Resident Season...ugh.

Rabbit Season!
Duck Season!
Rabbit Season!
Duck Season!
Resident Season! Damn...

We all have to learn somewhere. You would think that hospitals that get new crops of residents every year would be on the ball and have some sort of procedure in place to make sure they have everything they need to start working there.

Perhaps A New Hire Orientation Program for Experience (A New HOPE) that explains what information they need to have when writing prescriptions. Maybe provide them with the link to the NPI registry with a disclaimer that states they cannot work until they can provide this number.
It's not as if it's required. (It is.)
It's not as if other professionals can't do it (I did.)
Actually, though, I think the schools should implement this. It's like pharmacy students being responsible for their own intern licenses.
Same for the DEA#. Assign their suffixes and make them accountable.
Give them special pagers and pager numbers. Teach them they are accountable for all prescriptions they write. Test these pagers at all hours of the day for their first week. If they do not respond within 30 minutes, discipline them.
Give the hospital staff a memo, or calendar with each new resident's name and photo on it.
Pharmacists have enough trouble tracking down known prescribers.
Resident Season is enough to ruin even most optimistic person's rosy outlook on life.

Pharmacists have to call the hospital operator.
The operator can't find the resident.
The ER doesn't even know that person's name.
The Person In Charge of Residents can't be located and has no idea who the patient was or why they were seen.
The nurses and staff don't recognize the names of these residents.
It's a known issue. It happens every summer. Hospitals should be prepared.
Words of advice: Don't get sick during Resident Season. Expect your prescription to take longer if there is anything wrong with it.
Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.

No Rx Questions After Hours

This seems like a good policy...when it comes to patients and refill requests.
However, if you write a bad prescription, then I should be able to call whenever I am open to inquire about it.
Offices close usually well before pharmacies do. They can, and often do, turn off the phones but continue to call in or send us prescriptions after this time. This often means the prescribers have left but the nurses and staff are finishing the work. Sometimes prescribers can send prescriptions from home.
Great. But if it's wrong, and the patient has been waiting all day for it, expect me to track you down to fix it. With that in mind, please amend your "No Rx Questions" Policy with the answering service and tell them to stand down when the pharmacy calls.

Answering Service Lady: Dr. Zoffis's answering service. How may I help you?
CP: This is CP calling from a pharmacy. I just received a prescription and was hoping to speak with the office to correct it.
ASL: They are closed. This is the answering service.
CP: Thank you. Of that I am quite aware. I have performed this routine many times in my career. I need to go through you to get to them. Some of you are helpful, others, not so much. Which will it be today?
ASL: "I am sorry. They do not take calls about prescriptions after hours."
CP: This is not a refill request.
ASL: They do not take calls after hours.
CP: Here is the problem. They can send me an incorrect prescription after they shut off their phones and I can't call to fix it. In their haste to clock out for the day they mentally checked out as they sent this and now, with 4 hours left in MY day, I have to listen to the patient complain to me that it's my fault they can't get their prescription until tomorrow. How about you page the prescriber for me? If not, I may just have to have a contest between me and the patient as to how many times we can call you tonight. Please just page the prescriber. If he's a cranky twat, I can deal with him. The lack of clarity on this policy is not your fault. Let me splain it to him.
ASL: Okay. It just so happens he is the prescriber on call.
CP: Lucky me. Do they happen to have a 1-800-complaint number I can call to bitch about this policy?
ASL: Alas, they do not.
CP: They should.

Birth Control and Responsibility

A few of us were sitting around having a lively debate about birth control packs. One pharmacist believed that we should label the packs left-to-right so that when the person holds the pack in her hand, she will read the directions on top and the pack will be facing up as she removes it.
The other pharmacist believed it did not matter if the packs were placed that way, or if they were upside down. The packs have words and numbers on them with directions that would automatically result in the patient orienting the pack in the correct manner to be taken.

We were both wrong.
The first pharmacist was correct if, and only if, the woman opening the pack was right-handed. It took a lefty to prove this flaw.
The second pharmacist was wrong because of this phone call:

Birth Control Backwards Girl: I have a problem.
CP: Okay.
BCBG: I took my birth control upside down.
CP: Like on your head?
BCBG: No. I took the whole first week from the bottom of the pack.
CP: Ok. How?
BCBG: I don't know. I just popped the tablets out and didn't look at the pack to see which was week one until today.
CP: No worries. In this case you got lucky. Fortunately all 28 tablets are exactly the same. Next time, open them in the light. Go to the light, Carol Ann!
BCBG: Okay, thanks. I was worried I'd mess up my body or something.
CP: You should work on your mind a little too.
BCBG: Huh?
CP: Nothing. Live long and prosper.

Normal Pack.

Pack orientation for lefties. 

Pack orientation for righties. 

Why Do Patients Have No Patience?

Why is everyone in such a hurry these days?
I understand lines at Disney World. You are going to get to ride Small World after a 75 minute wait! Hooray! You can wait two hours in a line for the world's longest, tallest roller coaster; a ride that lasts about 90 seconds. You cannot, however, wait for me to take your prescription from you at the drop off window?

Harried Harry: Hi.
CP: Aloha.
HH: I'm just going to leave this right here.
CP: No you're not. We will be right with you.
HH: But I'm just dropping off.
CP: And that's not how this works.
HH: I'm just going to leave this here.
CP: If this were the bank and that were your check, would you just leave it on the counter? Wait until someone comes to wait on you.
HH: I'm just going to leave this here.
CP: You keep saying that as if you have some Jedi powers. That may work on my techs, but it doesn't work on me. You can wait. In fact, I would have waited on you myself by now, but it's the whole principle of the thing. Besides, as you can clearly see, I have this phone attached to my head, as does everyone else here. So again, I remind you, don't move.
HH: But...
CP: SIT! Good dog. Stay! Who's a good boy? Now politely answer all of Uber-Tech's questions, give her the information we require to fill your prescription, and you can be on your merry way.
HH: Okay.
CP: I am your Master now....

Faxed Refill Requests

Prescribers have been sending us Cease and Desist letters for some time requesting we stop all automated refill requests.
I laugh at them.
I write love notes on them and send them back.

Let us take a step back.
When you receive unsolicited mail, magazines, coupons, etc, what do you do?
When you receive spam what do you do? (Eat it while singing the Viking chant, duh!)
Do you reply to all the companies, email addresses, etc begging to be removed from their list?
(I know you can go online to cut down junk mail. So not the point here.)
Most people, I assume, simply throw the junk mail in the trash or recycling receptacle.
Spam/Junk emails? I'm guessing they get deleted en masse when clearing that folder.

Step forward now to the offices.
Anyone dealing with HIPAA must have a designated trash can for this type of trash.
Why would offices choose to write nasty notes on our correspondence, fax it back to us along with our refill requests, all but screaming "we no longer accept faxes."?

I Don't Care.
Our policy states we fax refill requests.
Your policy states you don't accept them.
Can we safely assume then that you have posted this policy for all of your patients to see?
In a conspicuous location?
Perhaps mailed to them notifying them of your policy?

Here is what I received last week:

Office Fax: We no longer accept fax refill requests. Must call.
CP Fax: We don't call. We fax. Is it safe to assume you notified the patient of this policy?
OF: We don't call our patients for refills.

This week I started something new for phun.
Office Fax: Call to schedule appointment.
CP: We scheduled patient for a 10:15 appointment tomorrow. We called the patient for you. Don't worry, we told her to arrive 15 minutes early.

What's in a Name?

A rose by any other name, would...be called something else. But how would I know what to expect when I saw it? When pharmacy staff answer the phone, they have long, boring scripts that no one really enunciates and no one really listens to anyway. I wish corporate would do away with the advertising during phone answering. However, I do like the part where we tell you who is answering the phone. In this case, we know what to expect from whom.
Hi. Thank you for calling CP Pharmacy. My name is CP and I am a pharmacist. How may I help you?
Thank you for calling, this is Leia Organa and I am an Uber-Tech. How may I help you?

We know what to expect. If I need a pharmacist for a transfer or something else professional, I ask for her. If not, then LO is perfect for me.
Where the hell are you going with this, CP?

Prescribers' offices do not answer the phone this way. They all answer it with "Dr. Zoffis. Hold!". Then when they come back we get "Dr. Zoffis. How may I help you?".
With whom are we speaking?
More importantly, what is the title of the person answering the phone? Secretary? Nurse? Doctor's Wife? Daughter? Cleaning Lady?
How do I know if you are going to be able to answer the specific question I have? If I give you my entire spiel, only to find out you are the filing clerk and have to transfer me to someone else, I just wasted my time and yours.
Is it too much to ask for name, rank, and serial number?

A Snapshot...

People like to judge a situation based on a split second view. People like to make assumptions based on a still moment in time.
I am humbled by the number of people who read and comment on this page. I am often amazed at the comments people like to make, often negative and from non-pharmacists, on a single post they happened to stumble upon on a friend of a friend's page. It is a single post. I would like to extend an invitation to those of you to take a walk through time and go back to the beginning of this page. You will see a common theme from its inception. I beseech you. I implore you to take a long look at the content of this page before casting your aspersions on us. You probably complain about the wait times at your pharmacy too.

As an exercise, I invite you to walk into your pharmacy and take a picture. Take one snapshot at 9am. Or noon. Or 5pm. Take it home and examine it.
What's going on?
Are they busy?
How many people are on the phone?
Are engaged with a patient?
How many are just standing around?
How many are "putting pills in a bottle"?
Or just "slapping labels on stuff"?
Is there inventory to be put away?
Can you hear the phones ringing in the picture?
How many prescriptions are on the fax machine?
Or in the e-script queue?
How many people are in line to drop off?
To pick up?
Or in the waiting room?
How many are in line for shots?
How many are waiting for a pharmacist consultation?
Can you see if someone is on break and not in the pharmacy?
Can you see some creepy person staring at the staff trying to will his prescriptions to be filled faster?
Or someone with a camera trying out this simple, thought-provoking experiment?

The point is this: at any given moment in time, things are never as simple or complex as they appear. Making mass generalizations about a single post, or a single split-second in time is both narrow-minded and reflexive. Think before you make a judgement. Get to know me before you hate me.

Car Buying or If the Real World Worked the Way People Think Pharmacy Does

...or How Pharmacy Customer Service Destroyed Basic Human Self-Sufficiency...

Prescriptions are expensive. Replacement car parts are expensive.
Bought a new car last week. The lovely sales person rode with me on the test drive, showing me all the features the vehicle possessed. After purchase, I was given the grand tour and explanation of how everything worked and was sent on my way after saying I had no further questions for the salesperson.

I was driving around a week later and heard an awful sound.
I was not prepared for this.
This was not on the guided tour.
This was not a detail I remembered.
Rather than call someone, I continued my drive.
Then the car slowed and eventually rolled to a stop.
I immediately phoned my dealership and yelled at them. I found out my car had run out of gas. My word, why did no one explain this? No one told me it needed to be refilled. No one told me how to refill my vehicle. I am going to sue this dealership. I thought since it already had gas in it, I could drive until my dealership called to remind me to refuel. That's what my pharmacy does. They tell me when my bottle is empty. They call and tell me when to pick up my prescriptions. They take my pills for me and go to my appointments for me.

My pharmacy is the reason I am a bilge water filtering mollusk on the hull of society with no aspirations other than to have everything brought to me. If it were not for pharmacy and their "customer service" mantra I may have been able to get through life doing things for myself. Now I no longer can.
It's also their fault I am bankrupt.
I thought as long as I had checks in my checkbook, I could keep writing them.
My bank said otherwise.

Thank you for nothing pharmacy.

Trifecta of Trouble

Holiday Miracle this weekend.
Woman received a few pills until her backordered medication would be in stock. On the 28th day she returned to my pharmacy. Expecting them to be here, she was surprised that, despite repeated phone calls, they were returned to stock.
Her: Why didn't you tell me to come back sooner?
Me: The reason we only give you 2 or 3 or 4 pills is so that when they run out, you will be forced to return to get them by the fact that you are out.
Her: But I didn't run out.
Me: No? How did you make a few pills last you for a month?
Her: I had a surplus.
Me: That's one hell of a stash. Were you a prepper? A hoarder? A religious figure who can turn a few loaves and fishes into a magnificent feast for an entire town?
(Quote of the week nomination #1) Her: You don't really expect me to remember to take my medication every single day, do you?
Me: Yes. That's really the point. They don't really work if you don't really take them.

Her daughter then piped in that she was a former technician and she knew what I was saying but that I was wrong because I didn't tell her to come back in sooner.
Me: So I'm her babysitter now too?
Daughter: You should have put it on the label. (remember this statement)
Me: We did.
(Quote of the week nomination #2) Daughter: You expect your patients to actually read their labels every time they take their medications?
Me: So you're calling my patients stupid? Yes. How else are they to know what they are taking? If they are taking it correctly? Again, that's really the point.

They then drove down the street to transfer the medications to another fine establishment. There, they asked the polite pharmacist if their company offered a type of predictive refill program. She was told they did and it works just as ours does. However, it only works if you actually pick up your medication when it calls you, read your labels when you take your medication, and actually take them every single day as prescribed.

E-Rx Questions

The software a company uses is designed to simplify everyone's jobs. However, it is ultimately only as good as the humans who are using it. You would think with something as critical as electronic-prescribing, the Board-approved companies would have to use better software.
In my pharmacy experiences, pharmacy computers can be pretty smart. If we select a drug and the dosage form is capsules, when we select a sig (directions) from the menu or we type the short code "1bid", the computer is smart enough to translate that into "take 1 capsule by mouth two(2) times a day. If we enter 60 capsules to be dispensed, the computer, usually, will calculate this prescription to have a 30 day supply.
Back to e-Rxs. Why can't they all be smarter? The systems should be set up to not allow you to mix-and-match drugs with salt forms and strength combinations that do not exist. There should be some type of warning that the directions do not match. If I were to design this system, and seriously, they should be required to have pharmacists design and install these systems, I would take out much of the human factor. Keep in mind, most of the errors we see are ones we would never see with a hard copy hand-written by a physician. These are errors that only occur when selecting items from a drop-down menu.

There should be a drop down box for the drug. Once it is selected, there should be one for the strength. This one should only give you options for strengths that match the drug you selected. If the drug you selected does not come in a certain strength, you should not be allowed to enter it. Two errors we saw in the last week:
1. Gabapentin 200mg. It does not come in this strength in an oral dosage form for retail pharmacy.
2. Diclofenac Potassium 75mg. This version is only available as a 25mg or 50mg dose. The 75mg strength is only available as Diclofenac Sodium. The doctor probably knew what he wanted but it wasn't clear so we had to call. But I received this Rx at 6pm on Saturday. No one called back...
The other problem with this issue is what do we do when the doctor only selects "Diclofenac 50mg"? That is available as both salt forms, potassium and sodium. Which did he want? The computer should force him to pick one first, then only present him with the strengths that match. Fewer errors.

Directions: Something has to be done about these too. How many times do we get prescriptions where the directions make no sense, regardless of the drug?
1. Take non-specified once a day.
2. Take one(1) tablet by mouth with the first meal of the day, every morning twice a day (bid).
I have seen doctors select injectables or oral powder dosage forms then select directions for oral tablets or capsules. I have seen them order suppositories with oral directions. Once they have selected a drug, the route of administration should default in the directions. This way, when he only sees IM or SC, or PR, and he wanted Potassium 10mEq capsules PO, he can see something is amiss. Hopefully.

If your software is calculating the day supply for you, it should force you to enter a quantity. How many e-Rxs have we received with "N/A" in the quantity field? Why isn't the computer forcing them to enter an amount to be dispensed? But somehow the field immediately after is populated with "90 day supply". There is also a box to be checked for dosage form. Don't even get me started on the mess created by inhaler and insulin prescriptions...

Doctors and Laws Part 2

I can just see this happening in the wake of the reclassification of Tramadol as a DEA Controlled Substance.

For example...

There are only a handful of e-script software programs approved by my State Board for sending controlled prescriptions electronically. Some offices route them via fax with an electronic signature or no signature with a note (electronic signature on file). This is not legal. Despite repeated phone calls to the offending offices, we continue to receive these on a daily basis. The funny thing, or sad thing, is that when my State Pharmacy Board pays me a visit, I could be fined $10,000 PER RX filled if I don't call on them. What happens to the prescriber if I fill these to help my patients who are in need? Nothing. Absolutely no consequences for them. Their patient has a prescription sent to my pharmacy, I call and the office is closed. Doctor cannot be paged. Patient comes in and I have a choice. My license is on the line but the doctor? Not his problem. 

Anyone else have a problem with this disparity?

Back to the offending office...I finally reached my breaking point when I received 7 controlled faxes from 7-8pm one night. I called the office:

Evil Empire Lady: So tell me what you want, what you really really want.

CP: I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want...I want your prescribers to put a wet ink signature on their controlled prescriptions before faxing them to me. They are aware this is illegal, right? 

EEL: "Yes. They are fully aware. They just don't care." (actual quote)

CP: How many calls do you receive from pharmacists on a daily basis about this?

EEL: "A couple dozen."

CP: A couple dozen? A day? 

EEL: Yep. 

So I called the DEA and State Board...no more problems. But why? Why do I have to fight them? Laws are laws. Rules are rules. Until we fight back and just say piss off, prescribers will continue to place the onus of writing correct prescriptions on us. Send them back. 

Doctors and Laws Part 1

Laws change. We have to adapt. We get a notice they are changing, a grace period to adjust, then we are expected to be completely compliant...unless you are a prescriber.
Despite ample warning that Hydrocodone strengths would be changing effective 1/1/2014, we continue to see prescriptions written incorrectly. So we call. And prescribers say "yeah I know I just forgot". And there are no consequences to "I forgot".
There need to be consequences.
There need to be fines.
There needs to be something in place to take the burden from the shoulders of the pharmacist who fills the prescription:

For example: I received a prescription from a pain clinic; a place of all places that should be on top of its game and know better. I received a bad prescription and left the following voicemail:

CP: This is CP calling to verify a prescription Doctor Zoffis wrote for a patient. He wrote Vicodin 5/325 and that would be Norco...unless he really wanted the New Vicodin which would be 5/300. Please let the doctor know that it IS July. There were memos sent to all pharmacies, and I would assume prescribers, in both November of 2012 and November of 2013 notifying and reminding them of these big changes that took effect January 2014...some 6 months ago. He really should know how to do this by now and I would greatly appreciate it if he would get with the program so I no longer have to waste my time or the patient's time standing around making phone calls because Herr Doctor neglected to read the memo. Thank You...

A few hours later, no rush right?, I get the privilege of the following phone call:

Dr. Zoffis' Nurse: Calling you back on the message you left earlier.
CP: Okay. Took long enough after I said the patient was waiting, but no bother. Whatcha got?
DZN: "The doctor appreciates the 5 minute message you left reminding him about this. He said he did read all the material sent last year about this." (actual quote)
CP: So you're saying that he READ the memo, he just couldn't INTERPRET the memo? Or what an impact it would have on his prescribing habits?
DZN: Yes. I'll tell him your concerns.
CP: Please do. While you're at it, could you also tell him that Tramadol will be a control soon as well. He should have received a memo on that too.
DZN: "Yeah. You'll probably be calling on that too." (again, actual quote)
CP: Yep. Because you can't train a doctor. They can read, but it doesn't mean it sticks.

Double Counts

It has long been practiced in pharmacies to double count controlled medications (and soon-to-be controlled ones like Tramadol) just for fun.
Or maybe it's to ensure accuracy. Yeah, let's go with that. Accuracy.
In my years and travels, I found stores that were not so disciplined with this simple task.
Patients would frequently complain they were shorted.

Once a plan was established that called for double counts on all controls, this problem vanished. My techs would double count all controls and I would double count the C-IIs after they had counted them. They would also do a back count on the stock bottle. A funny thing happened along the way...our audits were always perfect and, should a mistake have somehow occurred, it was easily found by the next fill.
Also, when confronted with the fact that we have all of these counts in place to ensure accuracy, the patients' arguments of "you shorted me" stopped before they started.

Just to set this straight: Double counts lead to fewer mistakes, less inventory loss, decreased potential for internal theft (because companies always believe internal theft is to blame), accuracy on audits, fewer complaints from patients and less work fixing problems caused by a miscount.
(For those of us/you who have robots, how accurate are the counts? We always double count and find errors regardless of how many times we clean the cells and recalibrate them.)

The reason I raise this issue today is in response to a situation posed to me:

"I would like to share with you that we received official word from our uber smart corporate people that we are to stop double counting controlled scripts because we are wasting their precious time. I work at a big chain pharmacy with a robot that frequently likes to be generous with the Norco. Wondered your opinion on something like this. My pharmacist pretty much said F you, keep double counting."

If an error occurs, how much work do we have to do investigating how and when it occurred? How do we correct it? Would it not then be prudent to take the extra 9 to 23 seconds to double count a control the first time? Did corporate come in and do a Time Management study to evaluate where precious seconds could be saved? If so, am I really supposed to believe THIS is the best place to cut wasted time? Personally I'd rather see the long phone-answering spiel hawking vaccinations and other services cast aside...along with the closing sales pitch that occurs at the register.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Next thing you know they'll want us to count Amoxicillin and Bactrim DS from 500 count bottles into little vials of 4, 14, 20, 21, or 30 counts to save time with Pharmacy Winter only a couple months away. "Save time with pre-counted Antibiotics!" (Yes, I know it's not legal...do you think that matters here?)

Coupon Clipping

Apparently you needn't clip coupons anymore. All you have to do is vaguely remember there may be a coupon out there somewhere for your pharmacy and it may involve some kind of incentive or something and that should be enough to force me to accept it.

Coupon Lady: I think I remember seeing a couple coupons in your ad.
CP: Me too. They're new this week.
CL: How can I get that?
CP: Bring in the coupon. Is that a trick question?
CL: But I need my prescription now.
CP: And you had an ad in your hand before you came down here. I fail to see how this is my problem.
CL: Well aren't you just going to give it to me?
CP: Give what? You can't even remember if it was my pharmacy and if so, which of the coupons it may be.
CL: Your customer service is horrible. Your lack of empathy is your weakness.
CP: Your faith in your friends is yours.
CL: What?
CP: Sorry. So is your dependence on me as your personal assistant. If you want me to match a price on a prescription, at least tell me who I am matching and give me a phone number to call for verification. You can't just say "I saw you match prices so give me the lowest anyone has on this". For this is not the way the world works. Perhaps your world, but not the reality in which we all reside. Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

It Worked...But How Do I Know?

I realize when a new technology comes out everyone wants to play with the new shiny toy and everyone forgets about last year's Big Thing. 

E-Scripts are here to stay...for good and bad. 

But let's not forget that phones still work. 

Here are my two examples from this week: 

1. Received a fax Rx for Elidel Cream. Three minutes later, I received another copy...of the same Rx for Elidel Cream. 

Checked voicemail 12 minutes later and heard this message from the prescriber:

"I'm leaving this on voicemail because I tried to send it and I'm not sure my system is working so I thought I'd just call it in."

Good Job Herr Doctor! Instead of actually SPEAKING to one of my staff to confirm your ineptitude at using your system, you left me a voicemail telling me you're not sure how to use your system and you're not sure how to confirm whether it worked. Had you talked to me, we could have told you we received 2 copies on fax...and now a voicemail. So you still don't know if it worked or not...

Then it happened...My e-script queue lit up with 6 scripts for the same patient. 

Guess what? All 6 E-Scripts were the exact duplicate of the 2 faxes and the voicemail. 

That's 9 copies of the same prescription. All because Dr. Ass Baggins thought he didn't know how to work his system and didn't talk to me. 

2. Rx sent over for Test Strips. 

Dr. Douche Baggins selected Qty:90 and Form: Strips. 

Directions: Test 4 times a day for 90 days. 

I scrawled upon the Rx: This is wrong. Please fix and resend. These come in boxes of 100 and you should write for 400 strips for a 100 day supply. 

Fast forward 3 hours later after the patient called to complain and I received...the EXACT SAME incorrect Rx. 

This time I wrote: You are now 0-for-2. Please fix and resend or, better yet, CALL ME so I can walk you through how to write a prescription. My phones still work. So do yours. Please call me. Please. I humbly beseech, nay implore you to call. 

(They never called, they never fixed it...)

Doctor, Where Are You?

Doctors don't have to obey the rules and laws that govern pharmacists and regular old folk like our patients. If they don't want to do something, they just don't do it.
Spelling and writing quantities on controls? Annoying. Skip.
Writing a patient's full name or the date on the script? Nah.
DEA# on controls? Can't be bothered.

And why is this? Because pharmacists are there to catch their mistakes. The only problem is, instead of pharmacists uniting and sending patients in a pissed off state back to these offices, we call. We have made ourselves everyone's bitch. Thank you corporate pharmacy Gods! It's all about Customer Service instead of Professionalism.

The issue that bothers me most about this is the office information. For prescribers that have multiple office locations, there needs to be some way for you to select the location you are currently standing in while sending the electronic prescription you are currently sending me at this very moment. When there is a problem, which there always is, I need to know where to find you.

I called a prescriber at the number that populated my e-script.
Office Lady: Oh. He's not here today.
CP: But he just sent me an e-rx from there.
OL: Well this is only his base office. He travels and is only here to get mail and messages.
CP: Where can I find him?
OL: I don't know. What day is it?
CP: Can you leave a message?
OL: I can try.
CP: Please have him call me so I can aurally rape his eardrums for not knowing where he is at any given time.
OL: Okey dokey.