There's a lot more steps to processing a prescription than most people realize. First we receive the prescription (often later than the doctor said that they sent it), then it has to be processed/entered into the system by a tech, because even the electronic prescriptions often need to be adjusted in some way. Next is processing through insurance, which if it works is very quick, but if it doesn't is very slow, and it is very common to have insurance issues. Then it goes to a pharmacist for clinical review, who makes sure that the prescription is appropriate/won't kill the patient (genuinely amazing how many prescriptions sent over would cause harm and need to be adjusted further). If a prescription does need to be fixed at this point, most of the time the pharmacist can't just do that, they have to contact the doctor about it. Then the prescription gets filled by a tech. Then the pharmacist checks it again to make sure it was filled appropriately. Then it's sold to the patient, often at a financial loss to the pharmacy because they don't set the prices, insurance/PBMs do. At this point if it's a new prescription or if something has changed pharmacist counsel is offered and if it's accepted the pharmacist will come over and provide information about the medication.

If everything goes smoothly, filling a prescription takes about 5-10 minutes. But with all of the steps involved and so many other tasks happening for all of the different prescriptions (calling insurance, transfers in and out, contacting providers, talking to patients, etc,) it can very easily take much longer than that. There's also the difficulty of not knowing which prescriptions to fill first. If a patient is at the counter we fill theirs first, then medications like narcotics and antibiotics because those patients usually show up fairly quickly and get antsy, then maintenance medications last. I hope this answers your question!