Life Lesson

I try not to talk about work on the blog, but here's a story from the other day... It's kind of a life lesson that I'm sure all those reading this know... "Don't annoy the person trying to help you." Pretty crazy concept right?

Okay, so Patient A comes in to pick up Rx for Patient A and Patient B. Patient B is a new patient for us... The Rx was filled on a different day (not my day) and I was unaware of it being there. Anyway, Patient A has a minor freak out when we don't have Patient B's insurance information... He gives our lead tech the cards. Great! That is generally a really big help in being able to bill insurance, but... it does help to give us the PRESCRIPTION card rather than the medical insurance card or Medicare part A card. . Patient A _insists_ that the cards he gave us are the correct ones and his tone of voice seems to imply we are idiots. Lead tech calls the customer care number on the back of the card... yep, we are right. No Rx coverage on there. I try to talk to Patient A again... he says "well how the -bleep- has he been getting it for the past 20 years at a different pharmacy?" I say (very calmly), "Sir, I didn't say he doesn't have coverage, I'm saying the cards we have don't show the correct information. Do you know the name of the other pharmacy so that I may call them?"

"Well, yeah, it's Such-and-So Pharmacy in Nowhere, NY".

"Okay, thank you. I'll try them." I step back to the phone... call good ol' 411. . . hmmm... interesting... no pharmacy with that name in that town... I ask for a nearby one instead... I get the phone number and they have never heard of Patient B. Time to go back to Patient A. "Sir, when I called information, they don't show a listing for this pharmacy in that town. Is it possible that it is actually in a different town?" (for example, maybe he said Fargo and it was West Fargo... very close in geography, but technically different places.)

He looks at me as though I have sprouted horns. Then says "Give me the cards. We got to go! I don't have time for this!" then stomps away leaving the Rx with us...

I have the look of 'what-in-the-world-more-could-we-have-done-to-help'... and then shake my head to answer the phone calls that have been on hold while the lead tech and I tried our best... I guess sometimes our best isn't good enough.

Crazy, huh?