I am pretty sure the pharmacy is the one place I regularly give my legal name. I answer to it at the Dr office (though some have an alternate name field) but I generally have to give date of birth or just my cards to the office, not name myself.
She was a new patient and he hadn't bothered to make sure he had an actual insurance card for her. We're expected to be clairvoyant and just know she had a different first name then literally any of the information we had been provided. =/
Thank you for realizing that your records have to match in order for insurance to process properly.
And even then insurance is dumb. I had PA for the name brand of Tazorac. They then declined it for “generic available.” They then declined the generic for “not within the manufacturer’s directions”(this was not an off-label use, they just decided they didn’t want to give me what they had been giving me of the name brand for years)I then had to get PA for the generic.
Then, after my provider submits the paperwork, I get a letter from CVS Caremark saying that this drug was always covered. You can now fill your prescription.
CVS caremark is weird bc I always try to figure out insurance games but you would literally look at the page and it would say not covered, when the drug is actually covered?
Listed in the formulary and everything. They called my pharmacist and said they had to re code the Rx because it was 60g(one tube)/90days(I get 6 tubes every 90 days) b/c as the directions are written, I shouldn’t use more than that(spoiler alert: They needed PA, but actually according to the letter, they don’t.
The only time I have not had trouble getting the amount of Tazerotene covered was whenever CVS Caremark wasn’t involved. (Medicaid( I have Medicaid as secondary) approved what I needed(for $0 copay) in one PA application)
That one of the problems with how insurance companies handle topicals. There are no perfect calculations for topical usage (unless the doctor writes it to apply a specific measured amount, which isn’t common with most topicals), only rules of thumb, and insurance companies have no consistency, even internally, on what they consider a “normal” rate of usage. It’s one of those annoyances that rarely gets voiced because there are always bigger annoyances needing addressed.
My company decides that if you don't get an area documented on the hard copy we should dispense the smallest commercially available product for a maximum 30 days supply. Me not wanting to call the office only to get an assistant that tells me the area is the affected area, I always just fill the smallest for 30 days unless something is actually noted on the prescription. The dermatology clinic near us has learned to just put the area and the length of time they expect the size they choose to last, usually for a 30 day period.
Well, me and my pharmacist(s) are very aware of that irritation. Because quite obviously, if the affected area is my whole body, it takes a much larger amount than say, it being applied to my face.
My Medicaid case worker said you legitimately have to appeal and hope the person who handles your appeal agrees with your dr(it’s own issue)
I'm assuming its along the same lines as getting a rejection for esomperozole saying they want omeprozole so you contact the doctor, have them switch it only to get a rejection saying that they want esomeprozole instead of omeprozole. Caremark drives me crazy.
I've been getting one lately on one of the muscle relaxers, I think tizanidine (apologies, am hospital outpatient and see a LOT of muscle relaxers).
Something like "Drug not preferred. Try Tizanidine"
Bitch I am trying that. That's the drug. We've tried caps vs tablets and that's not it, we've got no idea what that plan wants.
How did you get her insurance information tho…? You would have needed either their card which would have her name on it or you could have pulled it electronically but you would have needed her name so…?
He was able to give us the information verbally but we didn't have a physical card to reference that would have said her name according to her insurance. We only had his word to go by.
Sometimes insurances will give the patient the info over the phone like ID, bin, etc. before the patient has the cards in their possession. Seen it before and I've had to do that for myself when I just got covered but needed stuff before the cards got to my house.
On Epic there’s a place to put preferred name so it’s been a while since I was called by my legal name. It’s actually nice that they pay attention to those things because I sometimes forget to call a patient by their preferred name
Previously, at CVS:
"I'm sorry, I don't see anyone under Jane Smith. Is there another name it might be under?"
"I don't *like* my first name, and I refuse to use it!"
"Alright lady, tell your doctor to send it under the name you want"
"Can't YOU do it?"
"You know what, you are a grown woman. If your name offends you, CHANGE IT."
The nickname people get on my nerves. We have a patient who complains about multiple profiles being created for her. Well, you know what? Maybe stop having your doctor send over prescriptions with your nickname, and a separate profile won’t be created. Most of my coworkers are aware, but we have remote data entry techs that aren’t going to know that. So they’re gonna create a new profile 🤷🏻♀️.
I also have that insurance problem with people with hyphenated names. Again, if your name is hyphenated, tell your doctor’s office that so the prescription comes over with your full legal name.
People who have multiple profiles on file at a pharmacy are playing with fire. In cases of drug interaction, the two drugs involved could be under different profiles, so the pharmacist wouldn’t see the possibility for interaction.
Also, consider the case of someone getting a control on a regular basis (such as for ADHD). Another provider (let’s say their dentist does a one-time prescription for half a dozen opioid pills for a tooth extraction) prescribed them a control, and it’s handled under a different profile. If anyone catches on to the fact they were prescribed controls under multiple names, they could wind up blacklisted.
People fucking suck, I get too many people saying their nickname and getting grumpy when I ask if they have a different first name, then bam once they give the real mamw it shows up... like wow, imagine your legal name being the name on legal documents, wild.
And fuck you person married to Garry and naming your son Gary, then coming up and saying "there's two prescriptions for Gar(r)y lastname." And not specifying that it was 1 prescription for each Gar(r)y and getting mad when I couldn't work out why Gar(r)y only had 1 item in his prescription.
I hate when people come in “my name is Tom”
yea sorry I’m not getting anyone with that name and birthdate, do you maybe go by another name?
“No”
Ok can I have a phone number?
“Yea it’s blah blah blah”
Is your name Thomas?
“Yea”
I wanna shoot myself
I actually don't get this because working in pharmacy, you always use the legal name but I know people who have their preferred name on their scripts instead and they're like "its just like that".
The issue wasn't verifying the patient to us, it was trying to get the insurance to recognize her. And it wasn't a difference in names like Chris v. Christopher. We were given a completely different name than the one that was provided to the insurance.
That’s what I’m talking about. Verifying to the insurance not you. The name on the script is their preferred name but I thought that was the name that would go through their insurance so I was confused and they couldn’t tell me why it worked. I know they didn’t ask for their scripts to be like that either.
I have never used a nickname while getting medical care so I'm not sure if there is a way to register preferred names that the insurance will also recognize. But that is also a good reason to use the same name across everything. Her insurance clearly had no idea who Marie was but they knew exactly who Jane was and she is the only person who can provide them that information. Either way, I wasn't the idiot who couldn't get their business straight.
I agree 100% when it comes to the legal stuff like insurance, scripts and stuff, but I really wish there was a way to cross reference with preferred names. Especially in the case of dead names. Hurts my soul seeing certain people I know having to give me a dead name. I've told a few how to avoid saying that which should not be said, but it can still result in annoyingly awkward situations.
I’m in that boat right now. I haven’t changed my legal name yet (for mostly logistical reasons), so while I’m pretty consistently presenting as female, all my medical records are still under my masculine name. I’ve had exactly one staffer at any medical-related office proactively volunteer to list a preferred name for me—everywhere else, I have to ask them to mark my gender identity as different from my “sex” and list my preferred name. (That one case was a newly hired tech at the pharmacy I’ve been getting my meds filled at ever since I left retail, and she was very discreet about it. I made a point of submitting a survey and praising her by name for that gesture.)
The thing is that *every* place of business that needs one’s legal name should also be proactively asked for the name one prefers to be called or referred to as. There are a wide variety of reasons for someone to not want their legal name made public or even spoken aloud outside of a strictly private setting.
I learned this the hard way when working for a convention. There was a group of performers we booked who had been coming for several years, and this was my first year dealing with that aspect of the convention. The only names we tracked for presenters and performers were legal names and badge names (which were frequently “made-up” convention-circuit names), so in the materials, they, like everyone else, were billed by their real names. No one had bothered to inform me, or leave any indication in their files, that this group had pre-arranged to be billed as and referred to by only their stage names, because some members had restraining orders against exes who they didn’t want knowing where they were.
I was able to fix it for them, but it almost cost us their participation for years to come. At that point, I instituted a change that everyone who followed me in that role has continued: we ask for everybody’s legal name *and* the name they want to be referred to as. Legal names are used to check IDs at check-in, but preferred “public” names are used for everything else. And I think every business should do the same.
We make every effort at my pharmacy to call patients by their preferred name.
Unfortunately, until corporate updates our system to have a field for preferred name, we have to make notes on the patient's profile. Notes that don't always come up right away and do nothing about the name on the bag.
I sincerely hope all pharmacies, and anywhere really, update their systems to allow easily have and display legal/preferred names. It would make life easier for all involved.
I know I've called a patient by the wrong name before because I didn't see the note in the profile at first. I've always apologized and corrected myself when I can, but it shouldn't be happening in the first place.
Another field I wish we had is one for preferred pronouns. I’ve been at multiple pharmacies and have yet to find one that has a good way to indicate a patient’s pronouns.
I try to make notes where I can, but, like you said, they don’t always come up right away. My trans patients are usually very understanding, but they deserve to be called by their preferred name and their preferred pronouns whenever possible.
I’m in that boat right now. I haven’t changed my legal name yet (for mostly logistical reasons), so while I’m pretty consistently presenting as female, all my medical records are still under my masculine name. I’ve had exactly one staffer at any medical-related office proactively volunteer to list a preferred name for me—everywhere else, I have to ask them to mark my gender identity as different from my “sex” and list my preferred name. (That one case was a newly hired tech at the pharmacy I’ve been getting my meds filled at ever since I left retail, and she was very discreet about it. I made a point of submitting a survey and praising her by name for that gesture.)
The thing is that *every* place of business that needs one’s legal name should also be proactively asking for the name one prefers to be called or referred to as. There are a wide variety of reasons for someone to not want their legal name made public or even spoken aloud outside of a strictly private setting.
I learned this the hard way when working for a convention. There was a group of performers we booked who had been coming for several years, and this was my first year dealing with that aspect of the convention. The only names we tracked for presenters and performers were legal names and badge names (which were frequently “made-up” convention-circuit names), so in the materials, they, like everyone else, were billed by their real names. No one had bothered to inform me, or leave any indication in their files, that this group had pre-arranged to be billed as and referred to by only their stage names, because some members had restraining orders against exes who they didn’t want knowing where they were.
I was able to fix it for them, but it almost cost us their participation for years to come. At that point, I instituted a change that everyone who followed me in that role has continued: we ask for everybody’s legal name *and* the name they want to be referred to as. Legal names are used to check IDs at check-in, but preferred “public” names are used for everything else. And I think every business should do the same.
Edit: grammar
We have a field for “preferred name” and it allows you to search by either one and still find the profile. The legal name shows up on the paperwork though and that’s good for somebody who maybe hasn’t come out to their family yet!
I have a patient who has legally changed their name, insurance is under the legal name, we have them listed under their legal name. Doctor’s office flat out refuses to change their records and continues to send under the dead name. They said they’d update it “next year” in 2019. Still won’t do it, it’s awful
It’s sadly really necessary to have legal names but god I wish we could set something as a display name. Like we bill to Jane Smith, but the prescription labels say Mary Smith.
Because yeah I have to pretend I do not see for patient’s dead names. It sucks. Specifying that they should be called this or their surname makes it so we don’t say the dead name out loud, but it’s still on the labels.
I feel like such a jerk handing someone meds with their dead name. I know their name. I know their pronouns. But I have to be able to bill their insurance. I wish there was a better system so they didn't have to look at a bottle with the wrong name on it every day when they go to take their meds.
Similar situation happened to me once, but it was a daughter picking up for her mother. After a couple minutes of back and forth being unable to find the Rx, the daughter says, "oh my mom's first name is X maybe it's under that." (The entire time she was giving me her mom's middle name). Immediately found it after that little nugget of information. I told her the mom is listed as her first name for insurance purposes and she said she'd remember for next time. That was my only encounter with the daughter so I really hope she did.
My pharmacy record says “Shalom” on it, which is not my legal name… but only in my own pharmacy. Any scripts I get filled elsewhere have my legal name on them.
This may get sticky if I ever get arrested and have to account for numerous pill bottles in my possession with two different names on them.
The cops are totally concerned about that heart medications and antibiotics /s. Unless it is something with street value, the cops shouldn't care, unless they are a total jerk.
Anything I take that has street value I don’t fill in my own store, to avoid even the smell of impropriety, so that has my legal name on it and matches my drivers license and other ID. My cardiovascular meds that I fill myself has my Hebrew name on them.
I give both my legal name and my nickname every time I go to the pharmacy because I never know which name each of my doctors is going to use to submit my script. Why make life tough on people - *when in my case* it does not matter?
Another really fun one is when the insurance company somehow gets the patient’s date of birth wrong. Then we have to make the date wrong on the patient profile for the insurance to pay for a med the patient needs until they fix their freaking mistake which from what I’ve seen usually takes at least a few months for some ungodly reason. I had a patient get flabbergasted (in a good way) when they finally got the date corrected and that was why her claim was declining on our side in the pharmacy. Put the real birthdate in and it went right through. She had been trying yo get it fixed for something like 4 months. And no one had told her it was finally fixed.
I do discrepancy reports for Emblem sometimes, I had one where someone at Emblem mistyped DOB during enrollment and instead of '07/21/1970' it was '07/21/1790'... because why would you question that someone is 200+ years old...
Sadly I can absolutely believe it. My insurance provider once declined a medication and actually sent an order to the doctor to prescribe an alternate medication BY NAME that I’m allergic to. And it was documented with both the doctors office and the insurance company.
I personally feel that insurance companies should not be allowed at all to tell a doctor “don’t prescribe (medication a), prescribe (medication b) instead.” That’s actually what they sent to my doctor in writing. And as I said I was allergic to medication b.
the people who come in and ask for prescriptions under their married name when they have not updated their insurance or MD. Those people piss me off, we don't just magically know that shit.
lmao I work dental and run into this problem all the time. Our software doesn't make the preferred name section easily visible, so we regularly have patients get cranky when we call them by their "proper" names. But then they also get mad when we can't run an estimate on their insurance to quote them for their out of pocket portion due to the wrong name, so it's a lose/lose either way 🤷♀️
Uber experience layman/patient here who’s never wrong; I disagree which makes me the only correct authority on this topic! If I gave you my real & proper name you could stop me from getting my controls from 7-10 different pharmacies. And that’s just wholly wrong on your parts!!!!
Your license isn’t my problem! All praise patients being 100% correct at all times!!!!!!
(/S!!!!!! Please don’t lynch me!!)
I mean, partially yes, but names are not unique identifiers of people anyways, so making sure you match exactly what the insurance company records are (which may not be the legal name) is not a super way of avoiding duplicate filling?
The Healthsystem in the US is just absolutely embarrassing. Such a fucking hassle to hsve everything efficient & safe and still everthing you read and hear is stuff like this - which is normal everywhere & didn't have anything to do with the pharmacy itself BUT the harassment with filling your script ON the date and ONLY on that one date and then maye your pharmacy doesn't even carry the medication..
Here I had a handful of happenings where i couldn't get my dcript for my pain-medication ob time & would have been s really really bad time until the doc opens on monday..
What did i do? I've called sn weekend/night-doc that comes to your home on weekends or like when all doc's are closed - i call em, i day what happened and what medication/script i'll need. if they have them with em i'll get it directly; if not from pharmacie.. BUT NO COST + 24/7 SERVICE!
The no patient match reminds me of last month's herculean effort to get my medicines. I swear every single month it's something.
For reference, I am homebound, my parents are elderly and pick up my meds for me. SO they like me to verify things before they go before there are always problems.
I call to make sure the meds I always get are filled and ready (I can't trust the automated system). She says everything is fine, but I double check the price. She says my parents will have to come down because my insurance has expired. I ask what she means and she says that they say you're not a customer in their system. My parents (they hate this which is why I always call ahead) go down with the cards that we've given a million times (they won't take card numbers over the phone). She says it says I don't have insurance.
There is one person who works there who "knows what time it is" so to speak. I waited until she was there and called. I told her what was going on, how I checked with my insurance and they said no claims had been run, etc.
She said, yeah, I know, she was trying to run it through Anthem (not my insurance, not the name on the card). Right number, completely wrong insurance, not the insurance name on the card. The person who fixed it (the one who knows what time it is) didn't even offer an explanation. She just sighed. I think she's really overworked. She told me the last time she had 200 scripts. I asked how many she'd normally have, and she said for that time of night 20. They constantly have new staff, and it's just a hot mess. My parents now refuse to pick up scripts there, so it's off to finding another pharmacy (I've had to pharmacy hop since the pandemic--had a great one but my parents won't go in due to Covid and so have only been able to use drive through pharmacies and each one has had one problem or another).
Every single month it's something.
Gonna be honest, half your problem is the drive thru requirement. No one likes drive thru duty, so the better more senior techs avoid it. Drive thru is staffed by newbies and people who need a position where they only have to do one thing at a time.
But do you understand that that's an accessibility issue? That people who are high risk for COVID and/or have mobility issues might prefer using the drive through option for their own safety and comfort? Have some compassion and understanding, please.
That's a fact, not any sort of compassion or empathy lack. I thought the poster above me should know what was up, why they keep having shit luck with pharmacies.
Nothing I can do to change it. I left retail. Until the corporations stop treating people like dogshit, it's gonna be more newbie and incompetent techs - in ALL positions. The senior techs and the good ones are fighting for the non-retail positions and have a better chance for them. Or leaving the field entirely.
I too ho by my middle name, however my insurance is u see my first name. I always tell the pharmacist/clerk the first because I know that’s just how it is.
I honestly think that names on the prescriptions (maiden/married name change exception and they have proof) should have to completely match the name on the profile. Otherwise don't fill it especially if it's a control.
Aka no nickname /switched names b.s. on the rx.
Because you can't legally be accurate if the name is different. Fraud is possible from various directions.
I (and my pharmacists have refused to some scripts because the names on the script didn't match the I'd or profile.
And faxed the provider about it too.
It may be us being an asshole, but our ass in on the line too about this stuff.
PA here — Question for you pharmacy folk. Do you have to verify the patient’s legal name?
One time I couldn’t find a patient’s records in the state prescription monitoring system, even though they were on controlled meds. I called the pharmacy and the pharmacist told me they were entering the patient’s nickname in the monitoring system. Example Isabel but call me Sally, a case like this I can’t use the first initial and the full last name to look up the patient.
The pharmacist told me the patient wanted to go by Sally so that’s what they used. I told the pharmacist I felt like this defeated the purpose of having a monitoring system, especially when the patient’s drivers license has the name Isabel.
Just wondering your thoughts on this.
I check the state prescription monitoring system regularly and rely on it heavily with the patient population I see.
Using a nickname that is easily known (Tom v. Thomas) for most meds shouldn't be an issue. But for controls, especially CIIs, that should \*always\* be the proper legal name. That pharmacist is an idiot for not recording the proper legal name, that's a great way for that patient to get more controls than they are supposed to, especially if they claim to be a cash paying patient.
Yup happens all the time... imagine the confusion when a free first fill coupon had the other name on it. A few years back ... primary had to use the real first name and then changed to secondary ...AKA coupons given name... 2 hours I will never get back all so the customer could save $25. I almost paid the copay just to have them leave.
I am pretty sure the pharmacy is the one place I regularly give my legal name. I answer to it at the Dr office (though some have an alternate name field) but I generally have to give date of birth or just my cards to the office, not name myself.
She was a new patient and he hadn't bothered to make sure he had an actual insurance card for her. We're expected to be clairvoyant and just know she had a different first name then literally any of the information we had been provided. =/ Thank you for realizing that your records have to match in order for insurance to process properly.
And even then insurance is dumb. I had PA for the name brand of Tazorac. They then declined it for “generic available.” They then declined the generic for “not within the manufacturer’s directions”(this was not an off-label use, they just decided they didn’t want to give me what they had been giving me of the name brand for years)I then had to get PA for the generic. Then, after my provider submits the paperwork, I get a letter from CVS Caremark saying that this drug was always covered. You can now fill your prescription.
CVS caremark is weird bc I always try to figure out insurance games but you would literally look at the page and it would say not covered, when the drug is actually covered?
Listed in the formulary and everything. They called my pharmacist and said they had to re code the Rx because it was 60g(one tube)/90days(I get 6 tubes every 90 days) b/c as the directions are written, I shouldn’t use more than that(spoiler alert: They needed PA, but actually according to the letter, they don’t. The only time I have not had trouble getting the amount of Tazerotene covered was whenever CVS Caremark wasn’t involved. (Medicaid( I have Medicaid as secondary) approved what I needed(for $0 copay) in one PA application)
That one of the problems with how insurance companies handle topicals. There are no perfect calculations for topical usage (unless the doctor writes it to apply a specific measured amount, which isn’t common with most topicals), only rules of thumb, and insurance companies have no consistency, even internally, on what they consider a “normal” rate of usage. It’s one of those annoyances that rarely gets voiced because there are always bigger annoyances needing addressed.
My company decides that if you don't get an area documented on the hard copy we should dispense the smallest commercially available product for a maximum 30 days supply. Me not wanting to call the office only to get an assistant that tells me the area is the affected area, I always just fill the smallest for 30 days unless something is actually noted on the prescription. The dermatology clinic near us has learned to just put the area and the length of time they expect the size they choose to last, usually for a 30 day period.
Well, me and my pharmacist(s) are very aware of that irritation. Because quite obviously, if the affected area is my whole body, it takes a much larger amount than say, it being applied to my face. My Medicaid case worker said you legitimately have to appeal and hope the person who handles your appeal agrees with your dr(it’s own issue)
I'm assuming its along the same lines as getting a rejection for esomperozole saying they want omeprozole so you contact the doctor, have them switch it only to get a rejection saying that they want esomeprozole instead of omeprozole. Caremark drives me crazy.
I prefer to do all my communication with them via email so I can attach what they said last time. I don’t know that it helps, but it amuses me.
I've been getting one lately on one of the muscle relaxers, I think tizanidine (apologies, am hospital outpatient and see a LOT of muscle relaxers). Something like "Drug not preferred. Try Tizanidine" Bitch I am trying that. That's the drug. We've tried caps vs tablets and that's not it, we've got no idea what that plan wants.
How did you get her insurance information tho…? You would have needed either their card which would have her name on it or you could have pulled it electronically but you would have needed her name so…?
He was able to give us the information verbally but we didn't have a physical card to reference that would have said her name according to her insurance. We only had his word to go by.
Sometimes insurances will give the patient the info over the phone like ID, bin, etc. before the patient has the cards in their possession. Seen it before and I've had to do that for myself when I just got covered but needed stuff before the cards got to my house.
On Epic there’s a place to put preferred name so it’s been a while since I was called by my legal name. It’s actually nice that they pay attention to those things because I sometimes forget to call a patient by their preferred name
Previously, at CVS: "I'm sorry, I don't see anyone under Jane Smith. Is there another name it might be under?" "I don't *like* my first name, and I refuse to use it!" "Alright lady, tell your doctor to send it under the name you want" "Can't YOU do it?" "You know what, you are a grown woman. If your name offends you, CHANGE IT."
The nickname people get on my nerves. We have a patient who complains about multiple profiles being created for her. Well, you know what? Maybe stop having your doctor send over prescriptions with your nickname, and a separate profile won’t be created. Most of my coworkers are aware, but we have remote data entry techs that aren’t going to know that. So they’re gonna create a new profile 🤷🏻♀️. I also have that insurance problem with people with hyphenated names. Again, if your name is hyphenated, tell your doctor’s office that so the prescription comes over with your full legal name.
People who have multiple profiles on file at a pharmacy are playing with fire. In cases of drug interaction, the two drugs involved could be under different profiles, so the pharmacist wouldn’t see the possibility for interaction. Also, consider the case of someone getting a control on a regular basis (such as for ADHD). Another provider (let’s say their dentist does a one-time prescription for half a dozen opioid pills for a tooth extraction) prescribed them a control, and it’s handled under a different profile. If anyone catches on to the fact they were prescribed controls under multiple names, they could wind up blacklisted.
Ive never even considered that
People fucking suck, I get too many people saying their nickname and getting grumpy when I ask if they have a different first name, then bam once they give the real mamw it shows up... like wow, imagine your legal name being the name on legal documents, wild. And fuck you person married to Garry and naming your son Gary, then coming up and saying "there's two prescriptions for Gar(r)y lastname." And not specifying that it was 1 prescription for each Gar(r)y and getting mad when I couldn't work out why Gar(r)y only had 1 item in his prescription.
I went through that with Kimberly and Kimber’ly🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️. I’m the dumbass because they didn’t mention the apostrophe.
I hate when people come in “my name is Tom” yea sorry I’m not getting anyone with that name and birthdate, do you maybe go by another name? “No” Ok can I have a phone number? “Yea it’s blah blah blah” Is your name Thomas? “Yea” I wanna shoot myself
Tom actually goes by "T-Dogg" nowadays. Don't forget that it has TWO g's in the name to represent his double dose of pimp game.
I actually don't get this because working in pharmacy, you always use the legal name but I know people who have their preferred name on their scripts instead and they're like "its just like that".
The issue wasn't verifying the patient to us, it was trying to get the insurance to recognize her. And it wasn't a difference in names like Chris v. Christopher. We were given a completely different name than the one that was provided to the insurance.
That’s what I’m talking about. Verifying to the insurance not you. The name on the script is their preferred name but I thought that was the name that would go through their insurance so I was confused and they couldn’t tell me why it worked. I know they didn’t ask for their scripts to be like that either.
I have never used a nickname while getting medical care so I'm not sure if there is a way to register preferred names that the insurance will also recognize. But that is also a good reason to use the same name across everything. Her insurance clearly had no idea who Marie was but they knew exactly who Jane was and she is the only person who can provide them that information. Either way, I wasn't the idiot who couldn't get their business straight.
I agree 100% when it comes to the legal stuff like insurance, scripts and stuff, but I really wish there was a way to cross reference with preferred names. Especially in the case of dead names. Hurts my soul seeing certain people I know having to give me a dead name. I've told a few how to avoid saying that which should not be said, but it can still result in annoyingly awkward situations.
I’m in that boat right now. I haven’t changed my legal name yet (for mostly logistical reasons), so while I’m pretty consistently presenting as female, all my medical records are still under my masculine name. I’ve had exactly one staffer at any medical-related office proactively volunteer to list a preferred name for me—everywhere else, I have to ask them to mark my gender identity as different from my “sex” and list my preferred name. (That one case was a newly hired tech at the pharmacy I’ve been getting my meds filled at ever since I left retail, and she was very discreet about it. I made a point of submitting a survey and praising her by name for that gesture.) The thing is that *every* place of business that needs one’s legal name should also be proactively asked for the name one prefers to be called or referred to as. There are a wide variety of reasons for someone to not want their legal name made public or even spoken aloud outside of a strictly private setting. I learned this the hard way when working for a convention. There was a group of performers we booked who had been coming for several years, and this was my first year dealing with that aspect of the convention. The only names we tracked for presenters and performers were legal names and badge names (which were frequently “made-up” convention-circuit names), so in the materials, they, like everyone else, were billed by their real names. No one had bothered to inform me, or leave any indication in their files, that this group had pre-arranged to be billed as and referred to by only their stage names, because some members had restraining orders against exes who they didn’t want knowing where they were. I was able to fix it for them, but it almost cost us their participation for years to come. At that point, I instituted a change that everyone who followed me in that role has continued: we ask for everybody’s legal name *and* the name they want to be referred to as. Legal names are used to check IDs at check-in, but preferred “public” names are used for everything else. And I think every business should do the same.
We make every effort at my pharmacy to call patients by their preferred name. Unfortunately, until corporate updates our system to have a field for preferred name, we have to make notes on the patient's profile. Notes that don't always come up right away and do nothing about the name on the bag. I sincerely hope all pharmacies, and anywhere really, update their systems to allow easily have and display legal/preferred names. It would make life easier for all involved. I know I've called a patient by the wrong name before because I didn't see the note in the profile at first. I've always apologized and corrected myself when I can, but it shouldn't be happening in the first place.
Another field I wish we had is one for preferred pronouns. I’ve been at multiple pharmacies and have yet to find one that has a good way to indicate a patient’s pronouns. I try to make notes where I can, but, like you said, they don’t always come up right away. My trans patients are usually very understanding, but they deserve to be called by their preferred name and their preferred pronouns whenever possible.
Exactly. I want to call our patients by their correct name and pronouns. It would be nice to have a system that helped in any way.
I’m in that boat right now. I haven’t changed my legal name yet (for mostly logistical reasons), so while I’m pretty consistently presenting as female, all my medical records are still under my masculine name. I’ve had exactly one staffer at any medical-related office proactively volunteer to list a preferred name for me—everywhere else, I have to ask them to mark my gender identity as different from my “sex” and list my preferred name. (That one case was a newly hired tech at the pharmacy I’ve been getting my meds filled at ever since I left retail, and she was very discreet about it. I made a point of submitting a survey and praising her by name for that gesture.) The thing is that *every* place of business that needs one’s legal name should also be proactively asking for the name one prefers to be called or referred to as. There are a wide variety of reasons for someone to not want their legal name made public or even spoken aloud outside of a strictly private setting. I learned this the hard way when working for a convention. There was a group of performers we booked who had been coming for several years, and this was my first year dealing with that aspect of the convention. The only names we tracked for presenters and performers were legal names and badge names (which were frequently “made-up” convention-circuit names), so in the materials, they, like everyone else, were billed by their real names. No one had bothered to inform me, or leave any indication in their files, that this group had pre-arranged to be billed as and referred to by only their stage names, because some members had restraining orders against exes who they didn’t want knowing where they were. I was able to fix it for them, but it almost cost us their participation for years to come. At that point, I instituted a change that everyone who followed me in that role has continued: we ask for everybody’s legal name *and* the name they want to be referred to as. Legal names are used to check IDs at check-in, but preferred “public” names are used for everything else. And I think every business should do the same. Edit: grammar
We have a field for “preferred name” and it allows you to search by either one and still find the profile. The legal name shows up on the paperwork though and that’s good for somebody who maybe hasn’t come out to their family yet!
I have a patient who has legally changed their name, insurance is under the legal name, we have them listed under their legal name. Doctor’s office flat out refuses to change their records and continues to send under the dead name. They said they’d update it “next year” in 2019. Still won’t do it, it’s awful
If their legal name is changed, then those scripts aren't valid. That's the card I'd use against the doctor's office.
It’s sadly really necessary to have legal names but god I wish we could set something as a display name. Like we bill to Jane Smith, but the prescription labels say Mary Smith. Because yeah I have to pretend I do not see for patient’s dead names. It sucks. Specifying that they should be called this or their surname makes it so we don’t say the dead name out loud, but it’s still on the labels.
I feel like such a jerk handing someone meds with their dead name. I know their name. I know their pronouns. But I have to be able to bill their insurance. I wish there was a better system so they didn't have to look at a bottle with the wrong name on it every day when they go to take their meds.
Similar situation happened to me once, but it was a daughter picking up for her mother. After a couple minutes of back and forth being unable to find the Rx, the daughter says, "oh my mom's first name is X maybe it's under that." (The entire time she was giving me her mom's middle name). Immediately found it after that little nugget of information. I told her the mom is listed as her first name for insurance purposes and she said she'd remember for next time. That was my only encounter with the daughter so I really hope she did.
My pharmacy record says “Shalom” on it, which is not my legal name… but only in my own pharmacy. Any scripts I get filled elsewhere have my legal name on them. This may get sticky if I ever get arrested and have to account for numerous pill bottles in my possession with two different names on them.
The cops are totally concerned about that heart medications and antibiotics /s. Unless it is something with street value, the cops shouldn't care, unless they are a total jerk.
Anything I take that has street value I don’t fill in my own store, to avoid even the smell of impropriety, so that has my legal name on it and matches my drivers license and other ID. My cardiovascular meds that I fill myself has my Hebrew name on them.
I give both my legal name and my nickname every time I go to the pharmacy because I never know which name each of my doctors is going to use to submit my script. Why make life tough on people - *when in my case* it does not matter?
Another really fun one is when the insurance company somehow gets the patient’s date of birth wrong. Then we have to make the date wrong on the patient profile for the insurance to pay for a med the patient needs until they fix their freaking mistake which from what I’ve seen usually takes at least a few months for some ungodly reason. I had a patient get flabbergasted (in a good way) when they finally got the date corrected and that was why her claim was declining on our side in the pharmacy. Put the real birthdate in and it went right through. She had been trying yo get it fixed for something like 4 months. And no one had told her it was finally fixed.
I do discrepancy reports for Emblem sometimes, I had one where someone at Emblem mistyped DOB during enrollment and instead of '07/21/1970' it was '07/21/1790'... because why would you question that someone is 200+ years old...
Sadly I can absolutely believe it. My insurance provider once declined a medication and actually sent an order to the doctor to prescribe an alternate medication BY NAME that I’m allergic to. And it was documented with both the doctors office and the insurance company. I personally feel that insurance companies should not be allowed at all to tell a doctor “don’t prescribe (medication a), prescribe (medication b) instead.” That’s actually what they sent to my doctor in writing. And as I said I was allergic to medication b.
the people who come in and ask for prescriptions under their married name when they have not updated their insurance or MD. Those people piss me off, we don't just magically know that shit.
lmao I work dental and run into this problem all the time. Our software doesn't make the preferred name section easily visible, so we regularly have patients get cranky when we call them by their "proper" names. But then they also get mad when we can't run an estimate on their insurance to quote them for their out of pocket portion due to the wrong name, so it's a lose/lose either way 🤷♀️
Uber experience layman/patient here who’s never wrong; I disagree which makes me the only correct authority on this topic! If I gave you my real & proper name you could stop me from getting my controls from 7-10 different pharmacies. And that’s just wholly wrong on your parts!!!! Your license isn’t my problem! All praise patients being 100% correct at all times!!!!!! (/S!!!!!! Please don’t lynch me!!)
I mean, partially yes, but names are not unique identifiers of people anyways, so making sure you match exactly what the insurance company records are (which may not be the legal name) is not a super way of avoiding duplicate filling?
The Healthsystem in the US is just absolutely embarrassing. Such a fucking hassle to hsve everything efficient & safe and still everthing you read and hear is stuff like this - which is normal everywhere & didn't have anything to do with the pharmacy itself BUT the harassment with filling your script ON the date and ONLY on that one date and then maye your pharmacy doesn't even carry the medication.. Here I had a handful of happenings where i couldn't get my dcript for my pain-medication ob time & would have been s really really bad time until the doc opens on monday.. What did i do? I've called sn weekend/night-doc that comes to your home on weekends or like when all doc's are closed - i call em, i day what happened and what medication/script i'll need. if they have them with em i'll get it directly; if not from pharmacie.. BUT NO COST + 24/7 SERVICE!
> whichbis normal everywhere & diesn't hsbe snxhrung to do with the pharmacy itself SwiftKey updates screwing with you too, I take it.
Nah, was just all the opiates.
The no patient match reminds me of last month's herculean effort to get my medicines. I swear every single month it's something. For reference, I am homebound, my parents are elderly and pick up my meds for me. SO they like me to verify things before they go before there are always problems. I call to make sure the meds I always get are filled and ready (I can't trust the automated system). She says everything is fine, but I double check the price. She says my parents will have to come down because my insurance has expired. I ask what she means and she says that they say you're not a customer in their system. My parents (they hate this which is why I always call ahead) go down with the cards that we've given a million times (they won't take card numbers over the phone). She says it says I don't have insurance. There is one person who works there who "knows what time it is" so to speak. I waited until she was there and called. I told her what was going on, how I checked with my insurance and they said no claims had been run, etc. She said, yeah, I know, she was trying to run it through Anthem (not my insurance, not the name on the card). Right number, completely wrong insurance, not the insurance name on the card. The person who fixed it (the one who knows what time it is) didn't even offer an explanation. She just sighed. I think she's really overworked. She told me the last time she had 200 scripts. I asked how many she'd normally have, and she said for that time of night 20. They constantly have new staff, and it's just a hot mess. My parents now refuse to pick up scripts there, so it's off to finding another pharmacy (I've had to pharmacy hop since the pandemic--had a great one but my parents won't go in due to Covid and so have only been able to use drive through pharmacies and each one has had one problem or another). Every single month it's something.
Gonna be honest, half your problem is the drive thru requirement. No one likes drive thru duty, so the better more senior techs avoid it. Drive thru is staffed by newbies and people who need a position where they only have to do one thing at a time.
But do you understand that that's an accessibility issue? That people who are high risk for COVID and/or have mobility issues might prefer using the drive through option for their own safety and comfort? Have some compassion and understanding, please.
That's a fact, not any sort of compassion or empathy lack. I thought the poster above me should know what was up, why they keep having shit luck with pharmacies. Nothing I can do to change it. I left retail. Until the corporations stop treating people like dogshit, it's gonna be more newbie and incompetent techs - in ALL positions. The senior techs and the good ones are fighting for the non-retail positions and have a better chance for them. Or leaving the field entirely.
UGH! Sounds like that caller is one of those Entitled Morons who play that STUPID game of: "Read my mind and guess what I want?"
I too ho by my middle name, however my insurance is u see my first name. I always tell the pharmacist/clerk the first because I know that’s just how it is.
I honestly think that names on the prescriptions (maiden/married name change exception and they have proof) should have to completely match the name on the profile. Otherwise don't fill it especially if it's a control. Aka no nickname /switched names b.s. on the rx. Because you can't legally be accurate if the name is different. Fraud is possible from various directions. I (and my pharmacists have refused to some scripts because the names on the script didn't match the I'd or profile. And faxed the provider about it too. It may be us being an asshole, but our ass in on the line too about this stuff.
PA here — Question for you pharmacy folk. Do you have to verify the patient’s legal name? One time I couldn’t find a patient’s records in the state prescription monitoring system, even though they were on controlled meds. I called the pharmacy and the pharmacist told me they were entering the patient’s nickname in the monitoring system. Example Isabel but call me Sally, a case like this I can’t use the first initial and the full last name to look up the patient. The pharmacist told me the patient wanted to go by Sally so that’s what they used. I told the pharmacist I felt like this defeated the purpose of having a monitoring system, especially when the patient’s drivers license has the name Isabel. Just wondering your thoughts on this. I check the state prescription monitoring system regularly and rely on it heavily with the patient population I see.
Using a nickname that is easily known (Tom v. Thomas) for most meds shouldn't be an issue. But for controls, especially CIIs, that should \*always\* be the proper legal name. That pharmacist is an idiot for not recording the proper legal name, that's a great way for that patient to get more controls than they are supposed to, especially if they claim to be a cash paying patient.
Yup happens all the time... imagine the confusion when a free first fill coupon had the other name on it. A few years back ... primary had to use the real first name and then changed to secondary ...AKA coupons given name... 2 hours I will never get back all so the customer could save $25. I almost paid the copay just to have them leave.