If a patient comes in for a refill, but they have none remaining, what do you do?
"During my apprenticeship at the community pharmacy, we would have patients come in from time to time to get a refill, not realizing that they didn't have any remaining. I would first evaluate the type of prescription to determine how critical it was; for example, if it were for high blood pressure or diabetes, it would be very critical that we could get ahold of their doctor timely to get the prescription renewed as soon as possible. I would make sure that I had all their contact information and gather as many details as possible to help expedite the process for then. I would also communicate with the patient so they knew what to expect in the process, how long it might take, and how to make sure they did not run out again in the future."
"It frequently happens that a patient calls in or comes in for a refill, and they have none remaining. It can be very stressful for patients, so I always reassure them that I'm there to help and we will get it figured out as quickly as possible. I let them know that we will have to call their general practitioner to get the prescription renewed, and I give them a time frame of when to expect that to be done. I will also ask if they are completely out of their medication or if they have a couple of days left so that I know how urgent it is to get a response from the doctor's office. If it's appropriate, I also educate the patient on what to do in the future to avoid running out of their medications."
This situational question allows the interviewer to better understand how you interact with patients and how you would solve a problem that you may encounter frequently as a pharmacy technician. Walk the interviewer through the process you would follow as far as gathering information and contacting the appropriate provider to help them renew the prescription as quickly as possible. Soft skills, like communication and compassion, can also be demonstrated effectively in your response by describing how you would interact with the patient in the process.
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