Soliciting Prescriptions: What would you do?

[golf299]

What do you guys think about soliciting prescriptions for patients in the community setting? Specifically, when the patient has not filled the script ever at your pharmacy and you have no record that the patient has received the medication... ever.

Personally, I think it's ok when used properly, such as calling the prescriber when you transfer a prescription that has no refills on it. However, generally, I do not do it.

When a patient asks me to call their prescriber for any given prescription, I am happy to do it as long as they've gotten it from our pharmacy before.

Today I had a guy come into the pharmacy, said he had filled something "recently" at our pharmacy... turns out "recently" was between 4 and 5 years ago and he wasn't even in our system anymore. Who knows if he actually ever filled anything with us in the first place.

So he gives me his new Rx and then says, "I was taking something for rosacea and I am out. Can you call my Dr. for a refill?" I told him that since we don't have any record of him ever filling anything with us that he needs to call his Dr. and have them call us with the new Rx.

Well, that just did it... he blew a gasket... "You mean to tell me you won't spend the 5 minutes it will take for you to call my Dr. so I can get a refill?!!!!" And then more yelling ensued. I tried to explain to him that we won't solicit prescriptions from prescribers for things we don't have on file for you. Well he wasn't hearing any of it at that point due to the fact that he was fuming mad.

Where do you draw the line? "I'm in pain, call my Dr. for some Vicodin please."

I wanted to tell him that he needs to take some responsibility for his own health care. This was the first time I've ever seen this dude, why do I want to do him all sorts of favors? You want to take your business elsewhere? Fine. To me, it just seemed that he was throwing a hissy-fit for not getting his way. Unfortunately he'll tell a completely different, bogus story about how I'm a lazy ***** and the company sucks and people may believe him.

So am I wrong here, and what you would do?

Look forward to hearing your replies....

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[BMBiology]

Most people just don't want to be proactive and take care of themselves. That's why they are taking so many meds. But, I think it would benefit all parties if you had called the physician for a new prescription because:

(1) No work for patient
(2) Save time for physician
(3) You can send him on his way and call or fax the physician when you are not busy. It is better than the physician calling in a new Rx when the pharmacy is busy.

 

[FruitFly]

It's my policy that they call their physician's office to phone in the prescription. It helps make them more proactive in their health care. It benefits them. Otherwise, I'm just soliciting a prescription for someone I have no chart or diagnosis on. The furthest I would go is call the office and ask if they had meant to call in any prescriptions for this person and if they say no, that's no.

Some doctors around here actually tell the patient to tell their pharmacy to phone the office for the Rx (and wait for like 5 minutes while they retrieve the information). The patient has no idea what it's for, and neither does the pharmacy. So it all hinges on some secretary knowing what she's doing. Crazy stuff... Quite backwards...

 

[Farmercyst]

Would it be possible to have the patient call from your pharmacy? Then the doc can fax the script over when they're done. Just a thought, not sure how possible it is.

 

[confettiflyer]

I honestly don't see the big deal in calling their physician for a prescription. Most physicians and their offices are stupid, they won't call in controlled medications for pt's they haven't seen (it's their DEA license at stake).

If I walked into a pharmacy I had never been to before and asked them to contact my physician and you refused, I think you were one lazy son of a bitch who didn't want to do the work. Who knows, I might be in town on a business trip and my home pharmacy is unavailable for a transfer.

I'd probably whip out my own phone, call the doctor myself, and hand you the cell phone to take the script.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I'd probably whip out my own phone, call the doctor myself, and hand you the cell phone to take the script.

We don't talk on cell phones! You never know where that thing's been.

 

[MountainPharmD]

I honestly don't see the big deal in calling their physician for a prescription. Most physicians and their offices are stupid, they won't call in controlled medications for pt's they haven't seen (it's their DEA license at stake).

If I walked into a pharmacy I had never been to before and asked them to contact my physician and you refused, I think you were one lazy son of a bitch who didn't want to do the work. Who knows, I might be in town on a business trip and my home pharmacy is unavailable for a transfer.

I'd probably whip out my own phone, call the doctor myself, and hand you the cell phone to take the script.

You obviously have never worked in a Pharmacy nor do you have any idea what you are talking about. That is one of the dumbest replies I think I have ever read. You could not be any more clueless. I am just going to leave it at that.

 

[FruitFly]

I honestly don't see the big deal in calling their physician for a prescription. Most physicians and their offices are stupid, they won't call in controlled medications for pt's they haven't seen (it's their DEA license at stake).

If I walked into a pharmacy I had never been to before and asked them to contact my physician and you refused, I think you were one lazy son of a bitch who didn't want to do the work. Who knows, I might be in town on a business trip and my home pharmacy is unavailable for a transfer.

I'd probably whip out my own phone, call the doctor myself, and hand you the cell phone to take the script.

It goes against certain stores' policies to take Rxs off a customers' cell phone. I would like to go to a pharmacy that has rules and a work-flow to it. Rules protect the patient, and good work-flow allows for efficient and expedient dispensing. Maybe it the customer was missing fingers and couldn't dial a phone to call their own doctors' office, I'd call for them. It's always best when the patient is talking to their office. If we had to speak with every secretary to solicit every verbal prescription, we'd be doing that all day when it is really the customer's job to be vigilant about his or her rx's.

I called my doctor the other day to phone in an rx. It was no big shakes...

 

[genesis09]

My physician has one of these online patient profile programs. I can go onto my profile, click on prescriptions, click on the drug in question, choose my pharmacy, and click refill/new Rx request.

 

[gaba101]

[duplicate]

 

[gaba101]

When a patient does not have drug X filled with us before, I generally don't call their physician unless:
1) they are a long-time customer (as evidenced by their long med profile)
2) I know the patient personally (either my parents, or my co-worker's parents 'cuz my co-worker is off today or a store employee that is a good friend of mine)
3) old age. Yesterday I had a 96 year old man come in with a bottle from for a refill. He said he REALLY needed one today. Not only was this dispensed from ANOTHER pharmacy but it was also from TWO years ago and a central search of the patient's profile did not reveal any new Rx for that drug (let alone he ever filled this particular drug at our store ever though he's filled 3 drugs with us previously). I mean c'mon, are you really gonna make a 96 yr old man whip out his cell phone and call the MDs office only to be put on hold for the longest time? I don't think he even knows what a cell phone is...

after finding out the Rx had no refills, I offered the patient to call his physician. I asked him who his current physician is and how to contact the MD. He said his current physician is not the same one who prescribed that med from the OTHER pharmacy. He gave me the name of his current MD but said he doesn't know his phone # (the MD who prescribed the 3 meds we have on file isn't the same b/c he retired). GENERALLY my policy is if you don't know how to get a hold of your physician (gimme info! name of clinic??), I will not bend my back over to search for the phone #. But again, he's 96 y/o and I cut him some slack. All in all we got him squared away at the end.

 

[Doctor M]

I really have no problem calling a patients doctor for a medication or faxing for a new rx we never filled. My fax looks something like this:

Patient
DOB:

Medication
Dose
qty
refills

MD signature

To me, it just another way of gaining a customer. I dont think it is solicitation. You're providing a service, but this is my opinion. I do whatever I can to gain business and fill the script.

Dr. M

 

[The Fargoan]

We offer to fax the request to the doctor and tell the pt. that it will probably be 2-3 days for a reply. I then proceed to give the "tip" that sometimes the doctor's office moves faster when the patient directly It shows that I care enough to tell them the fastest way to get their own service.

 

[confettiflyer]

We've taken new scripts and verified dosages via a pt's cell phone before...it's not a huge deal. Usually it's a mother with a direct line to their pediatrician's cell phone and it'd just be an inconvenience to give him/her a number to dial while they're driving. This happens once every 2 weeks at my store.

Now, if I walked in at 5pm and you had lines out the door...sure, but if it's 9pm and we're all just standing around taking inventory and cleaning the kirby Lesters...different story.

I'm just saying, if you tell me you won't call my physician to get a script and you obviously are not busy, I'll think you're lazy and make the call myself in front of you. From there, if you won't take my phone directly because of germs or workflow, I'll understand, I'll just have him/her call the pharmacy back. Is this step really necessary? In the end you're making a legit connection with a legit health professional for a legit prescription via telephone. How that connection happened is irrelevant IMO. Granted, these situations rarely happen, but to categorically deny doing that simple step for a pt that is obviously stuck is, IMO, a disservice.

And if anyone's wondering what situation is in my head, here's what it would sound like:
"Hi there, I'm in town on a trip and I usually get my scripts filled at a local place that's unavailable right now to transfer. I was wondering if you could give my physician a call? She's standing by, I was talking to her earlier before I found your store still open. It's for (insert non-controlled medication name here)...I would wait until Monday when they reopen, but I really don't want to be off of it for that long. Here's her number..."

 

[PharmDstudent]

I really have no problem calling a patients doctor for a medication or faxing for a new rx we never filled. My fax looks something like this:

Patient
DOB:

Medication
Dose
qty
refills

MD signature

To me, it just another way of gaining a customer. I dont think it is solicitation. You're providing a service, but this is my opinion. I do whatever I can to gain business and fill the script.

Dr. M

You're back. Yay!

 

[golf299]

I'm just saying, if you tell me you won't call my physician to get a script and you obviously are not busy, I'll think you're lazy and make the call myself in front of you.

And if anyone's wondering what situation is in my head, here's what it would sound like:
"Hi there, I'm in town on a trip and I usually get my scripts filled at a local place that's unavailable right now to transfer. I was wondering if you could give my physician a call? She's standing by, I was talking to her earlier before I found your store still open. It's for (insert non-controlled medication name here)...I would wait until Monday when they reopen, but I really don't want to be off of it for that long. Here's her number..."

If that's how this guy presented himself in the original post, that would have been a completely different story. But that's an awefully rosy scenario that you presented there... if only all patients were that courtious.

Unfortuantly this guy was a complete ***** and as soon as he sensed he wasn't going to get what he wanted, he blew up like a child. I never can understand what makes people think that acting like that is acceptable, and why you would even want to get so worked up about something so minor... its got to shorten your life or something.

 

[MountainPharmD]

If that's how this guy presented himself in the original post, that would have been a completely different story. But that's an awefully rosy scenario that you presented there... if only all patients were that courtious.

Unfortuantly this guy was a complete ***** and as soon as he sensed he wasn't going to get what he wanted, he blew up like a child. I never can understand what makes people think that acting like that is acceptable, and why you would even want to get so worked up about something so minor... its got to shorten your life or something.

Don't you wonder what makes people lose thier mind as soon as they step foot in the pharmacy? A tech of mine wanted to set up a video camera and record how people act. We could then show it to them and force then to pay us large sums of money or we would show everyone how big of an idiot they are.

 

[Old Timer]

You obviously have never worked in a Pharmacy nor do you have any idea what you are talking about. That is one of the dumbest replies I think I have ever read. You could not be any more clueless. I am just going to leave it at that.

Could not have said better myself unless I resorted to insult or profanity. Guess what:

THIS IS YOUR JOB ... GET USED TO IT
​

 

[azPharmD2B]

We've taken new scripts and verified dosages via a pt's cell phone before...it's not a huge deal.

Is this a joke? So I can just walk into your pharmacy, call my friend, have her pretend to be a nurse at my doctor's office and call in a script? Seriously?

 

[acetyl]

I would ask what the doctor's name and do a prescriber search, then send a fax with a msg. saying Crazy patient xyz wants...whatever. Do this in front of them, and they're happy. It takes ~2 minutes. If you don't find the doc in the system, then it's up to the pt. to find that info.

 

[Doctor M]

You're back. Yay!

Im back for good! Anyway, its community pharmacy and i believe its part of our service. Do whatever you can to help the pt. and fill the script correctly!

Dr. M

 

[Doctor M]

Is this a joke? So I can just walk into your pharmacy, call my friend, have her pretend to be a nurse at my doctor's office and call in a script? Seriously?

We use professional judgement. At least I do. Im not using a cell phone to get a script for vicoden or controls. An antibiotic or whatever, just have the MD call me directly on my line, not a big deal. I have used a pts cell phone before, but I use my judgement. I see so many pharmacists or techs get into arguments with pts over cell phones or whatever. I just fill the rx and get the pt out as quick as possible. Again we use professional judgement.

Dr. M

 

[FruitFly]

I've heard of a pharmacist who got into some trouble for taking Rx off a customer's cell. I don't know the full story, but it influenced me enough where I would never do it. There's an aspect of logging phone calls (even if your company doesn't, it could be retrieved if authorities deem it necessary), and verifying who the person on the other end of the phone is by a reasonable practitioner standard. There's no aspect of call-back to it.

It seems a little hasty. Too often in pharmacy, we deem a patient's unrest, an "emergency". We throw a red clip on scripts all the time if the patient throws a fit, etc. (I do that all the time). But it's not truly a pharmaceutical/medical emergency. It's an 'emergency' of inconvenience. There's usually always an extra minute to do things by the book. (Unless the patient starts having a major migraine or whatever, right then, and needed that Imitrex ASAP- then I'd turn on the jets and justify later.) I feel like 'm there to be fast, but more so, to be efficacious. My mantra has always been, 'patient first, customer second'.

 

[Doctor M]

I've heard of a pharmacist who got into some trouble for taking Rx off a customer's cell. I don't know the full story, but it influenced me enough where I would never do it. There's an aspect of logging phone calls (even if your company doesn't, it could be retrieved if authorities deem it necessary), and verifying who the person on the other end of the phone is by a reasonable practitioner standard. There's no aspect of call-back to it.

It seems a little hasty. Too often in pharmacy, we deem a patient's unrest, an "emergency". We throw a red clip on scripts all the time if the patient throws a fit, etc. (I do that all the time). But it's not truly a pharmaceutical/medical emergency. It's an 'emergency' of inconvenience. There's usually always an extra minute to do things by the book. (Unless the patient starts having a major migraine or whatever, right then, and needed that Imitrex ASAP- then I'd turn on the jets.)

Yes, protect yourself first! No doubt!!!

Dr. M

 

[MountainPharmD]

Yes, protect yourself first! No doubt!!!

Dr. M

Where the heck have you been?!?!?!?

 

[PharmDstudent]

Im back for good! Anyway, its community pharmacy and i believe its part of our service. Do whatever you can to help the pt. and fill the script correctly!

Dr. M

Good, good, good.

Did you get the job? How did all of that pan out?

 

[MountainPharmD]

I've heard of a pharmacist who got into some trouble for taking Rx off a customer's cell. I don't know the full story, but it influenced me enough where I would never do it. There's an aspect of logging phone calls (even if your company doesn't, it could be retrieved if authorities deem it necessary), and verifying who the person on the other end of the phone is by a reasonable practitioner standard. There's no aspect of call-back to it.

It seems a little hasty. Too often in pharmacy, we deem a patient's unrest, an "emergency". We throw a red clip on scripts all the time if the patient throws a fit, etc. (I do that all the time). But it's not truly a pharmaceutical/medical emergency. It's an 'emergency' of inconvenience. There's usually always an extra minute to do things by the book. (Unless the patient starts having a major migraine or whatever, right then, and needed that Imitrex ASAP- then I'd turn on the jets and justify later.) I feel like 'm there to be fast, but more so, to be efficacious. My mantra has always been, 'patient first, customer second'.

I treat retail pharmacy the same way the post office treats mail. Have you ever notice when you go to the post office no matter how busy it is the postal clerks work the same speed? It could be the middle of July or a week before Christmas and they work the same way at the same speed. Really, can you blame them? Its not like if they hurry there will be no mail and they get to go home early. This used to drive me insane until I really studied what the postal clerks were doing. They were still pleasant, they still smiled and made small talk, still asked all the standard questions like do you need any stamps. The break through moment for me is when I realized they do this so they do not go insane and kill someone. When you deal with the cranky, idiot public day in and day out, with a never ending stream of work, you have to have some kind of coping mechanism.

I have applied this outlook to retail pharmacy. I am a pharmacist. It is my job to dispense prescriptions without making a mistake and killing someone. It is the same thing day in and day out. They will always be prescriptions with problems, plenty of idiot customers, and idiot upper management. My philosophy is why get stressed out over things I cannot change? Therefore, I have developed a good system for filling and checking prescriptions. I do the same thing, the same way, at the same speed every time no matter what. I do not let anything distract me from that.

 

[b*rizzle]

I treat retail pharmacy the same way the post office treats mail. Have you ever notice when you go to the post office no matter how busy it is the postal clerks work the same speed? It could be the middle of July or a week before Christmas and they work the same way at the same speed. Really, can you blame them? Its not like if they hurry there will be no mail and they get to go home early. This used to drive me insane until I really studied what the postal clerks were doing. They were still pleasant, they still smiled and made small talk, still asked all the standard questions like do you need any stamps. The break through moment for me is when I realized they do this so they do not go insane and kill someone. When you deal with the cranky, idiot public day in and day out, with a never ending stream of work, you have to have some kind of coping mechanism.

I have applied this outlook to retail pharmacy. I am a pharmacist. It is my job to dispense prescriptions without making a mistake and killing someone. It is the same thing day in and day out. They will always be prescriptions with problems, plenty of idiot customers, and idiot upper management. My philosophy is why get stressed out over things I cannot change? Therefore, I have developed a good system for filling and checking prescriptions. I do the same thing, the same way, at the same speed every time no matter what. I do not let anything distract me from that.

Good for you! If only my spastic pharmacy manager shared your opinion, I'd be a lot less willing to pull my hair out when I work with her.

 

[MountainPharmD]

Good for you! If only my spastic pharmacy manager shared your opinion, I'd be a lot less willing to pull my hair out when I work with her.

I hate working with people like that. As if we don't have enough stress already people like that have to manufacture more. I have worked with plenty unfortunatly.

 

[FruitFly]

I treat retail pharmacy the same way the post office treats mail. Have you ever notice when you go to the post office no matter how busy it is the postal clerks work the same speed? It could be the middle of July or a week before Christmas and they work the same way at the same speed. Really, can you blame them? Its not like if they hurry there will be no mail and they get to go home early. This used to drive me insane until I really studied what the postal clerks were doing. They were still pleasant, they still smiled and made small talk, still asked all the standard questions like do you need any stamps. The break through moment for me is when I realized they do this so they do not go insane and kill someone. When you deal with the cranky, idiot public day in and day out, with a never ending stream of work, you have to have some kind of coping mechanism.

I have applied this outlook to retail pharmacy. I am a pharmacist. It is my job to dispense prescriptions without making a mistake and killing someone. It is the same thing day in and day out. They will always be prescriptions with problems, plenty of idiot customers, and idiot upper management. My philosophy is why get stressed out over things I cannot change? Therefore, I have developed a good system for filling and checking prescriptions. I do the same thing, the same way, at the same speed every time no matter what. I do not let anything distract me from that.

Great observation. I definitely agree with that philosophy. My grandfather, besides being a military policeman, was a postal worker. Every now and then there are a few more exceptions in pharmacy than the P.O. which could, rightfully, take one out of rhythm, but the day to day is very similar. I always admired the postal worker's demeanor, or the city bus driver who has all these rowdy delinquent kids on his bus, but keeps on driving and whistling his own tune. It's how folks don't burn out and make it to retiring well. There is always another impatient patient...

 

[Hibiclens]

We've taken new scripts and verified dosages via a pt's cell phone before...it's not a huge deal. Usually it's a mother with a direct line to their pediatrician's cell phone and it'd just be an inconvenience to give him/her a number to dial while they're driving. This happens once every 2 weeks at my store.

Now, if I walked in at 5pm and you had lines out the door...sure, but if it's 9pm and we're all just standing around taking inventory and cleaning the kirby Lesters...different story.

I'm just saying, if you tell me you won't call my physician to get a script and you obviously are not busy, I'll think you're lazy and make the call myself in front of you. From there, if you won't take my phone directly because of germs or workflow, I'll understand, I'll just have him/her call the pharmacy back. Is this step really necessary? In the end you're making a legit connection with a legit health professional for a legit prescription via telephone. How that connection happened is irrelevant IMO. Granted, these situations rarely happen, but to categorically deny doing that simple step for a pt that is obviously stuck is, IMO, a disservice.

And if anyone's wondering what situation is in my head, here's what it would sound like:
"Hi there, I'm in town on a trip and I usually get my scripts filled at a local place that's unavailable right now to transfer. I was wondering if you could give my physician a call? She's standing by, I was talking to her earlier before I found your store still open. It's for (insert non-controlled medication name here)...I would wait until Monday when they reopen, but I really don't want to be off of it for that long. Here's her number..."

Your "doctor standing by" scenario is unrealistic and will happen only 1 time out of 100 times someone comes up and requests a Dr. call. Let's keep it real.

 

[Pharmavixen]

At the store where I work relief, we have a policy of not phoning drs for rxs, insisting that the patient call themselves. Not that we're completely hard-nosed, but while I sit there on hold, the line-up goes out the door.

It's a reflection of our customer base, which is largely welfare or disability, and they want me to phone their doctor for, say, a laxative because it's covered and they don't want to buy it off the shelf.

What I tell customers is that the drs would be much more responsive to a patient than a pharmacist, and they'll be more likely to get what they want, and faster, if they call instead of me (hey, it's sort of true!)

 

[pharmdinfl]

It really depends on the situation and the nature of the medication. If perhaps the MD had previously stated to the patient that an RX would be called in/faxed to the patient's pharmacy, but we have not yet received said RX, I will create a fax on behalf of the patient stating that the patient requested us to contact MD to clarify the situation and to contact us if an RX is warranted.

I would be hesitant to contact MD on patient's behalf if the patient has never discussed the medication with the MD during an office visit though. I wouldn't want to come across as if I'm over stepping my boundaries.

 

[Twins fan]

I treat retail pharmacy the same way the post office treats mail. Have you ever notice when you go to the post office no matter how busy it is the postal clerks work the same speed? It could be the middle of July or a week before Christmas and they work the same way at the same speed. Really, can you blame them? Its not like if they hurry there will be no mail and they get to go home early. This used to drive me insane until I really studied what the postal clerks were doing. They were still pleasant, they still smiled and made small talk, still asked all the standard questions like do you need any stamps. The break through moment for me is when I realized they do this so they do not go insane and kill someone. When you deal with the cranky, idiot public day in and day out, with a never ending stream of work, you have to have some kind of coping mechanism.

I have applied this outlook to retail pharmacy. I am a pharmacist. It is my job to dispense prescriptions without making a mistake and killing someone. It is the same thing day in and day out. They will always be prescriptions with problems, plenty of idiot customers, and idiot upper management. My philosophy is why get stressed out over things I cannot change? Therefore, I have developed a good system for filling and checking prescriptions. I do the same thing, the same way, at the same speed every time no matter what. I do not let anything distract me from that.

It seems a little hasty. Too often in pharmacy, we deem a patient's unrest, an "emergency". We throw a red clip on scripts all the time if the patient throws a fit, etc. (I do that all the time). But it's not truly a pharmaceutical/medical emergency. It's an 'emergency' of inconvenience. There's usually always an extra minute to do things by the book. (Unless the patient starts having a major migraine or whatever, right then, and needed that Imitrex ASAP- then I'd turn on the jets and justify later.) I feel like 'm there to be fast, but more so, to be efficacious. My mantra has always been, 'patient first, customer second'.

Well said you two...it's insightful posts like these that keep me coming back to SDN. Can really learn a lot.

At times right now I'll be running around the pharmacy 'like a chicken with its head cut off' (one of my favorite colloquialisms) because we are crazy busy...but I think there is really something to be said about Mountain's strategy of keeping the same pace and getting things done methodically and correctly no matter how busy the pharmacy is.

One of the pharmacists I work with seems to suscribe to the same type of thought process...he always says "the most important script is the one you are working on right now"....it's so easy to fall into the trap of worrying about the bigger picture (the 25 people standing in line) when really you need to concentrate on whatever task you are doing at the moment. Too bad every pharmacist I work with isn't like that...it's really quite stressful when one of the pharmacists gets more worked up about the lines being long than the customers!

 

[Doctor M]

Where the heck have you been?!?!?!?

I have been preparing for a special project. I cant divulge any info yet but as soon as the plan is on the way, you will all know! I cannot wait to tell you all my plan You will all be proud...

Dr. M

 

[Doctor M]

Good, good, good.

Did you get the job? How did all of that pan out?

You know, I did not get the job. The interview went well, but he asked me if I had ever fired anyone. I mean come on, what kind of question is that? Anyway, after I did not get the job i started on a project that is in the works!

Dr.M

 

[meister]

Wow I had no idea pharmacies had problems with faxing or calling the doctor's office for a new prescription. Really? Sending a fax? It takes 2 seconds, never been a problem for me. If the doctor doesn't want to ok it, more power to him.

As far as talking on a patient's cell phone, I only do that if I know the patient or if in my judgment it's obvious I'm speaking with the correct person. This stuff isn't difficult people, and having rules like this without breaking them occasionally would be silly. You never, of course, break any laws. But talking to someone at the doctor's office over a cell phone is a total judgment call. Obviously if it's some random person saying their doctor wants to give them Norco 10mg and is on their cell, that's not going to fly.

 

[Doctor M]

Wow I had no idea pharmacies had problems with faxing or calling the doctor's office for a new prescription. Really? Sending a fax? It takes 2 seconds, never been a problem for me. If the doctor doesn't want to ok it, more power to him.

As far as talking on a patient's cell phone, I only do that if I know the patient or if in my judgment it's obvious I'm speaking with the correct person. This stuff isn't difficult people, and having rules like this without breaking them occasionally would be silly. You never, of course, break any laws. But talking to someone at the doctor's office over a cell phone is a total judgment call. Obviously if it's some random person saying their doctor wants to give them Norco 10mg and is on their cell, that's not going to fly.

What he said!!

 

[pharmdinfl]

Sometimes patients take it upon themselves to decide that they need to take a particular prescription without having a proper examination/consultation with their physician. Maybe they saw an advertisement on TV/magazine or perhaps even from a friend/family member.

At times like that, I would not think it is appropriate to request an RX for some random medication that the patient has not discussed with their MD at that time - I would recommend to the patient that they discuss the matter with their physician to decide together if they might need the medication. That is why I will not always just go ahead and fax for a random RX.

 

[RxWildcat]

I usually don't call for Rxs that the pt has never had before, but its definitely a judgment call.