Friday, April 08, 2011

What's the deal with Walmart Pharmacy?

Sometimes I just don't understand the Pharmacy at Wal-mart. Maybe I should stop going there. :)  I assume that I won't be able to get 90 days worth of my generic cholesterol medicine for $5 somewhere else. Maybe I should find out.  In any case, while I do still go to Wal-mart, here are some suggestions:

1) Can we get an express lane for people who just want to "Drop Off" prescriptions at the "Drop Off" window and "Pick Up" prescriptions at the "Pick Up" window?  Without fail, every time I go to do either, the person or persons in front of me in line take 5-10 minutes to do whatever it is they're trying to do.  I don't know enough about what the possibilities are up there to even know what else they could be doing. I know when I go up there I either hand them my prescription, or they hand me my pills.  It's a matter of moments. Maybe they could put a "0 questions or less" sign on this hypothetical express line, so people would understand it's like the express lane up at the grocery checkout.

2) Why does it take a minimum of 45 minutes to count out 90 pills and put them in a little bottle? Once or twice I've dropped off my prescription and waited for it to be done, but it seems like it should be pretty straightforward. Now I just leave my prescription and say I'll come back the next day for it.

3) Last night, after I had signed and paid for my prescription, I had to go to a different line (the "Consultation" window) so that the pharmacist could put my pill bottle in the Wal-mart pharmacy bag. Huh? I mean she did ask me if I was having any muscle pain, which, thankfully, I'm not.  But why couldn't the clerk put my pills in a bag? Weird.

Anyway, I guess, as usually happens, you get what you pay for, right? :) As I only have to do this once every 3 months, I'll live with it for now.

2 comments:

Hero Supreme said...

I think Smiths and Target have a long list of prescriptions they fill for $4. Cha-ching. And you should know, when talking about Wal-Mart, anything is possible.

Unknown said...

You could have stopped with the word Walmart and all questions would be answered.

That said, you can also sign up for automatic refills, and that will at least cut down on the drop off line. They will call you when it is ready and then you can go straight to the pickup line. (with a stop at consultation if that tricky pill case isn't in the bag)