Sunday, August 23, 2009

Pharmacy - Doctor Etiquette

I know I have been ragging on nurses lately, so I decided to shift gears and take a shot at two of the doctors in our town. Again this does not reflect all doctors, just two of the... dimmer ones we have up here.

First if I ask you a question, I expect a clear answer. This is not the type of field where ambiguity is acceptable. For instance, if a patient calls in a five month old Rx for Lisinopril 10mg when she has been on Lisinopril 5mg for that time period and I then kindly ask you if her does has changed, the appropriate answer is NOT "Don't think so."

I realize it's Friday and you're probably itchin' to start your weekend, but seriously? How am I supposed to take that?

Next time you call and ask me if someone has had a particular Rx filled here, maybe I'll reply 'Don't think so."

Second, if I request refills on Isosorbide MN ER 30mg and you send me back an okay on Isosorbide DN 10mg, don't go accusing me of being a 'smart ass' when I call to get an okay on the proper script.

It's not my fault that you were too lazy to pick the correct drug and dosage for the patient even though they had been on this for the last several years. I realize that drop down menu is really hard to scroll down to, but seriously if we have to exercise patience, why can't you?

Finally, if you're going to send me a new prescription, give me all the damned info. If I see another Rx come across that looks like this:

Date: 8/14/2009
Patient Name: Jane Doe
Drug: Zemplar
Directions:
Qty:
Refills:
Refills Until: 8/14/2010
Prescriber: Dr. John Jackass

I'm going to freaking scream. Forgetting a quantity? Ok, that happens. Forgetting refills? Well they just won't get refills. Not giving me the goddamn strength of the drug in question nor directions? Well you've just got in line for a dick kicking.

I have been seeing that last one at least once a week for the last several weeks.

I know this new, I emphasize that because it's been new for two years now, is a large change from the methods they may have previously employed. We all make mistakes, myself included, but sometimes one has to recognize their faults and learn how to correct it. But if you're that uncomfortable with using this system have one of your nurses do it.

For the sake of my sanity, please God let your nurses do it. So at least when they screw up, they generally won't talk back to me.

2 comments:

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Such BS. Just MD laziness.

When you catch their error you'd think they should be nice about it and thank YOU for saving their asses.

Frantic Pharmacist said...

At my work, usually after one of us gets a glaring error corrected, we all chant, "And then the doctor thanked you profusely for saving him from a multi-billion dollar lawsuit, right?"
And then we all laugh at our own funny funny joke....