Medco CEO Under Fire for Anti-Retail Remarks

Share:

David   October 18th, 2011 04:10:1604:16:26 PM

This is another example of big business looking after their bottom line and don't realy have any concern about well being of their customer. Business leader such as like this, is out of touch with the people they service and only see us as number.

Gina   October 18th, 2011 04:10:4404:44:06 PM

When your child is sick and the Dr. is gone for the day, weekend, holiday...who would you rather talk to? A robot or your neighborhood pharmacist??

Steve   October 18th, 2011 05:10:3005:30:17 PM

Hope that robot can get your sick family member med on the weekend when Dr no where to be found or everyone will be in ER. Just what is needed, increase in ER Visits!

Wendy   October 18th, 2011 05:10:5705:57:23 PM

I'm pretty sure a robot could replace David Snow without a glitch--neither one has any signs of humanity. I'd probably prefer to talk to the robot anyway...

Michelle   October 18th, 2011 06:10:1406:14:10 PM

Obviously this schmuck has never spent one minute behind a pharmacy counter. Especially explaining why his company wouldn't paid for much needed medication, What a prior auth is, why the copay is so high, and why the patient hasn't recieved his new insurance card yet. With all ths stupid insurance problems, it's no wonder we pharmacists make mistakes. I spend MUCH more time dealing with insurance companies than doctors. If insurance could explain their programs to their patients in PLAIN English, I could spend more TIME with the patients. This waste of time with insurance companies has gotten worse every year for the past 33 years I have been practicing.

j   October 18th, 2011 06:10:1806:18:27 PM

what a dick

Mary   October 18th, 2011 06:10:4206:42:26 PM

I agree Michelle, Just spent 20 minutes on the phone with a Medco "specialist" trying to a patient's needed medication that was not coverered. I am one of those pharmacists in a brick and mortar store that tries to help my patients. Has he ever done anything to help his customer?

Stacy    October 18th, 2011 07:10:0007:00:25 PM

Wendy and Michelle are right. This ***hole shows no sign of humanity and has never worked as a pharmacist and felt the satisfaction of knowing you have positively impacted a patient's health. I back a CEO robot project 100%.

Colleen   October 18th, 2011 07:10:1407:14:45 PM

I agree with Michelle and Mary...insurance companies are the problem... taking away time spent with our patients. Get your facts straight David.

Geoffrey G. Selvage   October 18th, 2011 07:10:2507:25:11 PM

i am the brick and mortar pharmacy practitioner who insures that his medco does not leave empty-handed when the mail order is later

Jim "Uncle Stan" Middleton   October 18th, 2011 08:10:2408:24:32 PM

Please forgive the knee-jerk reaction to this story, but Medco and David Snow can both go straight to hell.

Jerry Cipponeri R.Ph.   October 18th, 2011 10:10:1110:11:15 PM

I too am one of the brick and mortar pharmacist. I have I have been practicing for 43 years in just about every aspect of pharmacy. Much of that time spent in clinical practice. How dare he presume that were are no better but worst than robots. He has know idea what he is talking about. His bread and butter is provided due to the work that we do. I have never tal;ked to a patient who has gotton any more than a hassel from both Medco and Express Scritps. I'll put my abilities up against theirs any day.

Jerry Cipponeri R.Ph.   October 18th, 2011 10:10:1310:13:38 PM

And by the way I"m sure my community feels the same!

Dawn    October 18th, 2011 10:10:3510:35:14 PM

What an idiot!!!!! Yes, we NEVER talk to the patients (sarcasm). While the mail order houses are cranking out EXPENSIVE Rxs (I mean who really cares since their "insurance" picks up most of the tab anyway), and they are having the RETAIL pharmacist manage their formularies for FREE.... We are the ones who smell the tobacco on the Rxs and engage in converstaions regarding smoking cessation. WE are the ones who have figured out that generic statins are the 2nd line (AFTER diet and exercise as we peer into the carts of the patients screaming about their copays - but braggin they get a "discount" on their copays if they go mail order, etc) - and we tell them that LIPITOR isn't their answer... But what does MEDCO care, they are getting a "kickback" from the Lipitor folks and NOT passing it onto the patient NOR the employer who is in effect paying most of the bills. But then again WHAT does my opinion matter - I'm just a robot, having 100s of more "patient interactions" in a 8 hour shift then the mail order or pbm pharmacist who NEVER, EVER sees a patient in person. a...hole.

Dawn   October 18th, 2011 10:10:4910:49:39 PM

Jim "uncle" - have to agree with you. But worse than HELL, how about they are stuck in the loop trying to get information from their 800 number for HOURS going NOwhere while a patient with a puking kid is standing in front of him screaming as they haven't been mailed their MEDCO card yet. And after all of that while running the Rx, it saying "NDC not covered"................. Now that is HELL and what the "robots" have to deal with DAILY. Can I say again A...Hole. What does his Board of Directors have to say about this. Better yet - come to think of it I still own stock in this horrible company. SELL.

Dawn   October 18th, 2011 11:10:2811:28:38 PM

Dear Mr. Snow - who do you think walks the patient to the OTC aisle and looks at OTC alternatives to Protonix/Nexium, Clarinex/Zyrtec, etc???? The "robot" is the one having the conversation with the patient showing them the alternatives to the more expensive Rx (which is now NOT covered) and helps that patient with product selection, dosing, side effects, etc. So for ALL of that to which you can brag your PA systems have "saved" money for your PBM clients (employers), we (the robots) understand your THANK YOU!!! for that..... a...hole.

Steve   October 18th, 2011 11:10:5511:55:24 PM

I wonder if the Medco mail order pharmacist would have picked up on the aplastic anemia I suspected when the lady who came to my pharmacy for a refill of her medication complained of mouth ulcers and a sore throat. I doubt it. I referred her to a clinic MD who admitted her to hospital where her problem was treated successfully. That's hard to do by mail.

Sue r rph   October 19th, 2011 08:10:1408:14:43 AM

30 years ago we were reimbursed by insurance companies at a fair rate. When I tell people we make more profit on selling a tube of mascara they are horrified When I would have been working with 3 well paid techs now I work with 2 techs paid minimum wage. When I would have time to speak to each individual patient I'm now on the phone with insurance companies whose job it is to NOT pay for their
prescriptions. So let's gets this straight... We work under atrocious conditions... No breaks, understaffed, overworked, high stress levels and this CEO who works for a company that bullies all health care workers,could care less what is best of the patient, requires 2 weeks to fill a prescription, hires people that barely speak English and will tell the patient anything they want to get them off the phone calls us second to robots?who actually created our current health care environment? Have you ever asked someone from medco to call you back with an answer or call the patient to explain why their customer service told the patient one thing and their pharmacy help desk tells us something completly opposite? Their phones don't dial out!!! Why do we struggle with bin, PCn, group, cardholder Id's when all they have to do is spend a few cents and put a magnetic strip on the card so we can swipe it like a charge card. Why doesn't Mr Snow talk to pharmacists to see how he can help make the relationship better rather than taking swipes at our ability and integrity.

Robert Heiss   October 19th, 2011 09:10:1009:10:48 AM

A dick ? too much of a compliment I think. Thoughtless & ignorant definately.

Joe Jeffries   October 19th, 2011 09:10:2909:29:01 AM

We think there is going to be transparency in this ExpressScripts deal? Snow and his buddies at Medco basically paid for the wedding (4 million!) of a CalPERS CEO in order to get the Rx contract. Only when they were vetted out did CalPERS drop Medco. Sounds like real honest people.

Wayne   October 19th, 2011 10:10:2410:24:18 AM

Did you notice that NO ONE agrees with Mr. Snow? He obviously has no experience in the pharmacy. He needs to get his pharmacy license and work in the real world for a few years. Can he understand why practicing pharmacists view insurance companies as the lowest form life? If you want to improve the state of health care, completely eliminate insurance!!!

Not A Company Shill   October 19th, 2011 11:10:5511:55:02 AM

I work as an rph for one of the mail order companies and I can understand the sense of frustration having worked in retail for nearly a decade prior to that. I have seen both sides of the equation and retail is not what it used to be and there are pluses & minuses on both sides.

Melanie   October 19th, 2011 01:10:1101:11:28 PM

I understand insurance companies trying to decrease how much they have to spend, just like every other company is in this economy. But patients must be allowed the freedom to choose which pharmacy they want to have their prescriptions filled. Give them a choice with the same copay for a 90 day supply and we will see who wins! I would place money on the brick and mortar pharmacy every time. As far as his comment about a high school student delivering prescriptions to the customer, we could say the same about postal workers or other delivery services or means in which they get prescriptions to their members. Regarding the comment that we as pharmacists do not go out and talk to our customers, that is a bunch of BS. In my pharmacy the pharmacist is alone half the time we are open, the pharmacists are ringing up the prescription and very accessible to ask and answer questions. I have helped solve customers issues with side effects by being out there communicating with them. Most of my customers do not even have to tell me their name as I recognize them, I go out of my way to make conversation with them, ask if they are feeling better from a recent course of antibiotics, or cry with them when their husband was on hospice and just passed away or they just lost their sister at a very young age. A robot could not or would not do this, and these personal relationships are what establishes trust and loyalty to a pharmacist or pharmacy, and just one of the things that sets us apart from mail order pharmacies, whose employees are as unavailable as their members prescriptions. I would argue that David Snow is incapable of any form of sympathy or compassion, and is also delusional, narcissistic, and idiotic if he really believes we do not interact with our customers and make a difference in healthcare outcomes. Why won't Medco cover Flu shots? He wants to talk about improving outcomes, let's start with preventative health care. He needs to be the next contestant on the television show "Undercover Boss," and be knocked down off his high horse.

Jamie   October 19th, 2011 01:10:4801:48:19 PM

I work in a busy pharmacy, and guess what? On every new Rx, even renewals, you get face time with a pharmacist (which some jerks grumble about me wasting their time).

It has been a long term dream/wish of mine that anybody working for a retail company (of any kind) that does not work directly in a store be mandated to work in a store a couple of days each quarter. They don't really have to do anything-stand at the cash register and help bag stuff. See what is really going on at the store, not just statistics

Dinasaur   October 19th, 2011 02:10:1302:13:12 PM

Although misguided, Mr. Snow's underlying message is the physical act of filling a prescription does not need to be done by a pharmacist. No question, a machine is more accurate than a person. Ask UCSF, which added a large robotic pharmacy to its mission bay medical center. This particular machine fills both inpatient and outpatient medications for 2 hospitals. On a side note, I find it interesting that the article asked the National Association of Chain Drug stores for comment, they all offer mail order to fill prescriptions, including those delivered to their stores. The Pharmacy community needs to accept our role is changing. Licking and Sticking is not the future of our profession. I am not saying the community pharmacist should be eliminated, but on the contrary the community pharmacist needs to change his/her practice to accommodate the changing environment or go the way of the dinosaur. Unfortunately in California, CPhA appears to be pushing the pharmacist to extinction.

Larry   October 19th, 2011 03:10:4003:40:08 PM

who does he think loads these wonderful robots with the correct medication, another robot? We spend valuable face to face time with our patients and could spend even more time with them if we werent stuck on the phone with insurance companies all day trying to over-ride their software errors.

Bob,R.Ph   October 19th, 2011 04:10:3004:30:25 PM

What an IDIOT. He should spend just 1 hour in community pharmacy, and he will have a lesson of his life!David Snow is a DICK and big a--hole. Go to hell.

Paul   October 19th, 2011 06:10:2906:29:53 PM

This puncutates, validates, demonstrates another reason why I support Occupy Wall Street/[your town]. How did we allow insurance companies to become pharmacies? Looks like 'Snows job' is to destroy, yet, another middle class career. Support OCCUPY[your town]!

telling it like it is   October 19th, 2011 06:10:4406:44:12 PM

working in retail for over 5 years. not a week goes by i don't hear complaints about how medco or express scripts didn't deliver the mail order meds on time. so i have to go out of my way and help a customer who hasn't been to my store in years -yes years- and get them their meds. the "thank you" i get is worth the trouble. i actually spend all 10 to 12 hours of my shift filling scripts, counseling on the phone and in the aisles, giving shots, listen to conference calls berating my coworkers and have to do it with a smile on my face. Mr Snow, i dare you to work at my job for a month and not wet your pants or come crying home to mama. 12 hours, no breaks and it has to be done in 15 mins or someone gets a gift card. think a robot can fix up an escript for medrol dose pak that reads 1 daily or a prednisone taper with the directions at the very bottom of the escript? good luck with the merger. retail pharmacy is a lost cause with these morons at the helm. better yet why not rename the company cvs jr.

bibi   October 19th, 2011 07:10:4007:40:20 PM

Its amazing or rather Ironic that its Medco mail-order customers that flood my pharmacy with questions and complaints about their medications
.

Dawn   October 19th, 2011 10:10:1910:19:02 PM

Bibi and others, maybe that is the new business model. We all get make up a form for charging the mail order folks (only MEDCO at this point) and get Congress to MANDATE reimbursement for these patient interactions when those folks come in with their mail order Rxs and have questions. Now THAT would change things. I agree also with the person who stated - all things being equal - do a 90 DS at retail or mail order for the same copay and see what patients chose.

I feel like I'm seeing the beginning of the end to this (at the very beginning), just like when Circuit City didn't sell the printer cartridges for the printer you bought there last week, or Bank of America when their customer service started declining. This is the (very) beginning to the end, as if the CEO is this STUPID to make these comments, how can he be trusted to manage a billion dollar company? Speaks to competency to me and integrity - to which there isn't a lot.

John B Noriega. Pharmacist Bill's Prescription Center Est 1956 Brandon Florida 33511   October 20th, 2011 06:10:0306:03:10 AM

I want thank Mr Snow for his comments.
He obviously receives his medicine from the UPS driver or the fed ex driver or maybe he is a lucky one he picks his up from the mail box.

Thank you hope to have a conversation soon !
John B

Scot L    October 20th, 2011 05:10:1405:14:54 PM

As one who has worked in both retail and mail pharmacies, there is a flaw in the accuracy claim for robotic pharmacy processing...a live human still has to put the right drug in the right hopper so the automated dispensing can happen!

Steven Matschikowski   October 20th, 2011 05:10:2805:28:07 PM

I'm sorry to say that the problem here is less about MEDCO or other PMBs than about the Public's Preception of PHARMACY in general. In the 25 years I've been in practice I've seen a slow degradation in the public's view and respect of the Pharmacy Profession in general. When I started training years ago I worked for an independent pharmacy and felt people valued the Pharmacist for what we are - Trained Healthcare Professionals and Community Source of Information. Since then with the growth of RETAIL PHARMACY PRACTICE - a pharmacy in every food store and mass retail outlet under the sun .. ( drive through pharmacy included al la McDonalds ). We have become - despite out best intentions for " better customer service " - our own worst enemy. We are now intimately associated with the product we sell and how that product is sold ... ( No better than a small department in a big store ) and associated with those that " sell shoes, food, and clothing" - PROFIT is our only motive . This is obviously wrong - and I have flashbacks to an exchange I had with a STORE MANAGER at one of those big retailers years ago where a Patient went to the SERVICE DESK and wanted to RETURN her PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION and get a REFUND => The manager told me to take the medication back .. refund the money ... and place the medication/drug back on my shelf to sell to someone else ... ( My response , in anger , was - " what do you think I'm selling here - a pair of shoes ? " ) The Manager didn't see the difference between PHARMACY and RETAIL SALES. Most people don't see the difference. I rest my case.

The Redheaded Pharmacist   October 21st, 2011 12:10:4712:47:23 AM

I'm guessing that the Medco School of Pharmacy will not be asking David Snow to speak at their first pharmacy school graduation ceremony now will they? Of course by the time that school of pharmacy graduates a class it could be called The Medco/Express Scripts/Humana/Cigna/Caremark School of Pharmacy. Kind of has a ring to it doesn't it?

Steven Kozel, Pharm.dD.   October 21st, 2011 02:10:2002:20:25 AM

I,ll be succinct; Mr. Snow, surely to mention a quality statistic such as robots are 23 times more accurate than human pharmacists, can you provide a study that will stand up to robust scientific review? Perhaps you could include study design, sample size, population characteristics and statistical analysis supporting your claim for all interested parties to review? Did you publish your study in a peer reviewed journal? If, so I've never read the study that supports this claim. Oh, that's right I saw it on your commercial web site or oops Medco's marketing web site. I think it is time to put up or stop the hyperbole.

Tim   October 21st, 2011 07:10:3907:39:24 AM

I find that the majority of pharmacist I encounter in a retail/chain setting do not interact with patients as they should. This should be another wake up call to pharmacist to get off the stool and talk with patients. My partner sets on a stool with his arms crossed all day long. The last partner I had was right out of school and spent much of his time on his iPhone.

STEVE    October 21st, 2011 12:10:2512:25:14 PM

Mr. Snow speaks out of both sided of his mouth. It is interesting that during his (oath sworn) testimony before the House Judiciary Sub-committee, he did speak glowingly about the role, relationship, and partnership of the Community Pharmacist. I hope that this gets shared with the Congressional committee to demonstrate how these very profitable, unregulated Middle Men Lie through their teeth to get their way. They add no value to health care. They design benefits (even though they deny it) to self-refer. They violated HIPAA every day by using protected patient health information (claims date from community pharmacies) to market their own mail-order pharmacy (which is nothing more that a retail competitor- with the advantage of illegal class of trade discriminatory pricing). Often they go beyond marketing to coercing, deceiving and even mandating their self-referral schemes.

Joseph Bova   October 21st, 2011 01:10:3201:32:38 PM

Rather than an "us against them" debate,let's commit ourselves to doing the best we can when counseling our patients. Community pharmacists in all settings are in the best position to impact patient care in a positive way. What we need to also do is not fall into the "Prior Approval" trap and CoPay debate when confronted with these issues by our patients. For too many years, community pharmacists have fought the battles of the PBMs to explain issues being caused by THEM, not us. It is a shame that we sacrifice patient counseling time and use this time to handle these issues. Does a pharmacist need to do this? Why? We must set prioroties in our practices.
Mr. Snow is defending a type of practice that has been allowed to flourish by our government. I look forward to the day that we can look behind the door and we can all see where the real $$ is in mail order. We must have transparency in these plans. This is especially crucial now. The largest payor is "us" since the advent of Medicare Part D.

Rx Veteran   October 22nd, 2011 02:10:1102:11:56 AM

I hope occupy decides Mr. Snow is worthy of a invasion. Robots have NO judgement. Humans do. That's what separates a pharmacist from a tech. Judgement, big picture synthesis, experience, gut feelings, knowledge of that exact patient is what requires us to be on the front line. Is that robot going to over ride an inconsequential drug interaction while catching the one not yet published? Is it going to develop a dosing schedule so cholestyramine interferes less with the other meds. The colleges are failing us badly. They have become Mr.Snow. They are profit driven to continually increase the degrees, residencies, certifications, and other nonsense to rip off practicing and newly graduated pharmacists. They have over produced graduates in Maryland. There are not enough residencies for the students they have. In my day, you were thrown into the deep end of the pool and you learned to swim. The entire profession is under attack from profit driven entities, PBMs, Colleges, Corporate entities of all descriptions. There will be a revolt. The first thing that will happen? Rx Colleges will find it hard to recruit folks, Because the word will have gotten out. I hope I'm around to watch this.

PharmGirl   October 27th, 2011 01:10:3101:31:23 PM

I don't personally know Mr. Snow, so I can't make a complaint on his character. What I will say, however, is that for the past 2 years that I have been the manager of a pharmacy in a small town, I have thought it very interesting that Medco/Express, etc. cannot seem to compete fairly. I DO think it is time to pit their customer service against mine and see which the patient prefers. It's as if Mr. Snow (and many of the other PBMs) are pouting "I'll just take my ball(customers) and go home" because they don't want to play the game by the rules.

Mr.Snow is Snowing Everyone   December 16th, 2011 11:12:1711:17:58 PM

Retail order pharmacies are the worst. I would much rather speak to my pharmacist face-to-face (and by the way who is knowledgeable) rather than some call-center robot pharmacist wanna-be. The experience with talking with these Medco and similar retail-online order pharmacies has been the worst - errors made, medications not received on time or wrong medications received, refusing to provide medications as written by prescribing doctor (sure this is way for Medco to make money). Listen MEDCO - YOU ARE NOT THE PRESCRIBING PHYSICIAN - and scripts should be filled AS WRITTEN by the patients doctor not your call-center wanna-be. You are subjecting folks to medical problems and should be held accountable. I encourage everyone to google MEDCO and see how they have been fined in the past for fraud (you have to wonder if it is still continuing)

Vicki Ragsdale   December 28th, 2011 05:12:3405:34:29 PM

I was a medco customer for approximately one year.
The service is horrible, they are slow to fill your order, but quick to charge you. They get the pill counts wrong, make unauthorized charges on your credit card and then refuse to reverse them. I wouldn't recommend MEDCO to anyone. I am definitely going back to a retail pharmacist where I can at least talk to a pharmacist when I need to instead of dealing with mindless people who speak poor or broken english and put you on terminal hold.

Ex-medco employee   January 18th, 2012 01:01:3901:39:42 PM

As a former Accredo/Medco employee with company insurance, I can tell you that I was told that I could no longer go to the pharmacy to get my meds (and have my insurance pay for them). In order to get prescription coverage, I had to get them through mail-order.

Patty Yates   March 14th, 2012 01:03:4101:41:58 AM

Now with D.0 we get to compound for the cost of the chemical plus a dollar! And contractually we can't even tell the parent with the screaming kid that we are compounding at a loss for them! Woohoo, let's see the robots pull that one off and keep their doors open. Funny, their auditors are very real.
Patty Yates CPhT

David Robertson   March 19th, 2012 11:03:4111:41:47 PM

I'd much rather have a robot give me the right drug rather then give my kid breast cancer drugs by mistake. You make the choice, I choose the robot over human error any day of the week.

Medco employee (for now)   March 28th, 2012 12:03:5912:59:07 PM

Got to make this brief...
Mary and Michelle--It's the insurance that is about 30% to blame. You want to assign the other 70%? Assign it to the companies that sign the PBM contracts with Medco, Express Scripts, CVS Caremark etc. Dawn and "Uncle Stan" and the others who think so highly of Fearless Leader Snow...Couldn't agree more, he is a major blowhard and has actually caused us to LOSE business (can you say CalPERS, folks?). I shudder to think that with the merger of Medco and Express Scripts how bad George "Pill-Counter" Paz will be, especially with Walgreens. Welcome to the Dark Side, friends.

Tem   April 18th, 2012 10:04:1010:10:43 PM

If Medco is so damn accurate, why do they substitute generics when the doc checked, "Do not substitute?"

Your comments are valuable to us. Thank you.