New electronic signatures for triplicates

Good question!

I did some reading on this and triplicate prescriptions. Wow, what an eye opener.

Can controlled substance prescriptions be sent electronically? Here's an NIH site that gives fairly clear information. There is a lot of confusion from site to site so take a bit and read it.

Basically, yes they 'can' but they don't 'have to'. Most doctors aren't using it. I don't know if it differs from state to state but supposedly it's OK nation wide. Plus there's a push to do away with the entire idea. Don't you just love how government works? <my opinion only>

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3715357/

Warmly,
Chutz

My prescriptions were done by electronic signature for a while. The PM place insisted on it as the scripts did not get in the wrong hands. And were not changed or altered. The new place I am at is setting that up but has not yet put it in place.

My doc had a similar procedure where she had to input a verification code sent by the pharmacy to her mobile phone then had to enter the code from that device only. I was told I won't have to go in to pick up scripts anymore. The medical group my doc is with just upgraded all of their software and I guess this was part of it. Since the past few months have been a royal pain to get triplicates within 72-96 hours making me call ahead and worry that it looked like I was asking for an early refill it'll be interesting to see how this works on the next refill. They were really slow at an appointment last week blaming it on the new system. I have no problem complying with UAs & the unkind looks from a substitute pharmacist (I'm on good friendly terms with the primary ones). But the current demonizing of legitimate use is growing every day and it concerns me when I think back to the early 80s and saw a family member denied morphine even though she was dying in horrible pain yet it wasn't technically "cancer". Is it really that big of a deal if the person is not going to live much longer? It's not like becoming "addicted" to it is really an issue anyway since they'll be gone soon as it is. I never understood that logic. As it is, hospice now uses methadone for 24 hour coverage with liquid morphine for breakthrough pain. That stuff is poison in my opinion but that's a discussion for another thread...

Before we, as chronic pain patients, feel that we are the only group marginalized . . .

Look at how how those with mental illness are treated by the medical community. People with mental illness face inordinate obstacles to compassionate care. Their plight is truly disheartening.
- Karen -

I receive my narcotic prescriptions through Palliative Care which is provided through a large hospital affiliation. The providers recently transitioned to electronic prescriptions that also includes narcotic prescriptions through a select number of pharmacies. They mentioned that the software upgrade was a fairly expensive investment, so associated costs may limit small physician practices.

As astutely mentioned by Mercy and Grace, electronic prescriptions for narcotics have the benefit of lessening the risk of fraudulent tampering. It has also proved beneficial for my providers in altering/changing dosing as needed, without having to print a revised script that normally would require a trip to the provider’s office or courier delivery to obtain the revised written prescription.

As with any change, there are benefits and downsides to consider. But as with almost all aspect of life, electronic mediums of communication are becoming the norm. Electronic books, newspapers, paying utility bills online, et. al.
Karen

Alice:
At least for me, the availability of electronic scripts does NOT negate or do away with regular 1:1 physician appointments. Rather, the electronic script removes the need for an actual paper prescription and the extra step of taking said prescription to the pharmacy.
Karen

Looks like we will still be randomly told to pick up a written Rx and do a UA. I have an HMO in a certain group of PC & specialists so it looks like this is yet another cost saving measure. I noticed the response time was much faster this time, much like it was before the last 2 months where it could take up to 5 days to get a triplicate. As for billing I'm sure they bill the insurance for time spent to either write or electronically process the scripts. I see a potential problem with the random triplicate pickup bc I work full time and used to have a family member pick up my scripts. It isn't easy to just take off from work so not sure how this will pan out. Time will tell.