WHY is there so much incompetence anymore? - Vent

[Brit17]

So, I called my doctor's office yesterday to have a prescription changed ... While I was on the telephone, my doctor approved the medication change and the nurse told me that the new prescription would be called into my pharmacy ... I then confirmed my pharmacy's phone number with her and also re-confirmed with her that she would be calling in the prescription [yesterday] ... she said "Yes" ...

Fast forward to today ... I go to my pharmacy and guess what?!?! ... NO prescription was called in ... so I get back into my car and immediately call my doctor's office ... then I get the recording - "Our Office Is Closed, if this is an emergency call 911, or call back during normal business hours" ... it's 4:00PM, these are NORMAL business hours, the last time I checked ...

Anyhoo, so now I have to wait until TOMORROW to sort this all out ... I tend to believe that my doctor's office is at fault for this one ... I've been going to my pharmacy for over 20 years now and they know me, so I do believe them when they say they never received a call ...

This is just so aggravating and frustrating ... It just seems like nobody can do anything right the first time anymore ... and it's not like this was a mistake on a take-out order and someone forgot to put the pepperoni on the pizza ... this mistake and incompetence was for a PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION, that could potentially affect someone's health and well-being, for goodness sakes ... uuugghhh ...

It'll be interesting to hear what explanation or excuse I get from them tomorrow ... Thanx for letting me vent ...

 

[hulagirl87]

DH just had this happen. It took me (because I'm a SAHM and DH was at work ) several days of back and forth phone calls with the doctors office and the pharmacy to finally get his prescription. sigh... but I completely agree with the incompetence in the world. it seems like more and more service is not like it used to be. I hope that you get your prescription issue sorted out, I know how frustrating it can be

 

[Pig Pen]

Try dealing with a satellite tv company....

 

[CMHusband]

I don't think its all about incompetence. I think it has lots to do with the fact that most companies are making people do the work of two people or more. So when folks are overworked, even smart competent people who mean well will start to make mistakes, forget because they have too much on their plates, not work as hard because it doesn't matter anyway, drop the ball with following up, handle the squeaky wheel requests first, but mostly I think the quality of all services goes down when people are overworked.

 

[WDWKOOK]

So, I called my doctor's office yesterday to have a prescription changed ... While I was on the telephone, my doctor approved the medication change and the nurse told me that the new prescription would be called into my pharmacy ... I then confirmed my pharmacy's phone number with her and also re-confirmed with her that she would be calling in the prescription [yesterday] ... she said "Yes" ...

Fast forward to today ... I go to my pharmacy and guess what?!?! ... NO prescription was called in ... so I get back into my car and immediately call my doctor's office ... then I get the recording - "Our Office Is Closed, if this is an emergency call 911, or call back during normal business hours" ... it's 4:00PM, these are NORMAL business hours, the last time I checked ...

Anyhoo, so now I have to wait until TOMORROW to sort this all out ... I tend to believe that my doctor's office is at fault for this one ... I've been going to my pharmacy for over 20 years now and they know me, so I do believe them when they say they never received a call ...

This is just so aggravating and frustrating ... It just seems like nobody can do anything right the first time anymore ... and it's not like this was a mistake on a take-out order and someone forgot to put the pepperoni on the pizza ... this mistake and incompetence was for a PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION, that could potentially affect someone's health and well-being, for goodness sakes ... uuugghhh ...

It'll be interesting to hear what explanation or excuse I get from them tomorrow ... Thanx for letting me vent ...

Vent away! I hope your Xanax gets called-in to the pharmacy soon

 

[smkiya]

I don't think its all about incompetence. I think it has lots to do with the fact that most companies are making people do the work of two people or more. So when folks are overworked, even smart competent people who mean well will start to make mistakes, forget because they have too much on their plates, not work as hard because it doesn't matter anyway, drop the ball with following up, handle the squeaky wheel requests first, but mostly I think the quality of all services goes down when people are overworked.

I agree!

 

[mhsjax]

I agree!

I agree also, I hate to say it, but I have been going to WDW since I was 14 and I am now 47. I live 3 hours away so I go frequently, and even the mouse is falling behind. We just got back and it was a disaster. Not trying to knock the big D, but just saying that even it has fallen to cut backs.

 

[bicker]

To answer the OP's original question, we've essentially driven our society towards more lower and lower levels of customer service by incessant cost-consciousness. The laser-beam focus that the vast majority of consumers apply toward getting a low price has so totally crowded out all other considerations that we have institutionalized lower quality as the new standard.

 

[Jennasis]

Incompetence is the pharmacy handing me somebody else's prescription because my "ethnic" sounding last name was apparently too complicated, so they gave me a prescription for someone whose last name started with the same two letters as my last name.

What you describe sounds like a "dropping-of-the-ball" or a miscommunication somewhere...or even like typical doctor's office dealings. I have rarely found my doctor's office able or willing to call in a prescirption for me based on a phone request in any kind of timely manner. For nonlife threatening needs it can sometimes take 3+ days for them to get the script called in.

As for the "normal business hours". They mean THEIR normal business hours, not the universe's.

And whomever made the Xanax remark...well that was just rude.

 

[ilovejack02]

I read why is there some much INCONTINENCE anymore?
I was very confused, had no idea there was an epidemic ! ; )

 

[Abbie]

I don't think its all about incompetence. I think it has lots to do with the fact that most companies are making people do the work of two people or more. So when folks are overworked, even smart competent people who mean well will start to make mistakes, forget because they have too much on their plates, not work as hard because it doesn't matter anyway, drop the ball with following up, handle the squeaky wheel requests first, but mostly I think the quality of all services goes down when people are overworked.

I agree! If it's a busy understaffed office, it can happen, things do fall through the cracks, even with the best and most dedicated employees. Or, in the case of our office, the prescriptions are electronically transmitted and like all things computer-driven, that system is not flawless and sometimes things don't go through even if the computer indicates it has. There's no way to know that until a patient calls to say it's not there.

And as far as the phone, if all three of our lines are busy you will get a recording like the one you got (although we do try to mention if it's busy during "normal" hours we are on the phone!) so maybe waiting a few minutes and calling again would have been all it took.

Hopefully you are all straightened out now.

 

[TN Hockey Mom]

So, I called my doctor's office yesterday to have a prescription changed ... While I was on the telephone, my doctor approved the medication change and the nurse told me that the new prescription would be called into my pharmacy ... I then confirmed my pharmacy's phone number with her and also re-confirmed with her that she would be calling in the prescription [yesterday] ... she said "Yes" ...

Fast forward to today ... I go to my pharmacy and guess what?!?! ... NO prescription was called in ... so I get back into my car and immediately call my doctor's office ... then I get the recording - "Our Office Is Closed, if this is an emergency call 911, or call back during normal business hours" ... it's 4:00PM, these are NORMAL business hours, the last time I checked ...

Anyhoo, so now I have to wait until TOMORROW to sort this all out ... I tend to believe that my doctor's office is at fault for this one ... I've been going to my pharmacy for over 20 years now and they know me, so I do believe them when they say they never received a call ...

This is just so aggravating and frustrating ... It just seems like nobody can do anything right the first time anymore ... and it's not like this was a mistake on a take-out order and someone forgot to put the pepperoni on the pizza ... this mistake and incompetence was for a PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION, that could potentially affect someone's health and well-being, for goodness sakes ... uuugghhh ...

It'll be interesting to hear what explanation or excuse I get from them tomorrow ... Thanx for letting me vent ...

I work for a physicians office and we only answer our phones 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm. If you call at any other time you'll get a recording stating we're closed with the option to hang up or, in case of an urgent call, to hold for our anwering service (the service would not put a patient thru for a prescription refill). Even though we only answer the phones during these hours they are certainly not our work hours. We come in between 7:30-8:00 and work until between 5:30-6:00 most days. We have to go over charts with the doctors of patients whom have called during the day and we have to return phone calls from throughout the day. Most of our scripts are sent electronically now and sometimes they do not go thru. It doesn't mean we didn't do what we tell our patients we're going to do. We would think it had been taken care of-it's not a perfect system. Trust me, we would want to go ahead and take care of it so that we didn't have to take another phone call about it.

 

[starwood]

Same here. We have to get our long-term prescriptions from Medco (3 months at a time). I have a new prescription. I ordered it on Medco's website and they contact the doctor's office for approval. I received an e-mail that they requested approval and it has been 48 hours and they haven't heard back. I called the doctor's office and they said they faxed it back to Medco 2 days ago. So who is at fault? Doctor's office or Medco. At least I got an e-mail from Medco that they received it.

 

[Wall-E1]

I just wanted to give props for the title - WHY is there so much incompetence anymore? I cant quite make sense of it, but I like the way the words are strung together.

 

[golfgal]

Why does everyone always jump to the conclusion that it was incompetence and not a good, valid reason for not getting the script called in. Maybe they had an office emergency, maybe their phone lines went out, maybe the nurse you talked to got sick and had to go home. Sometimes things just happen. It could just be she got busy and forgot-I am sure you have NEVER done that before.

Maybe she DID call it in and the person at the pharmacy dropped the ball or put it in under the wrong name?

 

[Brit17]

as of this morning, the doctor's office can't find my chart so they will have to call me back ... they had it on Tuesday but now it's gone missing ...

 

[npmommie]

as of this morning, the doctor's office can't find my chart so they will have to call me back ... they had it on Tuesday but now it's gone missing ...

that is not good.

 

[Mermaid02]

These days when they say "call it in" they often mean fax it in and if an office is busy- the "fax failed" paper can be set aside and not refaxed.

The missing medical record would worry me more. They need to go electronic!

 

[bicker]

Why does everyone always jump to the conclusion that it was incompetence and not a good, valid reason for not getting the script called in.

I think a lot of people feel that anything other than 100% accuracy and timeliness with regard to responding to their needs is a reflection of incompetence. Many people expect the world around them to be structured with vast structures of redundancy and robustness, but without the added cost of such overhead passed back along to them.

 

[diznygirl]

as of this morning, the doctor's office can't find my chart so they will have to call me back ... they had it on Tuesday but now it's gone missing ...

Well, I'm sure there is a good valid reason for that.

Keep us updated - you know how we like a good mystery!