New Tricks!

So the pharmacy world is a-changing.  We have to take care of our patients now more than ever, it seems.  I haven't been to work in a week, but as soon as I arrived I received a new playbook.

My state has recently updated the controlled medication laws so that when a person picks up their medicine, I need to put some sort of ID on file.  Pretty nifty, but very time consuming until we get most people into the system.  We don't have any form of notification posted, so that will be fun explaining the new law update to the patients.  They're going to think that we're just making laws up as we go...

Also, my company has rolled out writing thank-you cards to patients.  I'm not sure what this entails since we're waiting on receiving the stock from district.

And last, my company is requiring that we call at least 35 patients 3 times a week to see if they want to have any refills.  We print out a report that has people that are due to have refills, and call them to see if they would like for us to go ahead and do that.  Some people are receptive.  Others are downright paranoid.

"Hi, this is WannabeRx from Mulpepper's Apothecary Shop in Diagon Alley.  May I speak to Ms. Dilys Derwent, please?"

 "This is she."

"Hi, Ms. Derwent.  We have started a new program here that shows us when patients are due to have prescriptions refilled and your name came up."

"Ok, what is it?"

"Well, actually, before I can continue, for your privacy, when is your birthday and address?"

"...How do I know this is Mulpepper's Apothecary?  You can't just give your information to anyone now-a-days."

"Um...  Oh.  Well..."

And that, my friends, is how you get into a HIPAA battle.  I can't tell her any information without verifying her identity; she won't give me any information without knowing that I'm not a thief attempting to steal her identity.

Eventually, I figured that I could have her look at an old prescription bottle and read information off of there to show that I was legit.  It worked, but Ms. Derwent didn't want her prescriptions filled right then.  Decided that she'd call them in when they were out...  o.O

It makes we wonder if more of a hindrance than a help to call these patients who seem to be well-off regardless.  However, there were a couple of patients I spoke with that were very appreciative of the effort.  I guess you gotta take the bad with the good...