Pharmacy Refills and Medication Requests

PLEASE START THE PROCESS AT LEAST TWO FULL BUSINESS DAYS BEFORE YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED THE MEDICATION

 

 When requesting refills at the time of your visit:
 In most cases, it is simplest for our office and for you to have your physician write a prescription at the time of your visit for the greatest number of refills possible. In general, this will be enough to last until you would need to be re-examined or have blood tests done.

When requesting refills from local pharmacies:
The most efficient approach for requesting refills is to phone your pharmacy directly and have them contact our office by fax.
Our fax number for prescriptions is 310/ 794-9830. Your pharmacy will send all the necessary information to us.

In most cases, the approval for your refill will be faxed or phoned by us back to your pharmacy by the end of the following business day. Unless your pharmacy has not heard from us by the end of the following business day, PLEASE DO NOT CALL TO CHECK IF THIS HAS BEEN DONE. These calls detract from the staff time available to process prescription requests. Occasionally, your doctor may need more information or may need to examine you or request blood tests before refilling the prescription. If this is the case, you will be notified by the end of the next business day.

When requesting refills from mail-in pharmacies:

 Please be sure to specifically request a “mail order” prescription. Request a written prescription or signature on the form and/or sticker provided to you by the mail-in pharmacy. We are unable to phone in prescriptions to mail in pharmacies. Although a phone number is often listed, persons at this number will generally not take prescription orders.

Special situations:

Narcotics and antibiotics: In general, these prescriptions take more time to refill, as more information is required. Be sure to call at least 3 business days ahead of the time you absolutely require refills of these types of medications.

Emergency contraception (“The Morning After Pill”): Is available without a prescription for anyone 18 years or older.

Other emergency refills: Some medications (like birth control pills and some heart medications) should not be skipped, even for a day. If you take such medications, and run out unexpectedly, please call to have it refilled. On nights, weekends, and holidays, you will be referred to an “on call” doctor. In this circumstance, your prescription will usually be refilled only for a few days, and you will need to call for a regular refill during regular business hours. Please plan ahead!

Insurance company mandated prescription changes : Sometimes, insurance companies will require that your physician change your prescription to a different medication in order for you to receive the medication at reduced cost. Patients always have the option of taking the medication originally prescribed and paying for it themselves. However, in our experience, our patients overwhelmingly prefer to take medications that are available at reduced cost through their insurance. In many cases, insurers request a change to a medication that works identically or nearly identically to the one originally prescribed. In that case, our office will phone to let you know that the medication was judged by your physician to be appropriate, and that the change was authorized. In other cases, the insurer will request that a different type of medication be used, or a different dosage. Depending on the circumstances, our staff or your physician will call to discuss this change. In some cases, an office visit or additional blood tests may be necessary.

If you have any questions, please call 310/ 794-9830. Our staff will be happy to assist you.

(c) Iris Cantor-UCLA Women's Health Center/Health Education and Resource Center
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