I am frustrated with Walgreens
September 25, 2023 5:09 PM Subscribe
How can I make sure the right version of a prescription is being ordered? For some reason Walgreens can't or won't look for my other prescriptions for the same medication (same dosage and same 90-day time period) when one is out of refills.
I don't need to be told to use another pharmacy. We have limited options in my town and this one has a drive-thru. Mail Order is also a joke.
So Walgreens seems to have problems communicating with my doctor's office. Today the app tells me that one of my prescriptions was filled on 9/14. I didn't pick anything up that day, so I go to the store to see if it is waiting there. The cashier tells me they didn't fill it that day but they did fax my doctor's office again asking for a refill. This was after they already asked for a refill on August 31st and got no reply. She keeps looking and says they have another prescription for me for the same medicine that does have refills on it. I ask her why they didn't fill that one. She says the wrong one was ordered. I tell her I didn't place this order, their "save-a-trip" program did and I can't see anything else in the app to order. She says she doesn't know how the app works.
Why wouldn't they look at any other prescriptions on file for the exact same medicine when a refill is ordered?
Every year something goes wrong in the fall and they start telling me I have no refills on anything despite my doctor sending a year's worth at my appointments in January. I get 90 day fills of my regular medications and she sends 3 refills, so I should be fine getting refills until October (January, April, July, October). But that never happens. This all started in 2020 and our local store is understaffed, but this seems like a system issue and not an understaffing problem.
Could there be something about the way my doctor is sending my prescriptions over that is causing this? Now I know to ask them to look for another prescription when they are claiming I have no refills, but I am not always the one sending the order.
I don't need to be told to use another pharmacy. We have limited options in my town and this one has a drive-thru. Mail Order is also a joke.
So Walgreens seems to have problems communicating with my doctor's office. Today the app tells me that one of my prescriptions was filled on 9/14. I didn't pick anything up that day, so I go to the store to see if it is waiting there. The cashier tells me they didn't fill it that day but they did fax my doctor's office again asking for a refill. This was after they already asked for a refill on August 31st and got no reply. She keeps looking and says they have another prescription for me for the same medicine that does have refills on it. I ask her why they didn't fill that one. She says the wrong one was ordered. I tell her I didn't place this order, their "save-a-trip" program did and I can't see anything else in the app to order. She says she doesn't know how the app works.
Why wouldn't they look at any other prescriptions on file for the exact same medicine when a refill is ordered?
Every year something goes wrong in the fall and they start telling me I have no refills on anything despite my doctor sending a year's worth at my appointments in January. I get 90 day fills of my regular medications and she sends 3 refills, so I should be fine getting refills until October (January, April, July, October). But that never happens. This all started in 2020 and our local store is understaffed, but this seems like a system issue and not an understaffing problem.
Could there be something about the way my doctor is sending my prescriptions over that is causing this? Now I know to ask them to look for another prescription when they are claiming I have no refills, but I am not always the one sending the order.
I am a doctor. This is not just a Walgreens issue, this is an everywhere issue. I get "refill requests" daily on scripts I just wrote last week. Today alone, 15 such requests. Plus on some percentage, the patient has sent a separate message in the portal, which is understandable but had to be dealt with as a "new request" as well. Massive annoyance and confusion for everyone.
Like most healthcare snafus, I blame Epic. That pos software is responsible for more medical screwups than anything.
posted by basalganglia at 5:36 PM on September 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
Like most healthcare snafus, I blame Epic. That pos software is responsible for more medical screwups than anything.
posted by basalganglia at 5:36 PM on September 25, 2023 [7 favorites]
You think they're the same prescription. I think they're the same prescription. Any person with a brain thinks they're the same prescription. But the pharmacy computer is reading them as two explicitly distinct prescriptions, and your insurance is, too.
I had a similar thing happen recently: my doctor's office screwed up and entered my refill (of a drug I've taken for 15 years) for 1x a day instead of 2x a day. So I was getting only half of my prescription. I had to call the pharmacy, then call my doctor, then call the pharmacy, then enter a refill case in my doctor's portal, then call my doctor again, then call the pharmacy. Then go pick up the other half of my drugs. And THEN the NEXT time I went to pick up a refill, the pharmacy filled both of them! About to pay for and pick up 1.5x the amount of drugs prescribed, the pharm tech working the drive thru looked down and said wait this is the same drug, hold on. Anyway my point is, this happens and you're going to need to get people involved.
From my experience:
Step 1) enter a case on your doctor's portal if this is an option you have. Watch this to see what provider name it gets assigned to.
Step 2) call your doctor's office and ask to speak with that provider. In my case, the prescription refills are handled by an NP in my doctor's practice. You may need to ask for them to call you back. Once you get them on the phone, explain the basic facts of what you're experiencing.
Step 3) call your pharmacy and ask to speak with the pharmacist, not just a pharm tech. Yes, you're happy to wait. Explain to them what happened. Ask if they will please go through your account line by line with you; have them delete the inactive prescriptions. Confirm that you want (new prescription entered from your provider) as the active prescription.
This should finally get it cleared up. (You may need to check back over the next 3 months to be sure.)
posted by phunniemee at 5:39 PM on September 25, 2023
I had a similar thing happen recently: my doctor's office screwed up and entered my refill (of a drug I've taken for 15 years) for 1x a day instead of 2x a day. So I was getting only half of my prescription. I had to call the pharmacy, then call my doctor, then call the pharmacy, then enter a refill case in my doctor's portal, then call my doctor again, then call the pharmacy. Then go pick up the other half of my drugs. And THEN the NEXT time I went to pick up a refill, the pharmacy filled both of them! About to pay for and pick up 1.5x the amount of drugs prescribed, the pharm tech working the drive thru looked down and said wait this is the same drug, hold on. Anyway my point is, this happens and you're going to need to get people involved.
From my experience:
Step 1) enter a case on your doctor's portal if this is an option you have. Watch this to see what provider name it gets assigned to.
Step 2) call your doctor's office and ask to speak with that provider. In my case, the prescription refills are handled by an NP in my doctor's practice. You may need to ask for them to call you back. Once you get them on the phone, explain the basic facts of what you're experiencing.
Step 3) call your pharmacy and ask to speak with the pharmacist, not just a pharm tech. Yes, you're happy to wait. Explain to them what happened. Ask if they will please go through your account line by line with you; have them delete the inactive prescriptions. Confirm that you want (new prescription entered from your provider) as the active prescription.
This should finally get it cleared up. (You may need to check back over the next 3 months to be sure.)
posted by phunniemee at 5:39 PM on September 25, 2023
Definitely ask for the pharmacist, preferably the head pharmacist. If you're in the store, wait till there's a lull.
posted by mermaidcafe at 7:07 PM on September 25, 2023
posted by mermaidcafe at 7:07 PM on September 25, 2023
The Walgreens app just sucks. And now they're telling me that on file prescription (ones that don't get filled immediately) are only good for 6 months now. That's despite them filling one and refusing another that were sent on the same day.
posted by kathrynm at 4:29 AM on September 26, 2023
posted by kathrynm at 4:29 AM on September 26, 2023
i mean, this is just kinda how it is in the us now. i spend hours a year dealing with prescription fuck ups and using the discount card and using mail order for x scripts and local for z scripts because blah blah blah. and then a random doctor will call it in to q pharmacy which i have never been to and never mentioned using and then you have to try to transfer it but it's a hassle so now you're driving 45 minutes one way to pick something up because it's easier than trying to get pharmacy and doc on same page. it's not you, it's not your doctor (probably), it's the system.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:00 AM on September 26, 2023
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:00 AM on September 26, 2023
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posted by momus_window at 5:35 PM on September 25, 2023 [6 favorites]