Got questions not answered in this FAQ or want more information? Contact us!
Is it legal for a doctor’s office, urgent care, assisted living, nursing home, prison, college, etc. to dispense?
At present, 45 of the 50 states allow in office doctor dispensing. Of the 45 states, 26 allow doctors to dispense without a state license, and 18 require a simple licensing/fee process. Of the 5 disallowing states, Arkansas and Massachusetts allow a doctor to dispense up to 72 hours of medication while Montana, New York and Texas, do not allow any doctor dispensing.
How will in-office dispensing improve patient compliance and convenience?
Doctors dispense the prescription before their patients leave the office. Managing the subsequent refill process through our software greatly increases patient compliance and convenience.
Will dispensing take doctor’s time away from patients and require additional workload requirements for the office staff?
Doctors will continue to prescribe as they do now. In most doctors’ offices, a significant amount of time and resources are utilized to manage refill authorizations. Dispensing medications directly to a patient is much faster and far more efficient. No more pharmacy callbacks.
Will dispensing require a tremendous amount of knowledge about regulations?
The Provider Rx software is very easy to use. Our software is customized for each state’s pharmacy regulations. Our software will automatically print a custom label for each patient’s prescription in the format required by your state. The patient’s demographics and prescription data are automatically saved in our HIPAA compliant software. Our software even allows the patient to sign electronically if you wish. Binders filled with stickers and patient signatures are a thing of the past.
Does dispensing increase malpractice risk and insurance premiums?
From an insurance standpoint, physicians assume the same or similar risk whenever they dispense a “free” prescription drug sample. Physicians are already liable for what they prescribe whether they dispense or not. In fact, there is far less exposure to risk of error dispensing a pre-packaged, and pre-approved prescription than relying upon another person’s ability to correctly interpret, prepare, label, and dispense your prescriptions.
There will be a natural hesitancy to change current office practices. How would doctors’ offices counter this obstacle?
True, any change is hard. But actually, there is very little change for the doctor, and dispensing for an existing patient will take less time than writing the prescription. Also, if an office staff feels they cannot handle the dispensing function without adding a person, Provider Rx will send a training person to your office to help with the dispensing start up.
Many doctors’ offices lack space. How does Provider Rx combat this problem?
Many repackagers ship medications within days of order therefore a typical practice does not need to stock more than a 2-week supply of the medications they typically prescribe. Only a small locking wall cabinet is required for most practices.
Is buying replenishment inventory a hassle?
Our software automatically keeps a real time inventory and deducts medications as they are prescribed. We help you to set automatic warnings customized to your prescribing trends to ensure you have exactly the medication counts needed for your practice.
Is it okay for doctors to make a profit from medications?
In order for independent doctors to survive the onslaught of Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, reimbursement reductions and rising costs in general, they must find ways to keep their practices more financially sound. Dispensing prescriptions isn’t much different from the trend of physicians offering limited on-site laboratory work, which is not perceived as a conflict of interest but as an expedient method to deliver medical care. Same applies to dispensing prescriptions.
Are there limits to whom the doctor can dispense medication?
Physicians may only dispense to their own patients and most states (with some exceptions) require that the physician perform a physical examination to establish this relationship. Most patients will appreciate the convenience and personalization that you provide as part of your health care management practice. Provider Rx gives you the ability to control your patients’ healthcare from start to finish.
Will the added effort to dispense in your office be worth it economically?
While every doctor’s office situation is different, Provider Rx has many business models that show a highly favorable economic return on investment. The one-time start-up costs to install and dispense in a doctor’s office is less than $4,000. These costs are typically recouped within the first month of operation. Provider Rx can run a business model based on a specific doctor’s office data. Please contact us to have a business model generated for your office.
Got a question not answered in this FAQ? Ready to find out more?
Contact us today for more information!