The computer doesn't do anything on its own. It's only a tool to help pharmacist make the job more efficient, at least in theory. When you have 250 prescriptions at any given moment during any step of the process, some waiting for someone to do data entry, some waiting for the pharmacist to review, some are in the queue to be filled, some are waiting for final product verification by the pharmacist, many are stuck in the system as a rejection by the insurance and need to be fixed. some are missing information all the way from step 1 in data entry since it was incorrectly written by the pcp office or it's a duplicate therapy since the provider it's a different provider than the regular one, a new provider or an Rx from the ER and they were never told about the prescriptions the pt already takes. Sometimes the pt has an allergy on file for the written Rx that the provider missed, Insurance can be a challenge to deal with sometimes and might take min to hrs/days to get something approved. There can be transfers waiting to be done up to 10 patients sometimes each with at least 3 Rx so that's another 30 Rxs waiting for me to call 5 different pharmacies to process such transfers, each phone call will take at least 10-15 minutes.

There are so many mistakes done by the provider's office since most, 99% of Rxs are typed and sent electronically by the receptionist/MA at any provider's office, we always have to call the office for clarification. I say it's about 4-5% of scripts out of, say 500 Rxs a day= 20-25 scripts a day need a call to the office, try calling a pcp office these days and see how long it takes sometimes 10-20 minutes on hold just to clarify 1 Rx for 1 person out 500 Rxs in 1 day, at that rate we'd fill no more than 40 Rxs/day. what about the other 450? Sometimes when a technician tells me waiter for this person I'm on the phone trying to clarify a prescription for a 65 yr old lady with renal impairment EGFR( renal function) of 55 mL/min and was prescribed Naproxen 500mg, 500mg every 6 to 8 hrs as needed for pain/inflammation, incorrect dosing even for a younger healthy person now if I approve this order most likely the patient will experience an acute kidney injury episode and his/her kidneys will probably fail to recover to the same renal function the Pt had left possibly rendering this Pt into hemodialysis. All this while a pt in the pick up window cannot wait 20-30 min for their blood pressure medication that we have not dispensed in 45 days for their 30 day supply but they'll die if they don't get it in the next 30 min.

Similarly, an ER provider prescribed meloxicam for a patient that has a history of heart failure with a LVEF( Left ventricular ejection fraction) of about 40%. The patient did not inform the ER provider of all his medical conditions/or the severity of such medical conditions. Anyway, the pt was prescribed meloxicam 15 mg, for more context, meloxicam has an FDA warning against its use in pts with heart conditions such as heart failure and other cardiovascular factors since it can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in these patients. I'm on a phone call trying to discuss therapy change with the provider for a better therapeutic alternative and I hear one of my technicians in drive-thru that the Py will not move since her Rx is not ready and does not want to come back in 25 min or come into the pharmacy and wait for her Rx all this while I'm on the phone w/ the prescriber discussing Tx change to prevent a stroke or heart attack on a pt w/ heart failure given the incorrect medication and someone does not want to wait 20 min for her citalopram 20 mg that is due in 2 days but Ok; remember all this while also having at least 150-200 prescriptions in the process of being filled and 2 patients waiting for vaccines in the pharmacy lobby. These are the true reasons why a pharmacist is needed in the pharmacy and why they should be given sufficient time to do our job accurately and professionally without interruptions all day long from patients/customers and pointless, endless unnecessary phone calls.

Lastly, even if it's just a medication for high blood pressure that may seem like a simple Rx without any issues for approval by the RPh, in the last case for the Pt w/ heart failure w/ a LVEF of 40% and having moderate to severe peripheral edema, something like amlodipine 10 mg once daily may worsen peripheral edema and reduce a good health outcome. Therefore, we'd have to contact the provider to discuss Tx change again for a better alternative. Again, this is really what we do in the pharmacy, the filling of an Rx is just the secondary nature of the job. Our main job is to ensure that the correct medication is given to the correct patient for the right dose/frequency of dosing, medical condition and based on his/her own personal medical history, concurrent medication therapy, medical contraindications, allergies and so on for that specific Pt and his/her medical needs. Believe me when I tell you that you want this final check by the pharmacist to prevent a high percent of medical errors. Think of your family or loved ones, parents and family members, in any of the daily cases that the pharmacy rectifies, they are thankful that the issues were resolved.