What a bizarre thread. I suspect there are some strange misconceptions about how pharmacies take and process prescriptions that are phoned in.
"Hello this is [whomever] calling in a prescription for [person's name] date of birth [MM/DD/YY] The script is for [Bactrim DS 1 po bid x 10 days] If you have any question, the office number is [whatever (+ extension if necessary)]
Pharmacists aren't nazis. There's no magic. You don't need to justify who you're calling what in for, or why. Trust me, the pharmacy personnel don't give a sh-t. (Unless it's something covered by Medicare Part B, but that's outside the scope of this thread.) Honestly, unless you sound shady on the message, no one's going to bother you. You could even call in a script for yourself and use a fellow resident's name, and we won't follow up on it so long as you're both men or both women. (Oh nose, did I just say that??)
I've bent countless rules for all sorts of people in all sorts of situations ranging from prophylactic Amoxicillin, to young 20-somethings freaking out because they're out of the OCP that they've been getting for eons, to albuterol inhalers for someone whose having an asthma attack and is out of refills.
There's no magic involved. It's called doing the right thing, and IMO, it trumps whatever the law says.
As far as insurance companies not covering for certain DEA #s... well. This does happen. But I've never let it thwart me, as I'll just call and ask who the attending is, and would you all mind if I changed the name on the prescriptions. (Or I'll just do it, because I couldn't be arsed to waste my time when I know the answer is going to be an unquivocal "yes".)
Hi, newly minted intern here. So what exactly does one have to do to call in a prescription? How do they know I'm a doc and not just some schmoe trying to get their flonase fix?
We don't. Not a clue, actually. You could be a patient and phone in a prescription, and if you sound like you know WTF you're talking about, and there are no red flags, it's probably going to be filled with no questions asked.
We know.....& no...I won't give away how I get the ways to know - just know that I can & I do when its important enough (albuterol is not important enough!)
Technically true, but not really. I could call in a prescription pretending I was calling from my doc's office to a pharmacy (not my own, obviously), and no one would be the wiser. Again, so long as there are no red flags. ALH not being a med worth caring about in this context.
Just learned that recently. Thought it was interesting. All the frowning on self- and fam-prescribing is largely cultural. To my surprise, I'm finding that MUCH of medicine is nothing more than taboo, superstition and cultural norms given unnatural staying power by highly controlling personalities.
I try not to let the red tape interfere with my common sense and good judgment.
But did you also know that I am double boarded? My license says on it, Physician and Surgeon. I, and hospital credentialling boards, not you determine my scope of practice. And just how do you know who is, and who is not my relative? HIPPAA won't allow me to share their complete social history with you without their permission. Some of my relatives and friends come to me for care because they know me and trust me to give them the best possible treatment.
Generally speaking, if you're an MD or DO, no questions will be raised at all. At least everywhere I've been. Unless we happen to know that you're a pediatrician who exclusively treats children, who writes a one-off script for someone old enough to be a grandmother. (Has happened.) In that particular case, the prescription wasn't for anything crazy, so it was filled anyway. We question dentists and such more than anything else.
Actually, just yesterday I had a situation where a dentist wrote for Zovirax cream, apply as needed. That was a bit strange -- it didn't even occur to me that it could be for external fever blisters. (Duh!) Felt like a jackass after questioning that one. I've never seen it before, though. Hope to not see it again as the pharmacy is getting boring and I hope to be out soon.
Generally speaking, common sense and good judgment applies.
I have a license# and an office address, no reason to use the DEA.
I work for a chain. I can pretty much look up anyone's DEA #, rarely do I have to call and find it out. But if I have to, I will. And I won't fill the script until I get it. Generally when a script is called in, the DEA# is not given, unless it's the doctor him/herself calling it in. And then it's painfully obvious that they aren't used to calling in their own scripts. It's kind of comical, really.
It's a matter of being thorough more than wanting to be a nazi. I don't like making phonecalls. I don't have the time to do it, but I'm trying to save my other pharmacy personnel in the same chain the trouble of calling, which theoretically means that once I have it, no one from my chain will ever need to call the office again.
Sometimes it can take a few days to propagate chain-wide.
and "Bronkaid" is OTC!- far more dangerous, abused, less effective, and used as a recreational drug. WTF??
Bronkaid's a weird one. It cannot be rung out at my particular chain by scanning the UPC. We have to do it as a generic "Non-tax" item. It's got regular ephedra in it... why it's still on the market is beyond me. (Not that I give a d-mn either way.) I do think it's weird that we can order it but we're not supposed to sell it. (WTF.)
It is definitly not a good idea to have prescription pads with both your name and DEA # on it. Those sell for $$$ on the street.
Ugh tell me about it. Most PharmAlerts are for stolen pads.
Though most prescriptions generated by an EMR could be easily replicated by someone with a copy of MS Word and a spare hour or two.
We had a case of someone selling customized OxyContin prescriptions around this area, complete with accurate names and dates of birth. Probably taking clients' information, and selling them these bogus scripts at a couple hundred bucks a whack.
PS- This NPI number crap can suck my balls.
