under 18 pick up control drugs without an adult (U'll eventually learn what drugs are controlled n which ones arent). I am not sure if CVS has programs where u learn material from the computer.. maybe called computer-based learning? Theyre called CBT's at Rite Aid so if they do, ull learn more about how to work at the counter.

Dont let the patient talk on the phone while picking up.. violates Hipaa laws or something like that. Dont be afraid to say that you are new and dont know what they are talking about... I think I had that excuse for more than a month! ALWAYS check to see if every prescription matches their name. Sometimes the tech or other clerk(s) will bag the prescription incorrectly. U dont want to rush and give away someone elses prescriptions... thats all I can think of right now. But I hope u have some coworkers there that will help u along the way. Gluck! Oh yea, if u do not know something, dont make it up. Just ask ur coworkers.

This is how it usually go:
Customer approach counter:
You: Hi there, your last name please.
Customer: Smith
You: First name?
Cus: John
You: How many? (This is so you know how many you are expecting to find in the Medicine bin under "S" for Smith.
Cus: 2
You: Thanks. I will be right back. (you then go off to find their Meds. When you come back..) Please verify your phone #. (If you want, you can also verify their address, sometime, they have their old addy on there. Ask them to write their new one down and update it in the pc. You can also verify their birthdate as well.)
After verfying their info...Ring it up. But sometime, their medicine is new. On there it will says "Counsel/new Med." You will have to tell the patient that they will need to talk to the pharmacist if this is their first time taking it. The customer will either refuse the counsel or not. If so, yell out "counsel" toward the Pharmacist and bring them to the counsel window.

This is usually how it goes... there is also the yellow HIPPA form where you have to put the stickers on. You will find out about that at your store.

Sometimes, I have customers who last name is crazy long. I usually just ask them to spell the first 3 letters of their last name and then ask for their first name. In the beginning...I usually have some paper and pen and ready to write their name down. That is just to start out. I would slowly stop doing that and start listening and asking for the first 3 letters of their last name. This is pretty much what I do continously when it is busy. Good luck to you.

Here's another piece of advice

If you get yelled at by a customer or if a customer gives you sarcastic remarks/smart attitude, don't let it get to you

But other than that, just pay attention to the name of the person you are selling the drug to...the worst thing you can do is to release the drug to the wrong patient

I don't think you will learn too much from being a cashier...its at data entry where you learn the most...

Good luck!

Pick up is a good place to start out in the pharmacy. It sounds like you've gotten some good information from everyone thus far. I would also add that you have to ask the patient every time if they have any questions for the pharmacist regarding the medication- even if they've taken it before. In addition, look for any stickers that the pharmacist may have put on the label, ex- the green sticker which tells the customer that its the same drug but looks different than what they've been taking. This will cut down on customers calling back and saying you gave them the wrong drug. When you put the sticker in the log for them to sign and it says 'patient requests safety cap', I recommed checking the bag to make sure that it was correctly capped when being filled since it can be missed on occasion.

Also, if you can't find the medication in the regular bins, make sure to check every known place before asking the customer when they dropped off the script (this has irritated many patients b/c they might initially think that your pharmacy lost their script). Make sure to check the Prior Authorization box, reconstitution bin, and fridge in addition to the bins surrounding the bin where it should actually be (if the last name is Smith- check ALL of the S bins).

I agree with asking the patient how many they are picking up, and if they are eligible, pickup is a good place to ask if they want to sign up for Ready Fill. Don't stress yourself out if a patient asks you a question that you dont' know, don't guess on the answer! Just ask the pharmacist anything you are unsure of, they were in your shoes once. Don't be mad at yourself if you don't know the answer to 'which one is my water pill?'. Its perfectly normal and you wont look stupid, heck I've been there 3 years and I still don't many of them! If you have down time, you might want to make yourself a list of the fast-movers in your pharmacy and start learning what they are, but remember that many drugs have multiple uses (ex- Xanax is commonly prescribed for sleep in addition to anxiety so reading the SIG will help you know what the patient is using it for).

1. The brand name of the med is on the back of the label, so if you don't know what they're talking about and the staff is busy, just look on the back. Try your best to pronounce the names, they're not that hard, after a couple times you'll get use to it.

2. Always check status, don't check Profile because P doesn't tell you if the script is on pending, print ready, verify ready or nothing like that. It'll save you time to check the bin (don't see) -->status (don't see) -> check drop off to see if the script has been typed up (don't see) --> when did they drop it off?

3. You work at a PHARMACY, where most of the people CANNOT control themselves. If something goes wrong, don't bother to argue, page the manager or pharmacy in charge, they get paid to handle those situations.

Since you've just started at pick up, there's no rush to memorize some common control med. But it'll be helpful because you'll have to ask for the patient's ID in order to fill their control med.
G'luck

Oh, one more important thing, make sure you know Viagra and Cialis do the same thing. DOn't ask the patient what are they for
I unintentionally asked, and I felt bad for that guy afterward

lymmys said:

Oh, one more important thing, make sure you know Viagra and Cialis do the same thing. DOn't ask the patient what are they for
I unintentionally asked, and I felt bad for that guy afterward

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hahahahahah! Let's add Levitra to that list too.

here are some of the angry questions you might get that can all be answered with the same response.

1. How long does it take to put pills in a bottle?
2. What the hell is taking so long?
3. Why did my copay go up?
4. This is not the right co pay your computer is wrong
5. Whats a co pay?

Step 1 select the 4 letter word of your choice
Step 2 suggest another local pharmacy

nice reply......they ask why their copay went up and then when you call their insurance they say oh yeah, we changed our plan.....wat a waste of time!

trailrider400 said:

4. This is not the right co pay your computer is wrong
5. Whats a co pay?

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Its an all time classic when you bill the insurance and its like a $30 copay and they freak out saying its supposed to be $10 and they blabber about how stupid we are and they can get it somewhere else for $10 so they demand for the hard copy back to take it somewhere else...

Only for them to find out that its gonna be $30 regardless of where you if you are billing insurance...

Rawrrrr said:

Thank you so much for all the helpful responses!

So can someone give me a good explanation of the Readyfill eligibility thing? I always get stumped when the customers ask me what it is. I dont know how to explain it.

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If a patient has a monthly prescription that has refills, s/he is eligible for readyfill. This means that in our system we will automatically fill the prescription without us having to call the patient or the patient having to call us to ask for a refill. Basically a few days before the patients prescription runs out, our computer will tell us to fill the rx so all the patient has to do is come in and pick it up. Readyfill is meant to help people who sometimes don't call in their refills till the last minute or people who sometimes just forget to call their refill in.

But truthfully readyfill, from what i have noticed, brings up more problems than it solves. I get a lot of people who say they want readyfill but 1 month later they're angry/confused as to why they are getting an automated call about a prescription being ready that they never called in. Also if there is a dosage change, or a prescription is no longer being taken, or a patient has changed pharmacies, someone has to notify us to take it off or that rx will still be on readyfill and we'll get the angry/confused calls.

LostTexan said:

Don't stress yourself out if a patient asks you a question that you dont' know, don't guess on the answer! Just ask the pharmacist anything you are unsure of, they were in your shoes once. Don't be mad at yourself if you don't know the answer to 'which one is my water pill?'. Its perfectly normal and you wont look stupid, heck I've been there 3 years and I still don't many of them! If you have down time, you might want to make yourself a list of the fast-movers in your pharmacy and start learning what they are, but remember that many drugs have multiple uses (ex- Xanax is commonly prescribed for sleep in addition to anxiety so reading the SIG will help you know what the patient is using it for).

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Keep in mind that this is also subject to state law. Many states will not allow a technician what an indication for a medication is, even if it is something seemingly obvious, like Lipitor for cholesterol.

Don't ever be afraid to ask a pharmacist or intern for help, even if you think it's something you know the answer to. Generally, if something requires any medical thinking, it's not for you to answer. The second you start thinking that you know the answer to an OTC recommendation or drug interaction is when you can start harming people.

themulya said:

always ask for their extra care card

I can't get people off my back for that. The pharmacists dont care but the mangers blame me for bringing the scan rate down.

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Actually, I purposely do not ask for the extra care card. I am like the only one in the store with a 0% scan rate, and I LOVE IT!

Sparda29 said:

Actually, I purposely do not ask for the extra care card. I am like the only one in the store with a 0% scan rate, and I LOVE IT!

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I usually have a rate of like 20%. But there was a point where they just wouldn't stop bugging me, so i just started scanning a dummy card. For a month I had a scan rate in the 90s and got all sort of "good job" comments from the managers. Then I realized that I don't really care about my scan rate and I'm back in the 20s.

Extra care scan rate is the way for SM to get their bonus. They won't stop bugging you unless your rate above 60 ) I got written up because my rate was 30 some % and I was like....wtf!

LMAO! Yeah, the scan rate in the Front Store Department is like 80% while the Pharmacy Department has a 33% Scan Rate.

Do you guys dislike your store managers? I like mine so I don't mind atleast scanning the dummy card every time.

where do i get the top 200 drugs study list?

Another thing to remember with ReadyFill is that if it is a state-paid insurance (like Medicaid) they are not eligible for this service.

Here is a link to view the Top 200 Drugs (by sales) as of 2007:
http://www.drugs.com/top200.html

Well you can answer the phone but that's pretty much all you can do on the phone because if the patient has a question, most likely you need to hang the phone over to a tech or a pharm. If they only need refill script and have Rx number, you can drive it down and give it to tech to fill. You can pick up the Rx line but you won't be able to answer Doctor call line.
As a pharm. clerk, other than pick up, drive thru, you can put the orders up, return med. bottles to the shelves, cycle counts, waiting bin (not until later on), pull out of dates, check cash price for med,etc.
Yes, you still have a lot more to learn as you work there. I was a part time tech so it took me about 3 weeks to get the hang of it. As for asking questions, it will take a while because you will have new situations daily. Don't worry if it confuses you, it will take time. Don't be afraid to learn new things, ask them what you can do when the store is slow. The more you know, the less you have to ask lol