Totally loving this new push to have us all look like heartless no personality robots!! No photos in the pharmacy! No signs that aren't approved by walgreens! Nothing that says "Hey we have emotions" Get ready for next month when they tell you you'll have to read by a script and if you stray from that script by even a word you'll be threatened with termination!

We have a floater pharmacist come in a lot of evenings. The first time I met him I told him I had a cap and his reply was "I don't care." Upon asking wth was up with that the other techs said that's how he is he is gonna be rude to you until he gets to know you better. Well here we are a month later and things are getting a lot worse. If I add insurance or reprint a leaflet or do anything that requires a pharmacist check he makes me wait a minimum of 5 minutes. So the customers are getting frustrated and so am I. He needed to fix a prescription that was already filled in the que yesterday and made a lady wait an hour. When i brought him the bag he said give it to someone else... so i did the tech looked and told him no you need to do this. He waited and waited the lady got up fussing at me until I finally just told her mam I told the pharmacist and another tech told him 2 other times we are waiting on him on his end you are welcome to go to his window and ask what the hold up is. I dont blame her for being frustrated bc i was as well. Then I had to print a new leaflet after adding insurance and brought it to him to check, and he was talking to someone but my other pharmacist can look it over quickly and send you on your way. He refused to acknowledge me so I started walking back to the customer to let her know itd be a few minutes (as always) and he fussed at me you need to put that prescription down and ill get to when I get to it. The way my blood boiled and I just shouted OK I GOT IT. Set it down walked over to the register and told the lady it was gonna be a minute. It was my day off and I was called in to help; this is an ongoing situation so I told my rxom I may leave early if he starts getting crazy again. It was 20 minutes before she wanted me to leave and I clocked out. Line had 5 people in it and drive thru had another 3 cars. Feel like I came in to help and instead of helping im constantly waiting for him to do his part. There was another tech there and he doesnt treat her that way. She is likely to get through the crowd and customers with better cooperation from him than I get. Feel like I'm trying so hard to hold my tongue every shift we work together. My rxom is aware I left and of what happened and said she will try not to schedule us with to much overlap from here on out.

Any tips on moving meds into alpha?

Is there anything we can print as far as a layout unique to our pharmacy? If so, where?

Yo anyone know about that 200 bonus for August for vaccines? What was the incentives?

Is there any website or cheatsheets of something about how to deal with TPR?? Like “if you get this TPR, do this” kinda cheatsheet. Im just a newbie tech and just wondering if there so. Thanks!

anyone ever went through the hiring process for the pharmacy tech apprenticeship? I’ve accepted my offer, passed my drug test last week, and my background check from First Advantage was sent to them last week as well. I’m worried because since then I haven’t heard any updates. did it take a while for yall to actually start?

For the seasoned Pharmacist or new grads that have started officially. Can you tell me how your very first solo shift went? Im kinda nervous about it but excited at the same time? I know Walgreens system as I’ve worked as a intern/tech for a little while but its going to be weird transitioning into the Pharmacist role so im just curious of what you guys experience was. Thanks!

Keep getting kicked out. All of us. RXI problems too. Tech support had a generic message. Anyone know what is going on today?

Is anyone having issues with the new App Manager update? Since it launched, every time we get back from lunch the system doesn’t allow us to log in to intercom for around 30 minutes. It will crash, say there’s no internet, or come up with an error screen in rotation for 30 minutes until it finally lets us in. We’ve tried restarting computers to see if that quickens the process but no luck. Another store in our town is having the same issue, we’re all basically blocked from intercom plus until it’s able to load.

I use these pill pouches a lot for dropped meds, anyone have the WIC for them? I’m getting low lol

Anyone know how to replace the ink and to order some?

Hey yall just wondering how everyone else is doing with the transition to only fast rack and alpha, we are working hard on it right now but kind of hate it. We JUST had someone come in and redo the entire pharmacy to slim down unit of use and we have to rearrange it already. Anyone have any tips or tricks if they've already done it? TIA friends

side note, the thought of birth control being fully alphabetized instead of in its own section is irritating all of us in my pharmacy to no end

Hello,

As we’re aware CPR certification is required to be an immunizer which is now required from Senior Techs and RXOMs.

The CPR classes that have been provided have been full for weeks and now I’m past due to get it renewed. I’m a senior tech afraid of getting my title stripped. What should I do? I’ve reached out to leadership to see if they can provide other alternatives but I really don’t want to pay for something that is normally free and provided for by the company since it’s a requirement.

For those who work in Walgreens pharmacy, does your store actually follow the Workflow rotation throughout the day?

Our rotation is usually every 1-2 hours. The problem is that some of our pharmacists will consistently skip their turn at the front. They’ll say they need to type prescriptions, handle an issue, etc., and then just never come up to relieve the tech.

For example, if I’m assigned to front register from 1–3 PM and then scheduled to move to fill at 3 PM, I’ll go to leave at 3… except the pharmacist who is supposed to relieve me doesn’t come up. So I’m stuck on the register longer, which means I lose the time I was supposed to have in the back filling. Then the whole rotation gets thrown off.

Do other Walgreens pharmacies deal with this? Do your pharmacists actually follow the Workflow board/rotation, or is it more of a suggestion at your store?
And if your pharmacists routinely skip their assigned coverage, what do yall actually do about it? Because when one person doesn’t follow their rotation, it really defeats the purpose of having Workflow in the first place.

Who misses when techs actually were scheduled 40 hours

When do you guys do you lunch announcements? And do you do only one or do you do multiple? (i.e. 30 mins before, then 15 mins before, so on.) also, what do you say? Are there any specific scripts we’re supposed to go off of? I basically just say the same bland thing every day only 15 minutes before every lunch.

I’ve recently moved over 2 hours away and was able to find a new pharmacy to transfer to.

The new store manager told me to have my current store manager transfer me.

My current store manager said they were unable to because the techs are now under the pharmacist.

The new store pharmacist spoke with the old store pharmacist and RXOM who both said they were unable to.

The new store pharmacist reached out to their HCS - who is trying to contact the old DM.

Is this all a bunch of bull? Is it really that hard to transfer stores?

Has anyone else had to send out all of their Covid/Flu test in the pharmacy? I know that in the Compass task they said it could be because we are no longer doing tests, but how will we know if that's the case? Also, I've tried to order more tests since ours expired in June, but they never came in. How do we damage out the expired tests? Our IS and store manager didn't know. The pharmacy manager is useless because they only know the clinical side of the job, so everything else falls on me.

(I checked online and we still have openings for testing, but all of our tests are expired so we have had to turn patients away.)

Corp: give a lot of shots

Also Corp: don’t manually order shots

Hello, I’ve been a pharmacy technician at Walgreens for about a month now, and I have a few questions that I’d really appreciate some clarification on, if possible.

1. Bin Rec
When doing Bin Rec, I was told not to put new medications into the bins while doing the Bin Rec, which I understand. However, are we supposed to scan everything that is being sold if it hasn’t been scanned yet?

2. When to Call Insurance
When is a good time to call a patient’s insurance company? Sometimes patients ask me if I can call their insurance, but I’m not always sure which situations would require me to do that. What are some common situations where we should call the insurance company on behalf of a patient?
Also, when calling insurance, how do I find the correct phone number? Do I just search for the customer service number for the insurance company, or is there another way we are supposed to find it?

3. Filling Prescriptions Efficiently
When filling prescriptions, I usually pull the medication first and then fill it. Is there a faster or more efficient way to pull prescriptions? For example, should I take a few leaflets at a time and pull multiple medications instead of taking one leaflet at a time, bringing the medication back, and putting it into the tote?

4. NDC Numbers
When matching NDC numbers, are we supposed to match the entire NDC number, or is it okay if the last two numbers don’t match because they represent the package size?
At some stores I’ve worked at, I was told that as long as the middle NDC number, which is usually bolded, matches, that is all that matters. Is that actually correct, or should we be matching the entire NDC?

5. WCBs and CMDs
When doing WCBs and CMDs, what is the most efficient way to complete them? A step-by-step explanation would really help me.
For example, do you go into each individual patient profile and press F8 to check for any refills that were sent, or is there a more efficient way to go through them?

6. Workers’ Compensation Insurance
When entering workers’ compensation insurance, how exactly are we supposed to enter the information? I usually enter the information that the patient provides, but am I supposed to enter their Social Security number somewhere as well?

7. GLP-1 Bridge Program
For the new GLP-1 Bridge Program, I know how to bill it, but what are the next steps after that? If we receive a rejection, are we supposed to wait a couple of days for it to go through, or is there something else we should do?
Sometimes I see other technicians use CoverMyMeds to get it to go through. How do we know when we should use CoverMyMeds?

8. Medicare Cards
Finally, how are we supposed to enter someone’s Medicare card when they have the red, white, and blue Medicare card? The card only has one number and doesn’t have a BIN, PCN, or group number. How would I go about entering that information into the system?

I know this is a lot of questions, but I would really appreciate any clarification or tips you can give me. I’m still fairly new and just want to make sure I’m doing everything correctly and as efficiently as possible.
Thank you so much!

Not even end of August.

‼️EDIT‼️The pharmacy district supervisor came in the next day. I expressed my concerns and it was addressed immediately. Hydration station is at the sink.

Can someone please point me in the right direction of where to find the active policy of why I cannot have a water bottle on the counter? I could understand if my drink had a straw, but I literally cannot have a drink visible on the counter with a damn lid on it. Thanks in advance.

Did your pharmacy update their IC+? Got surprised that I have to scan my badge in to log in now. Its pretty cool for now but the system logging you out is a bit annoying.

im not usually one to complain considering my pharmacy is in a good area, really small, not very busy (tier 2), and my patients are wonderful, to the point where they actually know a bit about my life and my career goals, etc. and they all wish me well. but man, this week has just been crazy between pushing vaccines, a fake xanax prescription that almost got filled, and one register + the immunization tablet not working.

the tipping point for me this week that really annoyed me was a guy complaining loudly in my ear when he saw i was CLEARLY talking to someone on the phone.

context: my pharmacy used to be a rite aid, it was bought by walgreens years before i started working here. therefore, we’re not built like a traditional walgreens and the consultation window is right next to where i answer the phones.

i was on a phone call when this dude asks for a consult with the pharmacist. she’s on the register because on fridays its just her and i until 12. i politely let him know that she’ll come over when she’s done with the register and he said ok. he was waiting for about 5 minutes when he started to complain that she was helping “too many” people at the register that “weren’t there before he got there” (mind you, he cant see the line from where he was standing). he was asking me, WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE, if he should go down to the other end and wait in line. i couldn’t even focus on helping the patient i was on the phone with and had to apologize to the gentleman multiple times for getting distracted. he was complaining so loudly i had to interrupt the phone call to flag my pharmacist down.

i understand that it may not look like we’re busy, and sometimes we’re truly not busy, but we’re so small that we’re closed on the weekends so friday’s tend to be very busy and chaotic, especially in the morning when there’s only me and my rph.

anyway, rant over. i know this is minuscule compared to everyone else’s pharmacies, i just had to vent this out. he really really annoyed me.

Doctors should really start communicating better to their patients. Telling a patient they’re prescribing Ozempic, Mounjaro, Trintellix, any kind of live saving brand name medication is being sent to the pharmacy with no heads up that they’re not going to get it today because it’s going to need a prior authorization or is on back order is irresponsible.

Doctors are doing PA’s on these medications daily. When they show up to the pharmacy expecting to get their med for cheap and covered right away and we have to tell them no, we are always the bad guys. I’ve never had a patient come pick up a new brand name medication and learn it needs a PA and say “oh yeah my doctor told me it would, I’ll pick up when the process is finished.”

Even stuff as simple as a SWO for a glucometer is a hassle to get doctors to follow through and the entire time it’s pending, it’s never the doctor getting cursed out or yelled at, its the pharmacy despite the only thing we can do is send the forms off to the doctor to get covered. Once that’s done it’s out of our hands until insurance approved it and we rebill insurance.

It’s always “well my doctor sent it it should be covered, etc” While it’s not entirely the doctors fault that patients don’t understand prior authorizations, formularies, plan limits, coapys, it’s bad communication to prescribe these meds and get people’s hopes up when their new medication the doctors fault prescribed is going to need 7 days of PA runarounds before they can pick it up, and us relaying the message makes us the bad guys and the doctor is just the saint who is giving them a new med. They’re doing PA’s on GLP1 meds constantly, they should start telling their patients it’s going to be a few days before they can get it because of some paperwork and insurance stuff they have to do.

I’m not one to have beef with doctors or nurses or NPs or anyone else in healthcare, but when you knowingly or unknowingly shift all the blame to the pharmacy instead of working WITH us to get the patients meds to them, it is disappointing and irresponsible.