Over on Consumerist, an anonymous CVS pharmacist talks about the company's "ReadyFill" automatic prescription refill service. Customers can opt-in to the program and a computerized system will track which prescriptions are due to be refilled, calling customers to encourage them to come in to a CVS store.
At best, this is a convenient way to remember your prescriptions. At worst, it's an example of CVS using private patient information to sell more at its pharmacies. The automated program is supplemented by "store-generated calls about refill reminders" - that is, phone calls from pharmacists who are already busy filling prescriptions and talking to customers. From the Consumerist:
"In high volume stores, this can be over 100 people that have to be called. Every single employee hates these. They're incredibly stupid because people generally stop taking a medication for a good reason, but we're supposed to ask people if they want to refill it. One store once called a customer that had died. Oops."
The pharmacist goes on to explain that many stores, hoping to meet corporate-set quotas, have begun to enroll customers in ReadyFill without their knowledge. The source details higher enrollment rates in ReadyFill translate to higher bonuses for pharmacists, who are thus inclined to enroll as many people as possible, with or without their permission.
"I approached my district manager with the fact that the store was auto-enrolling prescriptions, which I felt could be an issue down the line. He didn't care because as soon as they started doing that, they started making the number needed to satisfy the metric."
This practice could mean problems for customers and their prescriptions, but more troubling is the fact that CVS can manipulate prescription information without a customer's knowledge or consent. Programs like ReadyFill aren't the only way CVS profits from prescription information: the company has sold data on prescription drug purchases at its stores to third-party companies, and received payments from drug makers for marketing activities conducted using this type of data.
Customers should be advised: who do you trust with your prescription information?
CVS Will Automatically Refill Your Prescription, Consent Be Damned [Consumerist]
At best, this is a convenient way to remember your prescriptions. At worst, it's an example of CVS using private patient information to sell more at its pharmacies. The automated program is supplemented by "store-generated calls about refill reminders" - that is, phone calls from pharmacists who are already busy filling prescriptions and talking to customers. From the Consumerist:
"In high volume stores, this can be over 100 people that have to be called. Every single employee hates these. They're incredibly stupid because people generally stop taking a medication for a good reason, but we're supposed to ask people if they want to refill it. One store once called a customer that had died. Oops."
The pharmacist goes on to explain that many stores, hoping to meet corporate-set quotas, have begun to enroll customers in ReadyFill without their knowledge. The source details higher enrollment rates in ReadyFill translate to higher bonuses for pharmacists, who are thus inclined to enroll as many people as possible, with or without their permission.
"I approached my district manager with the fact that the store was auto-enrolling prescriptions, which I felt could be an issue down the line. He didn't care because as soon as they started doing that, they started making the number needed to satisfy the metric."
This practice could mean problems for customers and their prescriptions, but more troubling is the fact that CVS can manipulate prescription information without a customer's knowledge or consent. Programs like ReadyFill aren't the only way CVS profits from prescription information: the company has sold data on prescription drug purchases at its stores to third-party companies, and received payments from drug makers for marketing activities conducted using this type of data.
Customers should be advised: who do you trust with your prescription information?
CVS Will Automatically Refill Your Prescription, Consent Be Damned [Consumerist]