Many consumers are curious to know how
online prescriptions are filled, and what
documentation is necessary. While this can vary from
pharmacy to pharmacy, the process is much like at
your local drugstore. Most people are surprised to
hear that filling an order for medication online is
simple and quick, and still thorough.
If you want to know what you can expect when using
an
online pharmacy, look at the basic information
below to get you started. Remember that all
businesses have different practices, and these
processes can vary depending on if you are ordering
your online prescriptions from a pharmacy in Canada
or Mexico.
Transferring a Prescription
The process for transferring a prescription between
a retail store and an online pharmacy is not much
different than transferring from one retail store to
another. You can even transfer online prescriptions
from one online pharmacy to another. The reason
there is not much difference is that retail
pharmacies use a computer system to transfer the
information about you and your medications back and
forth to each other. In the rare case that you have
a “controlled substance” medication, you sometimes
need to take the physical prescription slip to the
new pharmacy to have it transferred. Otherwise, you
have probably noticed that the pharmacy staff takes
care of the rest.
The process usually goes something like this. The
new pharmacy calls or transmits a request for
information to the old pharmacy, and receives the
information back regarding your medication, dosage,
and the physician who ordered it. When all that
information is verified, your online prescriptions
are filled. The practice that most pharmacies use is
streamlined, and your prescriptions are usually
filled without a need for the doctor to be called or
otherwise contacted.
Filling a New Prescription
Having a new prescription filled from an online
pharmacy may be a little trickier. As mentioned
earlier, certain medications require that the
prescription slip be submitted directly to the
pharmacy. How is this done with online
prescriptions? In this case, you will probably need
to place your order online, and then follow up by
mailing in your prescription slip to the address the
pharmacy gives you. Your medication will not be
mailed out until this is received and verified by
the online pharmacy in most cases.
With online prescriptions that are not controlled
substances, you can most often simply place the
order online. The pharmacist filling the order will
call or fax your physician to verify that the
medication was prescribed for you, and the order
will be filled. This is how most pet medication and
contact lens companies do their order fulfillment.
Renewing a Prescription
Perhaps the easiest way to order medication is to
have it renewed. Some pharmacies will automatically
renew your online prescriptions when the proper time
has elapsed. For instance, they may automatically
ship your birth control pills every 25 days or so,
and may charge you via stored financial account
information. If you wish to set up an automatic
renewal such as this, the prescription will need to
specify that it has refills left, and you will most
likely need to allow the pharmacy to charge your
card each month without reentering the information.
When a prescription has no refills left, the
pharmacy will contact your physician to verify that
you may continue with the medication for another
month.
Ordering online prescriptions for medication is a
lot like ordering pet meds, or even contact lenses.
The providers of the medication or medical devices
will need to verify your need for them, either by
contacting your physician, or previous pharmacy, or
both. Practices will vary depending on which online
pharmacy you use, though they will all work to
ensure that you are receiving the medication that
you need.
As you can see, the process of ordering online
prescriptions is not at all that different than
ordering at your local retail store. In some cases,
the prescription may get delayed if you need to mail
in the slip the doctor gives you, but you can also
avoid this by asking your physician to write your
prescription for 6 months at a time. This way, you
only have to mail the actual slip in twice a year.
You can be sure when purchasing your online
prescriptions that you will receive personalized and
attentive care, maybe even more so than you would
with the pharmacy around the corner. You can
certainly order with confidence when placing your
health care needs in the hands of a website.
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