I am not trying to be a Debbie downer , but I noticed over Christmas while out shopping that I received better customer service and dealt with friendlier more informed employees at Lowes and at Hollywood Feed than at any pharmacy I entered . Of course, being a pharmacist , I understand the reason behind that , so I fault no pharmacist or pharmacy employee . However , sometimes I just wish those in charge - lawmakers , corporate leaders , and all those who have the power and money to make the rules and act as kings and treat the rest of us as mere peasants in their kingdoms - that it is a crying shame that pet food / supply stores and home improvement stores have the insight and financial means to treat customers well and have employees on the floor available to help shoppers . Being a pharmacist , I totally understand the decline in customer service at the local chain pharmacies over the past two decades . As are most things , it is all about money. In 1989 , under one fourth of prescription medicines were paid for by third party payers ( insurance companies and those handy - dandy copays .) Twenty five years later , in 2014 , the number of prescriptions paid for by third party payers is 99 percent . I realize most have neither the brain space nor the desire to keep up with percentages of prescriptions paid for by third party payers , but even if you do not , those numbers affect you. Most people will have at least one prescription medicine filled in a lifetime , so those percentages do affect us all , and those percentages are on my nerves for the simple reason there was a time when pharmacy owners purchased medicines at a fair price and sold them at a fair mark up enabling pharmacies to have enough revenue to hire enough help to provide good customer service and quality patient care . So yes , my rant for today is pet food stores and home improvement stores have the means to provide better customer service than your local pharmacy . Dont get me wrong , I think pets and homes are important , but I do not think they are more important than people and the health of people , so it is with great irony I notice that those businesses helping us to care for our pets and our homes provide better customer service than those businesses - the local pharmacy - that help us care for ourselves. And for those of you wondering why pet food stored and home improvement stores have the means to provide better customer service - the reason is simple ; those businesses do not have what is known as a third party payer - controlling everything they do and limiting reimbursement to the point any increase in sales is immediately countered with decreased reimbursement so that pharmacy profits are something that continually must be fought for by chains and independent pharmacies . So next time any of you are in a pharmacy and wonder why the pharmacist is so busy they barely have time to talk to you , now you know . So if one wants consistently good customer service in their life , perhaps the key is simply to get a pet and head to Hollywood Feed where the staff is constantly friendly , knowledgeable and available or to make the decision to do home improvements and head on over to Lowes where the staff is friendly , knowledgeable and available, and most likely could fill ones head with enough knowledge to build an entire house . As a side note , Hillary Clinton has noticed the health care system is broken and in a speech last October said the pharmacist who is accessible to the patient can fix it . That could be another reason the pharmacist is not easily accessible as they once were - they are busy fixing the broken healthcare systems so dont have time for trivial matters or to answer questions such as , what aisle is the bird feed on? Or Where are the marked down Christmas items , I am planning ahead for next year ? I am hoping an executive of a big chain pharmacy will read this, or perhaps a lawmaker who can help drive reimbursements for prescriptions up, because I would like to see better customer service at local pharmacies even than I see at pet food and home improvement stores . All the questions customers have deserve to be answered, so I am hoping in the near future , pharmacies will be fairly reimbursed and able to afford to hire the staff to answer all the questions. People matter ,too . After the pharmacists fix the broken health care system , I hope Hillary will take them all to lunch.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 16:26:24 +0000