Request a refill, RxFill, or RxChange

Use refill, RxFill, and RxChange when a prescription needs to be renewed, filled, or changed. The request is sent from the patient chart, and the pharmacy response comes back on that same prescription.

Which request to send

A refill asks for the same prescription to be renewed. RxFill is the pharmacy’s notice about a fill, including whether the medication was dispensed. RxChange is how the pharmacy asks for a change, such as a different quantity, a substitution, or a clarification, and how the clinic answers that request.

• Refill when the patient is out of medication and the original order should continue.
• RxFill when you need to see what the pharmacy actually dispensed.
• RxChange when the medication, sig, or quantity needs to change.

Pick the matching action. Sending a refill when the pharmacy asked for a change leaves the request unanswered.

Send the request

1. Open the prescription from the patient chart.
2. Read the medication, strength, quantity, and pharmacy.
3. Choose refill, RxFill, or RxChange.
4. Confirm those details, add a note if the pharmacy asked a question, then send the request.

Check the pharmacy on the screen against the pharmacy the patient named. A request sent to the previous pharmacy looks like it disappeared, because the patient is waiting at a different counter.

Read the pharmacy response

The pharmacy response appears on the same prescription so the clinic can see whether it was accepted, denied, or replaced with a change request. Open the prescription again if the status is still pending at the end of the day. Pending usually means the pharmacy has not answered, not that the send failed.

If the pharmacy denies the refill, read the reason before you send it again. A denial for a missing visit or an expired order needs a clinical decision, not another identical request.

Keep the chart current

When a change is accepted, the prescription on the chart should show the new quantity or directions. Tell the patient what was approved so they are not expecting the old instructions. Do not store the only copy of the pharmacy message in email; the prescription screen is what the next clinician will open.