Davita Rx

[KAF454]

I have resisted changing to Davita Rx because I have a great local pharmacy. No matter how many doctors I see all prescriptions go through the same pharmacy and they have caught more than one medication conflict for me.

This morning my hemo tech put on the pressure to sign up with Davita Rx because, "Obamacare is forcing it on everyone".

Anybody else getting that kind of pressure from Davita based on ACA?

[cattlekid]

Sounds like that tech is completely uninformed.  I never used DaVita RX because I was always on private insurance and my insurance plan required us to use CVS/Caremark for our medications. 

Now there WAS the change that was coming up in 2014 where oral medications like binders were going to be included in the bundle and would have been provided by your clinic.  However, this change has been pushed back so even that isn't the stick that would make you have to sign up for DaVita RX.

[PatDowns]

I have resisted changing to Davita Rx because I have a great local pharmacy. No matter how many doctors I see all prescriptions go through the same pharmacy and they have caught more than one medication conflict for me.

This morning my hemo tech put on the pressure to sign up with Davita Rx because, "Obamacare is forcing it on everyone".

Anybody else getting that kind of pressure from Davita based on ACA?

Do not fall for that crap.  If you are happy with your pharmacy, stay with them.  If your facility continues to pressure you, file a grievance with ESRD Network 12.  It is a not-for-profit, contractor organization for CMS (Medicare) which monitors quality of dialysis care in Kansas.  Its role is "to promote and support quality dialysis care and outcomes of ESRD patients and kidney transplant patients through patient services, education, quality improvement and the collection, analysis and exchange of relevant incidence, prevalence, surveillance and outcome data."

Patient toll free: (800) 444-9965    Here's the link: http://heartlandkidney.org/

Also ask the Network representative to give you the contact info for the state surveyors overseeing dialysis units so they can be aware of your clinic's coercion tactics as well.

[rocker]

And just as a note, DaVita Rx used to use FedEx overnight to deliver drugs.

A few months ago, they switched to...US Mail.  Yep, days to deliver and your drugs sit there in your mailbox until you pick them up, not delivered to your door.

More service-cutting due to the payment reduc.....oh wait, there hasn't been a payment reduction yet.  This must just be general screwage, then.

I would recommend against DaVita Rx.

[Jean]

I still get one drug from DaVita RX and it is delivered FED Ex. The girl I work with there is just awesome. So knowledgeable and professional.

[rocker]

Ah yes, customer service, I forgot.

He is prescribed more blockers than most people.  Every time it is time to refill that prescription, we get a call from DaVita "customer service", which always seems to be pressuring him to admit that the prescription is wrong.

"How many pills do you take each day?" (Sometimes this is phrased "You take six of these per day, is that correct?"  "No, that is not correct, and that's not what my prescription says, and you know it.")
"What was your last phosphorus result?"
"Do you feel you could control your phosphorus with fewer pills?"

It's really long past time to switch to a new pharmacy, I really should be shopping for one.

[Rerun]

DaVita says it will close its doors on us rather than take a cut from Medicare.  Why would I trust them?

[KAF454]

I have resisted changing to Davita Rx because I have a great local pharmacy. No matter how many doctors I see all prescriptions go through the same pharmacy and they have caught more than one medication conflict for me.

This morning my hemo tech put on the pressure to sign up with Davita Rx because, "Obamacare is forcing it on everyone".

Anybody else getting that kind of pressure from Davita based on ACA?

Do not fall for that crap.  If you are happy with your pharmacy, stay with them.  If your facility continues to pressure you, file a grievance with ESRD Network 12.  It is a not-for-profit, contractor organization for CMS (Medicare) which monitors quality of dialysis care in Kansas.  Its role is "to promote and support quality dialysis care and outcomes of ESRD patients and kidney transplant patients through patient services, education, quality improvement and the collection, analysis and exchange of relevant incidence, prevalence, surveillance and outcome data."

Patient toll free: (800) 444-9965    Here's the link: http://heartlandkidney.org/

Also ask the Network representative to give you the contact info for the state surveyors overseeing dialysis units so they can be aware of your clinic's coercion tactics as well.

That's great information. I wasn't aware of ESRD Network 12. I did find the regional POC for ACA in the Federal Building in Kansas City MO and shot him an email since DaVita presented it as an effect of Obamacare. (This being Kansas the word "Obamacare" was uttered as an epithet.)

[rocker]

That's great information. I wasn't aware of ESRD Network 12. I did find the regional POC for ACA in the Federal Building in Kansas City MO and shot him an email since DaVita presented it as an effect of Obamacare. (This being Kansas the word "Obamacare" was uttered as an epithet.)

I'm hearing a lot of stories of companies using "Obamacare" as an excuse to increase profits by cutting employee benefits. My favorite was a very successful IT company who hugely jacked up their co-pays and employee contribution this year.  They told their employees it was because their healthcare was so good, that they had run into the "Cadillac tax" of 40%, and now had to charge employees a lot more.

The tax is not 40%.

And it does not take effect until 2018.

[Swamp Gator]

I get my meds from DaVita RX. I resisted at first, I wanted nothing to do with them and I had an insurance that required that I get my meds from their list of participating pharmacies, when I told Davita RX and tech's that they quit pressuring me and left me alone for awhile. Then they sent an RX rep to talk to me...

I finally signed up because I realized they would NEVER leave me alone until I did. In my case it is working out pretty good for me since I am an in center patient and I pick my meds up now at my center. Anything needing to be refrigerated comes with a nice ice pack (I never have to buy ice packs, I have plenty and more on the way.) and also packed in plastic wrapped foam, which I use to pad my dog kennels (I have chihuahuas and these are great for when we have a litter of puppies. We have two litters due, one this month and one next month.).

As for their service, if there is a problem with a prescription, some workers are great at follow through with you and your Dr's. Others put in one effort and drop the cause. So you are wondering what is happening and call them a few weeks later to find out the status and have to get them back working on it again.

Another problem I have had is trying to keep up with all the generic names and figure out what the med is and what it is for. One time I called the pharmacy and they directed me to the pharmacist who instead of answering my question told me to read the paperwork that come with my prescription and figure it out myself.

I told our assistant administrator of the confusion and frustration, plus I suggested that they place this information on the bottle so we can always know what it was prescribed for. She gave that info to Davita RX and recently told me that they thought it was a good idea and was preparing to do just that.

Something I love about them is that if you have a prescription that is running out and needs to be rewritten, they won't bother you about it, they will contact your Dr and tell them they need another prescription written. It is all automatically taken care of for you. Also if you stop taking a medication or the Dr changed its dose, the nurse records that in your records at the center and Davita RX immediately makes the change.

They also call you once a month to verify what you are taking and any changes they need to know about. One of those calls I had decided to stop using a very expensive med that didn't do what we had hoped it would do. No pressure, no problems, they made a note in my file that I no longer wanted it because it did not work the way we had hoped. You just have to get the right worker.

[KAF454]

I get my meds from DaVita RX. I resisted at first, I wanted nothing to do with them and I had an insurance that required that I get my meds from their list of participating pharmacies, when I told Davita RX and tech's that they quit pressuring me and left me alone for awhile. Then they sent an RX rep to talk to me...

I finally signed up because I realized they would NEVER leave me alone until I did. In my case it is working out pretty good for me since I am an in center patient and I pick my meds up now at my center. Anything needing to be refrigerated comes with a nice ice pack (I never have to buy ice packs, I have plenty and more on the way.) and also packed in plastic wrapped foam, which I use to pad my dog kennels (I have chihuahuas and these are great for when we have a litter of puppies. We have two litters due, one this month and one next month.).

As for their service, if there is a problem with a prescription, some workers are great at follow through with you and your Dr's. Others put in one effort and drop the cause. So you are wondering what is happening and call them a few weeks later to find out the status and have to get them back working on it again.

Another problem I have had is trying to keep up with all the generic names and figure out what the med is and what it is for. One time I called the pharmacy and they directed me to the pharmacist who instead of answering my question told me to read the paperwork that come with my prescription and figure it out myself.

I told our assistant administrator of the confusion and frustration, plus I suggested that they place this information on the bottle so we can always know what it was prescribed for. She gave that info to Davita RX and recently told me that they thought it was a good idea and was preparing to do just that.

Something I love about them is that if you have a prescription that is running out and needs to be rewritten, they won't bother you about it, they will contact your Dr and tell them they need another prescription written. It is all automatically taken care of for you. Also if you stop taking a medication or the Dr changed its dose, the nurse records that in your records at the center and Davita RX immediately makes the change.

They also call you once a month to verify what you are taking and any changes they need to know about. One of those calls I had decided to stop using a very expensive med that didn't do what we had hoped it would do. No pressure, no problems, they made a note in my file that I no longer wanted it because it did not work the way we had hoped. You just have to get the right worker.

Gator, I'm sure DaVita Rx works well for a lot of people and I'm glad you're one of their successes. My reasons for broaching this subject are:

1) They want me to change from a local pharmacy that delivers 100% satisfaction as well as discount points at the gas pump. It's common for me to fill my gas tank with a $0.75 PER GALLON discount. DaVita Rx can't touch that.

2) DaVita sent a wonderful tech to lie to me about an alleged effect of the ACA. If they need revenue that badly I know where they can find 29 million dollars a year. They screwed up when they tried to BS a political junkie.

I did PD for a year and learned a lot about being my own advocate. So if DaVita Rx chooses to sic a rep on my tail I don't give a rat's ass and I sure won't give in to the pitch. Invading my personal space just makes it open season on the invader.

Again, I'm glad it works for you. For me it's a case of "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

[Swamp Gator]

I see your point and if we had that good of a pharmacy here I wouldn't change either.

Our one parmacy that appears to offer us a discount is a loer and a scam. They have every excuse un the book of why their promotion does not apply to you. Plus I have a paper that states I do not have a co-pay yet they insist on charging me one anyway. Davita RX is the only pharmacy that does not try to charge me a co-pay.

Than there is my vitamins, I have to pay $13 a month locally, but I pay Davita RX $11 every three months. When you have a total monthly income of $840 you have to be on top of the spending at all times.

I agree also with what you are saying, you have to go with what works for you and gets you through each month. I also agree with you on the politics, I feel they should not be a part of our care.

My situation is that I have a bigger battle I am dealing with and didn't have the energy to take on another also. I am trying to force changes to our unit and get them to give quality care and respect. I have been told to let it go by others who have tried before me but I am hard to beat down and stubborn as heck.

SG