Whether it’s tracking down insurance information or solving complex payment puzzles, Tanya Lewis loves the thrill of the chase. She excels at unraveling even the most intricate prescription coverage issues—but it’s more than just conquering a challenge. 

Lewis views her role as a pharmacy technician as a vital resource: She ensures her patients at CVS #11301 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, receive the medications they need without facing obstacles alone. Sometimes, this involves pursuing insurance coverage options that patients might not be aware of or finding ways to use prescription savings cards to bring prescription costs down to an affordable level.

Lewis recalls a woman who came to the pharmacy counter and was having trouble getting her medication covered. After looking into it and making some calls, Lewis was able to get the medication fully covered—with no copay. “She was really happy,” Lewis says. “Now, when she comes back, she says, ‘I want to speak to that lady right there.’”

Despite her fervor for getting results, Lewis is relatively new to the pharmacy industry. After retiring early from the Department of Revenue in Massachusetts in 2016, she found herself simply “bored” and began looking for new opportunities. 

She began working at CVS in 2016 as a front store shift supervisor, but she was recruited to the back of the store to the pharmacy and clinic area, where she began learning the ropes. 

A decade ago, working in pharmacy was nowhere near her radar, she says. Today, in her second career, she can’t imagine doing anything else. Here, we speak with Lewis—now a 2023 Best of the Best Pharmacy Award winner—about the qualities that make a pharmacy technician succeed and why she loves dealing with insurance issues so much.

As someone who pursued a second career, how did you end up on this path?

The Department of Revenue offered me a package to retire early at 50, so I took the deal. It was never on my radar to become a pharmacy technician. I didn’t even plan on going back to work, but I got bored. 

CVS was hiring in Long Island, and although I began as a front store shift supervisor, the pharmacy manager said he was going to steal me away. Management thought I would do well in pharmacy. I thought that if I didn’t like it, I could come back to the front of the store. I ended up staying in the pharmacy!

What qualities have you carried with you into a pharmacy career?

My job with the Department of Revenue was different because it dealt with state taxes, but I still had to deal with customers, in person and over the phone. At the pharmacy, I can be on two different phones, talking to the pharmacist on one and talking to a patient on the other, while also helping one of our technicians. To work in pharmacy, you have to be able to multitask, stay focused, and keep things moving along.

Not many people would say they love dealing with insurance issues. What do you like about it?

It’s challenging, and I like to help the patients as much as possible by helping them find the right insurance. Some customers don’t know what insurance they have, so you have to dig and make a few phone calls to try to find it. (Customers may have a Medicare plan, but they don’t realize which plan they picked. I’ll help locate the plan they picked and tell them their copays. Or, they think they have MassHealth, but really have the Health Safety Net, and I help them track it down.)

It gives my brain a challenge. I can’t resolve all of them, but I try my best. I like helping out patients as best as I can.

How do you manage customer expectations?

It’s about two-way respect. If a customer comes to the front, I’ll say, “It’s going to be at least 20 to 30 minutes. If you want to wait, you can have a seat and we’ll call your name. If not, you’ll get a text on your phone.” Even though I tell them 20 to 30 minutes, their medication could be ready in 10 minutes—but you don’t want the opposite to happen. You don’t want to give customers an expectation that their medication will be ready in five or 10 minutes, and then it takes 20 to 30 minutes. You need to respect your patients’ time.

What makes you stay in pharmacy?

You have to find your niche and find the store that you like to work in. There are great managers out there, and I like my bosses. That makes me want to stay longer. When you have a good team, that makes you want to stay.

What does winning this award mean to you?

It means a lot. It means I pleased some customers and they were happy with me, so that makes me feel good. This award makes me feel like choosing to stay in the pharmacy career was well worth the hard work and dedication. It’s really nice to be recognized by people who appreciate you and the hard work you put into a job that I never thought I would choose to do.