I must admit that I became very frustrated today at work. An elderly gentleman came into the pharmacy to pick up his prescription and I noticed his insurance card was not billed. The man was shaking and having a really hard time communicating to me. I glanced down at the medication to realize that he was a Parkinson’s patient and his movement was uncontrollable. I was actually impressed at how well he was able to get around. I asked for his insurance card and attempted to rebill his medications. The man was not able to communicate to me his insurance situation except that he had been an employee of General Electric.
My frustration began shortly after I made my first phone call to the Medco “Help Desk” for pharmacy billing. After getting through the maze of automated options I finally reached a human representative, only to discover that I had been connected to one of the biggest jerks in their department. To make a long story short, after 3 separate phone calls to Medco and to the customer service center on the card the patient handed me, I had to explain to the patient that I could not bill his prescription medications. The worse part of the whole experience was that I could see the man out of the corner of my eye the entire time I was on the phone with his insurance and I could see him struggle to contain his sudden jerks and involuntary movements. I wanted to help him so bad but I was powerless.
The entire time I spent trying to help this Parkinson’s patient I couldn’t understand why I have had negative encounters with private third party insurance companies. I am a pharmacist trying to HELP your customer. Maybe that is the key. Some companies view people as “patients” and some companies view them as “customers.” As a pharmacist, I can’t help but view the elderly man across the counter as my patient that I swore by an oath to help. The medication I have prepared for him may improve his condition and help improve his quality of life. I understand that healthcare is not cheap and that tough decisions need to be made. All I ask right now, is that third party insurance companies work harder to assist their customers and the providers (ie: pharmacists and physicians) that are trying to help.
I’m sorry if I rambled a little more than usual in this post. This situation hit me a little harder than most.

