Thursday, September 3, 2009

Phrazzled Pharmacist

This afternoon Mary flagged me down to tell me Greg, from Local Pharmacy, was on the phone.

I picked up the line. Greg sounded frazzled, was speaking quickly, and trying to clarify stuff on a patient who'd brought in several scripts. One of his questions required me to do some research on the chart, so I asked him for his phone number, jotted it down, and told him I'd call him back in a minute.

So I looked through the chart, found what I needed, grabbed his phone number, and dialed it.

It rang 5 times, then:

"Hi! You've reached Laurie, Greg, and Sassy. Please leave us a message and we'll call you back!"

19 comments:

Cody said...

Bahaha. I've done the opposite among friends/new acquaintances that needed my number, accidentally giving my pharmacy's number before laughing, backing up, and giving my cell number.

Chris said...

I've answered the home phone "Surgery here"

MCT said...

Poor pharmacist must be been inundated.

Rx Intern said...

Hmm...what would be the legality issues of leaving a *cell* number instead? Pharmacist-Physician interaction wouldn't violate HIPAA and all that goodness, would it?

SumDood said...

Nah, Greg just takes his work seriously. Like you, Dr. Grumpy.

Flavius said...

That's a pharmacist that goes above and beyond.. Or maybe we're just overworked and understaffed.. who knows? Still quite funny though.

-Flavius

Grumpy, M.D. said...

I suspect he'd be horrified if he found out he'd given out his phone number by mistake.

Unless he's trained Sassy to start filling scripts.

Anonymous said...

LOL, I have answered my own phone, "pharmacist, how can I help you"o

Anonymous said...

Honestly? I've had some techs whose help is about as useful as Greg's dog/cat/child - Sassy.

The busier it gets, the slooooowwwweeer they work.

Perhaps its a neurological disorder - lazyee techs? I'll get them an appt with you & you can fix them!

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Hmmm. Have you tried the compound "elixir of pink slip"?

Becky the Techie said...

Sounds like he was waiting anxiously to go home and gave you that number instead. :( Phrazzled can't even begin to describe the place when it's 1) The first of the month and 2) the Full of the moon. Not only are they demanding, impatient, and moody, but they never stop coming!

Anonymous said...

Becky,

Add to the first of the month & full moon - the first of the quarter (for those who get 90 day supplies), the start of flu shots AND inventory! Nuts - they're all NUTS (does that have an ICD-9 code???)

UGH - I need to rethink my vacation for the first 3 weeks of Sept......

Grumpy, M.D. said...

ICD-9 for "nuts" is 666.00.

Ron said...

"Hi, yes this is Dr Grumpy, and it looks like all the results for your STD came back negative. Now, Greg, as a friend I'm telling you to stay away from that lady you keep giving the box of Frito Lays to."

Anonymous said...

I think he must be a walgreens pharmacist loving the world of power and cant think straight.

rxgirl said...

I feel sorry for these pharmacists. But its even more frustrating when they have stupid staff to support them. at times, the typist is so dumb, i feel like jumping across the counter and type for them. same with MDs. people get pissed when they have to wait too long but i look at it this way...the doc will spend the same amount of time with me. kudos for you working professionals that have to deal with the public.

JimAtTheRez said...

Doc, thanks for the ICD-9 code for nuts. LOL, that is great. And yes on the first of the month, they do just keep coming at you.

Anonymous said...

lol!!...as a fellow pharmacist I understand...I've on more than one occassion answered my home phone or cell phone as "cvs pharmacy" after working a few long shifts in a row!

Anonymous said...

As an RPh, been there, done that! Also, back in my floating days, I once left a call-back number for the pharmacy I was at the previous day instead of the one I was at. Luckily, another poor floater got the the call (the next day) AND happened to know my schedule and gave them the right phone number.....

 
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