Pediatrics Associates Sent us to the wrong pharmacy not covered by our insurance, having the right one on their records, we ended up paying cash. Pembroke Pines Florida

Yes, I do love scenarios, so let's analyze yours :)

Robert said:

"Say you told your spouse to buy some milk while he is at the store. Say they don't "remember" what you get (after all spouses are dumb..right) and calls you saying they are at the store and is going to buy a 1/2 gallon of 2% milk.  Are you going to tell them they are wrong then or are you going to wait until they get home and say they should have known you wanted a gallon of non-fat since that is what you always get?

My response:

Not sure why you bring up a "remembering" scenario.  Nobody at Pediatric Associates "forgot" to tell me the correct pharmacy because it's all in their computer database (or so I hope).  We didn't "forget" which was the pharmacy they told us to go to and had to think if we should call them back to get the correct one.  Can you come up with a better one?  The point to all this is that Pediatric Associates needs to be more responsible with their patients and be mindful (and maybe not forget themselves?) that patients rely on the correct information from their clinics so as to not get killed by the insurance companies and having to pay for children's medicine in cash because they referred you to the wrong pharmacy.  Maybe you are a rich person, or are a nurse/doctor that makes money, but most of us parents can't afford to have a clinic like Pediatric Associates "forget" to tell their patients that the biggest Florida insurer, Kid's Medicaid, has never, ever been covered by Walgreens, only CVS.  Maybe this is the true lesson to be learned here.

First off it is standard on this site that when someone says something the don't agree with, they go right to the "Oh you must work for them". Well sorry to burst this bubble of yours, but I have zero connection with this office and am just a regular consumer. I personally have been accused of working for everything thing from a bank, to credit cards, to even being the Chief of police of a small town.

Not sure what you are calling emotion, except for perhaps in wondering why you didn't seem to be more concerned with this until after the fact. As for writing this at night, I actually can't tell you when I wrote the post, this site can sometimes take several days before it posts responses, and I think I wrote that one almost a week ago.

But one thing your update did was to just prove my point about a lack of communication and clarity, and I am not just talking about your's. As since you didn't mention it here, it is very obvious you didn't actually raise any objections with them when they told you the pharmacy. When you said "another", "different" or what ever word you used, you feel that they should have known you meant a CVS pharmacy. That is the problem. You ASSUMED that your request was clear, they ASSUMED you were okay with the other pharmacy because you didn't complain when they told you where they sent it.

Mistakes happen, but the time to bring it up as an issue is was when they told you the pharmacy. I'm not really talking about this incident, but hopefully you and anyone else reading this can use this as a learning experience going forward.

You asked if the McDonald's is closed and someone said to go to another one. Well if the Burger King right across the street was open, I could figure you meant their, especially if everyone was hungry and didn't want to go searching for another McDonalds.

Then let me throw another one out since you like scenarios, that I wonder if you will see the similarities. Say you told your spouse to buy some milk while he is at the store. Say they don't "remember" what you get (after all spouses are dumb..right) and calls you saying they are at the store and is going to buy a 1/2 gallon of 2% milk.  Are you going to tell them they are wrong then, or are you going to wait until they gets home and says they should have known you wanted a gallon of non-fat since that is what you always get?

Anyways, just something to think about. I've said my bit for you to go ahead and ignore.

Robert,

(you said) "First off remember it was you who intiated the need to send the prescription to a different pharmacy, they didn't just out of the blue send you to a different one.  If you stated you needed "a pharmacy" that closed later in the day they may have infered that you meant ANY pharmacy. If this was the closest available pharmacy, then they may have been thinking that they were helping you out by not making you drive as far.

(but I had said) "....we needed another pharmacy that closed later in the day" = is the word "another" mean "different" or "any" to you Robert?  If I go to a McDonalds and it's closed and I say let's go to another one, does that mean let's go to Burger King, Robert?  Or does it mean lets go to "any" other restaurant, Robert?  No Robert, it means lets go to "another" McDonalds.

This argument you are putting forth is exactly the one I had with their office manager.  You seem quite upset writing your response, Robert.  Which leads everyone to believe you are somehow affiliated to Pediatric Associates.  Now, if you would have been less emotional with your answer, more people would believe that you are an actual neutral party.  To write so many lines this late at night says you have something to lose with my negative review.  So please make sure to respond, less emotionally if possible, while trying to prove you are not affiliated to Pediatric Associates at all.  

I am trying to see how exactly did THEY rip you off. They may have made a mistake or not been as clear as they could have been, but nothing you posted here shows it was intentional.

First off remember it was you who intiated the need to send the prescription to a different pharmacy, they didn't just out of the blue send you to a different one.

If you stated you needed "a pharmacy" that closed later in the day they may have infered that you meant ANY pharmacy. If this was the closest available pharmacy, then they may have been thinking that they were helping you out by not making you drive as far.

Sometimes as the patient you need to stand up for your rights.  So, when they told you the Pharmacy you should have objected at that time if you knew that you are only covered at CVS.  Now, if you did this and they refused to change you would have a much more valid complaint, one that may require you to rethink them as your doctor.

On the flip side. It could be a case where the next closest CVS pharmacy was out of your particular medication. It could be a case where other CVS pharmacies aren't in their system to be able to send it to. We don't know the reason, and since it doesn't seem like you asked them I don't think you do either.

I'm not defending the doctor or saying that you were totally wrong, but I am also not saying you are totally right. Just that communication is a two way street and perhaps BOTH of you could have been a bit clearer on not only your requirements but making sure that it was acceptable.