Why Do Phamarcies/Drug Stores Suck in US?(Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, etc.)

Question

Hi Folks, Lately I have been going to Walgreens quite a bit for prescription medicine and every one of interaction has been at least 45min to 2 hour to get a simple prescription medicine for a toddler. Why does it suck so much?1/ Why does it take 1+ hour for doctors to send prescription to walgreens 1+ hour? 2/ Why does it take almost 30min in queue (in Bay area, NorCal, CA) to get the prescription? 3/ Why has no disrupted this industry? 4/ Is it lack of tech (does not make sense) or regulations? 5/ How can someone like Walgreens/CVS survive of this long with sub par customer experience? 6/ Is this problem limited to Bay area or is it similar in other US states? 7/ Are there any startups working on this problem to disrupt this industry?

navjack27 · Accepted Answer

Sounds like you need to try other pharmacies in other areas. Stuff is fine in my area besides the uptick of people diagnosed with ADHD lowering the supply for me causing me to have to go a month or two without my medication a couple times. A disruption in this industry would disrupt proper care because everything from supply to dispensing needs to be "disrupted".
I like things the way they are right now just because they are safe and predictable. I would like there to be not any startups or disruptors disrupting this industry.
Edit: I mean take my situation for example. If I take my medication as prescribed which means I run out of my medication on the day I have to get a refill that means I might not be mentally equipped to get said refill on that day. And it takes a day for the prescription to be processed. And as long as the pharmacy has the pills then it just takes me like a minute to get my medication.

bell-cot · Answer

How many people would reliably pay more, for "disruptively" quicker service to be a business model? Assume that the "more" would be out-of-pocket, since medical insurers certainly don't care about your convenience.Also - most of the work of getting your prescription from your M.D. to the pharmacy to physically being filled to being handed to you is actually performed by low-end tech's and support staff. I'd guess that hiring "enough" of those folks, given the Bay Area cost of living, might be pretty difficult.)

necovek · Answer

Can't a doctor issue a prescription for you to bring to a pharmacy?Your experience sounds wild because that's how things are done in Serbia for ages: getting a doctor's visit is usually a wait, but once medicines are prescribed, you walk into any pharmacy with a paper prescription, and walk out in five minutes.

cratermoon · Answer

If you're ok with your toddler accidentally getting the wrong medication, or having a fatal drug interaction, then sure, it's possible to "disrupt" the industry. But hey, at least you didn't have to wait in line for 30 minutes.

bombcar · Answer

They&rsquo;re not pharmacies. They&rsquo;re convenience stores that sell drugs on the side.Use a dedicated pharmacy and you may get more performance, but the doctor delay may still occur.