Walgreens Pharmacists Manually Filling Prescriptions During Ongoing Computer System Outage

If you’re planning on heading over to Walgreens to refill a prescription, it might take a bit longer than usual: amid an ongoing outage of the drugstore chain’s pharmacy computer database that’s been going on since Tuesday morning, pharmacists have been forced to fill prescriptions by hand. Just like in ye olde days of yore.

Customers at all 8,200 Walgreens drugstores across the U.S. have been experiencing delays, a company spokesman told the Chicago Tribune on Thursday.

“We have been experiencing technical issues with our pharmacy systems,” he said. “Our pharmacies are still able to fill prescriptions and process most insurance claims, however some patients may experience longer wait times until certain functionalities are fully restored.”

The outage happened after overnight maintenance on Tuesday, and the company is “working diligently” to correct the problem.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the spokesman added.

Walgreens computer outage delays prescriptions nationwide [Chicago Tribune]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist