Amazon Pharmacy Discussion

[Chrish]

Considering Amazon is licensed in 48 states and already started, now would be the good time to discuss good, bad and the ugly.

Anyone has started working or knows someone who is working? How are the working conditions? What about salary and benefits? What is the interview process like? What are the expectations from upper management? etc

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[mentos]

It's worse than CVS.

‘I'm not a robot’: Amazon workers condemn unsafe, grueling conditions at warehouse

Employees under pressure to work faster call on retail giant to improve conditions – and take their complaints seriously

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sine Cura]

Amazon distribution center conditions don't sound great. Then again you're linking a Guardian article. But perhaps a comparison to existing mail order would be more relevant.

Imagine Amazon imposing productivity and accuracy metrics on pharmacists and techs. LOL

Unlike mail order I can't think of chains or pharmacies associated with outpatient health systems actually enforcing any productivity standards explicitly.

 

[zelman]

Amazon distribution center conditions don't sound great. Then again you're linking a Guardian article. But perhaps a comparison to existing mail order would be more relevant.

Imagine Amazon imposing productivity and accuracy metrics on pharmacists and techs. LOL

Unlike mail order I can't think of chains or pharmacies associated with outpatient health systems actually enforcing any productivity standards explicitly.

I’d love an Amazon-warehouse-based acceptable error rate. Because the acceptable error rate in the world of pharmacy is zero.

 

[Sine Cura]

MMmmmm I was thinking Amazon just imposing a punitive "QA" regime since cannon fodder pharmacists are a dime a dozen anyway.

 

[Farmgurl20]

Have friend works for them. He was intern before landing spot. He says he likes work environment, better than retail but pay isn’t so good.

 

[Alexis_pharmD]

my biggest fear: amazon is so technologically advanced that they will use artificial intelligence in such a way that they will need bare minimum Rphs to verify the process and will prove easily that chances of having error is less than human error. i think just in next 5 years they will have their own pbm too. And in next decade CVS and Walgreens will start to disappear just like blockbusters.

 

[Chrish]

I am sure such technology is already there but not being used because of state laws.

 

[iamapharmacist]

Just like anything else amazon does, it will just redistribute and reorganize the old ways. Grocery market is a good example. No one, unless you're just a weirdo, wants to buy fruits and vegetables online. Not everyone is going to want to use amazon as their primary source of medication. Although I could see how amazon will kill cvs and wag haha

 

[disgonbgud]

Just like anything else amazon does, it will just redistribute and reorganize the old ways. Grocery market is a good example. No one, unless you're just a weirdo, wants to buy fruits and vegetables online. Not everyone is going to want to use amazon as their primary source of medication. Although I could see how amazon will kill cvs and wag haha

Bad comparison. Tons of people purchase groceries online now... I get delivery from Whole Foods via Amazon sometimes and the produce selected is actually pretty much always good. Lots of farmers market aggregates also have been delivering food from online pre-orders.

 

[footfairy]

my biggest fear: amazon is so technologically advanced that they will use artificial intelligence in such a way that they will need bare minimum Rphs to verify the process and will prove easily that chances of having error is less than human error. i think just in next 5 years they will have their own pbm too. And in next decade CVS and Walgreens will start to disappear just like blockbusters.

I always wonder what the DUR process will look like in this reality. It seems all over the place depending on what software your company uses.

Walgreens doesnt pop cyp3A4 edits on fluconazole/clarithromycin with statins but I get stuck putting in DUR comments because the system thinks that being allergic to losartan is a MAJOR interaction when the patient is prescribed atenolol.

I don't doubt Amazon could build a better system after a rocky start, but I just want to hear from the designers how they sort put what's actually important.

 

[mentos]

Bad comparison. Tons of people purchase groceries online now... I get delivery from Whole Foods via Amazon sometimes and the produce selected is actually pretty much always good. Lots of farmers market aggregates also have been delivering food from online pre-orders.

Yep even before the pandemic, Instacart and similar were pretty popular. I think Instacart will stay popular even when things are back to normal now. Just like how Netflix and work from home jobs are here to stay. No one wants to go out anymore.

 

[Sine Cura]

If Amazon somehow manages to liberalize pharmacy regs to the point where you don't even need a pharmacist to do a perfunctory DUR more power. Run this garbage into the MF ground

 

[BenJammin]

Amazon wants an unlimited tech ratio so they can employee 1 pharmacist on staff and have the rest of the operation run by techs. That's kind of what I'm doing in the clinics. Techs run the show and the pharmacist is only there to keep it legal.

 

[Pronounce Doxazosin]

Anybody have a list of all of their mail order locations? I believe they have one in the Phoenix area, but I’m curious to see where else they operate out of

 

[Farmgurl20]

Anybody have a list of all of their mail order locations? I believe they have one in the Phoenix area, but I’m curious to see where else they operate out of

They are in FL,TX, AZ,NY,NH.

 

[Chrish]

So no current employee lurking??

 

[projektreverb]

So no current employee lurking??

If three letter social media team watches this forum, you best believe someone from Amazon is quietly watching lol

 

[Chrish]

That’s why this is anonymous forum.. If someone b!tches out of expressing their opinion due to fear of being found out, you deserve to be slapped around.

 

[PromisedNeverland]

Boycotting amazon wouuld be your best bet hahahaha

 

[Sine Cura]

Signing up for an account is a barrier, however trivial, to posting

Also posting on Internet forums is not really a normie thing to do. People just post crap on their Facebook.

 

[tlh908]

If I owned a pharmacy and a PBM, this would be my game plan. Let Amazon fill as many prescriptions below cost as it wants. For example, if the PBM gets reimbursed $10 for a drug and it cost $3 to fill in their own pharmacy, I would be willing to reimburse Amazon $1 all day long to fill that drug. The PBM still makes $9. How is this going to hurt the big guy?

 

[Gombrich12]

Amazon wants an unlimited tech ratio so they can employee 1 pharmacist on staff and have the rest of the operation run by techs. That's kind of what I'm doing in the clinics. Techs run the show and the pharmacist is only there to keep it legal.

Technicians are the future of pharmacy. There is nothing we do exclusively except for dispensing, DUR, and compounding. We're eventually going to lose dispensing to tech-check-tech and office/vending machine dispensing. DURs can easily be handled by off site pharmacists. And compounding alone cannot support the profession.

There's also a positive feedback of worsening employment conditions for pharmacists that will only lead to the further expansion of tech and other professions roles within pharmacy.

As for clinical pharmacy I wouldn't be surprised to see nurse practitioner expansion start encroaching on their turf. The nursing lobby has to find jobs for all those excess nurse practitioners, don't be surprised to see them create residencies or specializations for nurse practitioner pharmacotherapy specialists. If there is a lucrative position in health care the NP lobby is looking at how their members can eventually wriggle their way in.

 

[mentos]

Technicians are the future of pharmacy. There is nothing we do exclusively except for dispensing, DUR, and compounding. We're eventually going to lose dispensing to tech-check-tech and office/vending machine dispensing. DURs can easily be handled by off site pharmacists. And compounding alone cannot support the profession.

There's also a positive feedback of worsening employment conditions for pharmacists that will only lead to the further expansion of tech and other professions roles within pharmacy.
View attachment 324960


As for clinical pharmacy I wouldn't be surprised to see nurse practitioner expansion start encroaching on their turf. The nursing lobby has to find jobs for all those excess nurse practitioners, don't be surprised to see them create residencies or specializations for nurse practitioner pharmacotherapy specialists. If there is a lucrative position in health care the NP lobby is looking at how their members can eventually wriggle their way in.

The above diagram would take like 80 years to obtain a "pharmacist shortage". If you closed all pharmacy schools right now, meaning not a single PharmD was handed out ever again - then there are still enough pharmacists to work every current job for 10-15 years.

 

[awval999]

Technicians are the future of pharmacy. There is nothing we do exclusively except for dispensing, DUR, and compounding. We're eventually going to lose dispensing to tech-check-tech and office/vending machine dispensing. DURs can easily be handled by off site pharmacists. And compounding alone cannot support the profession.

There's also a positive feedback of worsening employment conditions for pharmacists that will only lead to the further expansion of tech and other professions roles within pharmacy.
View attachment 324960


As for clinical pharmacy I wouldn't be surprised to see nurse practitioner expansion start encroaching on their turf. The nursing lobby has to find jobs for all those excess nurse practitioners, don't be surprised to see them create residencies or specializations for nurse practitioner pharmacotherapy specialists. If there is a lucrative position in health care the NP lobby is looking at how their members can eventually wriggle their way in.

You discount the possibility of the pharmacist wage decreasing enough where its more profitable to employ pharmacists over technicians.

You do realize in hospital health/systems we are paying techs like $20/hr+ in Flyover Trumpland. I'm sure its $30/hr on the Left Coast.

We're going to see $40/hr for pharmacists in the next few years and senior techs make $25/hr. It's not much of a jump to see parity in a decade at $30/hr.

 

[Gombrich12]

cist shortage". If you closed all pharmacy schools right now, meaning not a single PharmD was handed out ever again - then there are still enough pharmacists to work every current job for 10-15 years

That's why i put it in quotes, there won't be a real shortage but the employers of pharmacists will be able to argue there is one because the amount of graduating pharmacists has decreased by 33% or something and they can't find any pharmacists willing to work for $37/hr. It's similiar to how they claim there is a shortage of construction workers or truck drivers.

 

[deleted1066189]

DURs can easily be handled by off site pharmacists.

One of the floater pharmacists I work with, expects techs do all the DUR counseling for her (including punching in the staff initials). Less effort for her. Isn't it a liability issue?

 

[casprph]

Technicians are the future of pharmacy. There is nothing we do exclusively except for dispensing, DUR, and compounding. We're eventually going to lose dispensing to tech-check-tech and office/vending machine dispensing. DURs can easily be handled by off site pharmacists. And compounding alone cannot support the profession.

There's also a positive feedback of worsening employment conditions for pharmacists that will only lead to the further expansion of tech and other professions roles within pharmacy.
View attachment 324960


As for clinical pharmacy I wouldn't be surprised to see nurse practitioner expansion start encroaching on their turf. The nursing lobby has to find jobs for all those excess nurse practitioners, don't be surprised to see them create residencies or specializations for nurse practitioner pharmacotherapy specialists. If there is a lucrative position in health care the NP lobby is looking at how their members can eventually wriggle their way in.

Did anyone hear about the Walgreens pilot program where they have technicians fill in as pharmacists? It was pretty successful 😂

Phony Walgreens pharmacist filed 745,000 prescriptions

Drugstore chain will pay $7.5 million to settle charges that a California employees impersonated a pharmacist.

www.google.com

 

[BenJammin]

You discount the possibility of the pharmacist wage decreasing enough where its more profitable to employ pharmacists over technicians.

You do realize in hospital health/systems we are paying techs like $20/hr+ in Flyover Trumpland. I'm sure its $30/hr on the Left Coast.

We're going to see $40/hr for pharmacists in the next few years and senior techs make $25/hr. It's not much of a jump to see parity in a decade at $30/hr.

Also depends on what kind of pharmacy you're practicing. At the clinic I'm contracted with I have 6 technicians with 1 pharmacist to "supervise" them. It's not just cost effective to hire techs but it's more effective period. Pharmacy students who think they're the medication adherence experts are about to learn a very hard lesson.

 

[Gombrich12]

You discount the possibility of the pharmacist wage decreasing enough where its more profitable to employ pharmacists over technicians.

Why would anyone become a pharmacist if the average wage gap between pharmacist and tech is only $15/hr or even better when the average nurse makes the same as a pharmacist? If it continues to take 3-4 years and $200k to become a pharmacist then yes, the future of pharmacy is technicians because no one will go to pharmacy school. We've always known that the PharmD was overkill for retail and now the law is catching up.

 

[mentos]

It's similiar to how they claim there is a shortage of construction workers or truck drivers.

There is a shortage of construction workers. I've been trying to get a construction contractor to break down an old photo room in my basement and replace interior doors since the summer. I was quoted $6500 and the guy never got back to me. They are all too busy doing more profitable jobs.

Any trade or similar is the same. Took me a week to get a plumber to show up to fix a leak in my bathroom ceiling. I had to put a bucket to collect the water and empty it everyday.

People would rather take out $200,000 in loans for a career with no jobs available though.

 

[awval999]

Why would anyone become a pharmacist if the average wage gap between pharmacist and tech is only $15/hr or even better when the average nurse makes the same as a pharmacist? If it continues to take 3-4 years and $200k to become a pharmacist then yes, the future of pharmacy is technicians because no one will go to pharmacy school. We've always known that the PharmD was overkill for retail and now the law is catching up.

Because people do stupid things?

 

[owlegrad]

Have you tried HomeAdvisor? I’ve never had trouble getting tradesmen to give me quotes and take my money. Could be regional I guess but I am surprised you can’t find contractors willing to take your money. I doubt they are all busy doing bigger jobs lol

 

[Chrish]

Looks like Amazon is on a very small scale at this point.. Will take at least a year I reckon before I see any employee post here.

Oh well created this thread prematurely..

 

[DH1987]

Did anyone hear about the Walgreens pilot program where they have technicians fill in as pharmacists? It was pretty successful 😂

Phony Walgreens pharmacist filed 745,000 prescriptions

Drugstore chain will pay $7.5 million to settle charges that a California employees impersonated a pharmacist.

www.google.com

Did anyone hear about the Walgreens pilot program where they have technicians fill in as pharmacists? It was pretty successful 😂

Phony Walgreens pharmacist filed 745,000 prescriptions

Drugstore chain will pay $7.5 million to settle charges that a California employees impersonated a pharmacist.

www.google.com

I remember reading somewhere that the reason she was caught was because she made lots of errors that prompted the Board of Pharmacy to investigate her.

Still, it did take them 11 years...pretty scary for our profession.

 

[MilknCheerios]

I actually got called by a pharmacy technician from Amazon pharmacy to transfer one Rx and did so after receiving several faxes over a few days for it to be sent to them. If Amazon wants my business, they're going to have to work for it. I didn't think about it at the time, but I should have asked how to get in with them-- ya know, for back up reasons.

 

[mentos]

I actually got called by a pharmacy technician from Amazon pharmacy to transfer one Rx and did so after receiving several faxes over a few days for it to be sent to them. If Amazon wants my business, they're going to have to work for it. I didn't think about it at the time, but I should have asked how to get in with them-- ya know, for back up reasons.

LoL. "I'll trade you this transfer for a job".