Fond du Lac Human Services Pharmacy

Medicine Talk
By Nicole Madsen

Boozhoo from your Fond Du Lac Human Services Division Pharmacies. We are very pleased to have the honor of writing this months Medicine Talk article. The pharmacy staff is excited to have the opportunity to discuss important subjects relating to your health and the use of medications.

Prescription Refills

Are you fed up with the time it takes to sometimes get your prescriptions refilled? If there are no refills remaining, it can take a few days for us at the pharmacy to get the authorization we need to renew your medication. Perhaps the following explanation will ease some frustrations.

There are two situations in which the pharmacy needs to contact your doctor before refilling a prescription. The first situation occurs when a current prescription is over one year old. State law mandates that prescriptions are void after one year from the date they were written. Thus, if a prescription is written out in January of 2000, that prescription is only valid until January 2001 even if there are refills remaining. This means that even if your doctor intends for you to be on the medication for the rest of your life, the pharmacy needs a new prescription for that medication at least every year. There are exceptions; some medications require a new prescription every six months. Medications that fall into this category are controlled substances such as pain medications, anti-anxiety medications and sleeping aids. These medications are mainly for short-term use, so there is seldom a problem with expiration dates. It is the long term, chronic medications that patients will be on for the rest of their lives that prescription expiration dates play a role. Please be aware of this one-year expiration dating and be sure to schedule exams at least once a year with your provider in order to get renewed prescriptions.

The second situation in which the pharmacy has to contact the patient’s doctor in order to refill a prescription is when there are no further refills authorized on the medication. Whatever reason the provider has for not putting refills on the initial or subsequent prescriptions, we at the pharmacy do not know. Before we can refill the medication, however, the pharmacy, by law, has to get authorization from the physician who wrote the initial order.

Sometimes these authorizations take days and there are several reasons for delays in these situations. The doctor(s) may be out of the office for the day and other providers do not know enough about the patient’s situation to feel comfortable refilling the drug. Providers may be waiting to get lab results back, or may be waiting for the patient to return to the clinic for a check-up before refilling the drugs. Providers may be extremely busy with scheduled patient appointments and just do not get a chance to look over refill requests until the next day. The best advice to try to avoid a situation like this one is to bring all of your medications with you to each scheduled appointment. Even if you think you have refills remaining, go over each drug with your provider. Establish a timeline of how long he/she anticipates your being on the medication. Make sure both you and your provider are on the same page as to how often your medications will be refilled and how often to schedule follow-up appointments. There is no need to ask pharmacy for refills if you have a scheduled appointment. An appointment is the perfect time for you to discuss your medications with your provider and have him/her renew them. We cannot stress enough how good communication between you and your provider is essential in the speedy refilling of your medications. We in the pharmacy serve as a link between providers and medication refills for the patients, but we in no way decide which medications get refilled or control how long it takes to get the refill authorization.

NEW HOURS AT THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN INDIAN RESOURCES (CAIR) PHARMACY!

Starting on September 15^th, 2004 the CAIR pharmacy will be open more hours to provide a more convenient service to the patients at the CAIR Clinic. The pharmacy will be open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4:00pm. The pharmacy will now be open over the lunch hour and also on Wednesday mornings. We hope that this will make it more convenient for you to get your prescriptions.

If you get your medications at the Center for American Indian Resources Pharmacy you may have noticed a new telephone automated prescription line. This system will accept prescription refill requests 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The system is easy to use and you just need your refillable prescription bottles before calling. Using your touchtone telephone, enter your request as the automated prescription line prompts you through the order process. You can also use the system to call and see if your prescription has been filled and is ready for pickup. If you have a rotary phone it will automatically transfer your call to the pharmacy. If you wish to speak to a member of the pharmacy staff please dial 0 and you will be transferred to the pharmacy. If we are unable to receive the call at that time, due to assisting other patients, please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible. The use of this new system will allow us to spend less time on the phone and more time providing patient care. We appreciate your patience with learning this new system and if you have any questions about this new service please talk to one of the pharmacy staff and we will be happy to assist you.

Remember the Fond Du Lac Pharmacies will be closed September 6^th and 24^th this month for Labor Day and the Human Services Staff Meeting. Also, remember that the CAIR pharmacy will be closing at 11:00am and the Min-No-Aya-Win Pharmacy at noon on September 30th, 2004 for team meetings.

Miigwech

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