Automating the Prescription Refill Request Workflow Process

Improving processes within a healthcare organization is a top priority for most practice managers and hospital administrators these days. With patients calling into schedule appointments, request prescription refills, and find out test results, office staff members have a lot on their plate. Attending to refill requests alone can occupy hours of time each week. It’s a process that requires the full and immediate attention of staff members, as they must stop whatever work they are doing in order to attend to and verify the patient’s refill request.

One solution to alleviate this issue is to automate the refill request process. With Bridge Patient Portal’s Prescription Refill Request feature, patients can request a refill at any time online, and office staff can respond without interruption.

This simple, time-saving feature automatically populates the patient’s information within the fields when a patient requests a refill and sends it to the provider to take action.

To request a prescription refill, all the patient has to do is:

• Select their physician from the list of doctors.
• Select the medication to be prescribed.
• Enter the medication frequency.
• Add additional comments, if necessary.
• Enter their pharmacy information.
• Submit the refill request.

Once the refill request is submitted, notification is automatically sent to the office staff or physician through the physician portal where it can be verified and approved.

If interfaced with an EHR system, the notification is sent directly to that system without the need to go into the physician portal. In either case, the patient’s pharmacy will receive the refill request via the Scripts notification from the physician. Notification of the approved refill can be sent to the patient via the patient portal either by email or text message.

What makes the Prescription Refill Request feature attractive to both patients and providers is that the workflow process is streamlined and can take place without the patient having to call in to the physician’s office. This feature makes for a convenient, time-saving, and better overall patient experience.

This article was originally published on the Medical Web Experts blog.