[CarVsTree]

Would be better to fax in rx's. Oh wait a minute... Doctors write rx's and its hard enough to read them live A fax would be 10X worse.

[Marie_LPN, RN]

(i think a fax might make it more legible LMAO)

When i lived in WV i worked in a home setting semi-independent living house where three ladies with mental disabilities lived. We were able to call their prescritions in no matter what the drug was.

[Brownms46]

Doctors whose handwriting in illegible are responsible for many inaccurate RX being filled. Maybe this should be the norm, instead of the exception, and would make things a lot safer, and easier for everyone concerned. It would also help to decrease the number of fraudulent RX...hopefully.
http://www.ecrm-epps.com/Expose/V6_10/5.pdf

Or at least something like it. I think the price would come down, as it became more widely used. Many hospitals no longer allow an MD to even write orders on a chart. They must enter them into the computer. Especially military, and VA hospitals have been doing this for a number of years.

[Lecia]

I currently work as a med. sec. in an out pt psych clinic. I handle our "med refill" line... ppl leave a msg as to what they need I write it up, pull the chart, and the RN comes to call in the scripts. Docs are the only ones who can do narcotics...

However, I can't tell you how many times a pharmacy has called to request a refill and asked me if I wanted them to go ahead and fill the script. When I say I'm not a nurse they tell me that's okay....SCARRY!!! It amazes me what I could do if I wansn't an ethical person... I could medicate myself out the wazzu!!! Not to mention seriously messing up our already less than stable patients...

It's a shame there isn't some federal regulations regarding who can call in and fill scripts. Perhaps when some congressman gets the wrong thing and dies b/c a secretary called in his med things will change.

[jenac]

I have to add my two cents worth here. I for one, get so incredibly offended when I hear of an MA who calls him/herself a "nurse". And down right angry that they would have the audacity to use a title reserved for someone who actually had to do something to earn it. I am horrified that they introduce themselves as such and push it on the unsuspecting public-people who trust nurses-have faith in nurses, but are being so completely blindsided.

I speak of personal experiences here. I have encountered MAs posing as nurses in various offices and a local Hospital affiliated Immediate Medical Center where I took my son following a nail accident.

I am not in anyway "bashing" MAs. That is not my intent- but a nurse is a LICENSED, EDUCATED professional who earns the right to call him/herself a nurse. We worked very hard for that, and gratefully accept all the responsibility that goes along with that. An MA does not. They simply fall back on whatever Dr.'s license just happened to save a buck by hiring them instead.

[Brownms46]

You know I wonder why people can't see that everytime they disrepect another person's education level, or experience, they disrespect their own! And people wonder why MDs talk down to nurses! The elitist attitudes run deep don't they!

[TennNurse]

[quote]Originally posted by jemb
[

If a physician/ facility would require of whatever employee calls in the RX to spell out the name of the drug along with the directions, many problems could be avoided.

1) The physician would have to write or print legibly.

2) The person calling the RX would not risk misreading or mispronouncing a name. (i.e. Zantac would not become Xanax.)

3) Risk of mistakes due to variations in dialects/ accents would be minimized. (May be a regional issue, but definitely can create problems in my neck of the woods!)



I think this is a great idea. However, in order for it to really cut down on errors, the pharmacy must also take action of some sort. It's just too easy to get around them.

When I was still in New Mexico, I knew of several employees in the doctors' office who had a nice little scheme going. They would wait till after office hours, and call a script into WalGreen's or another 24-hour pharmacy. They would select the option to leave the rx information on the pharmacy's voice mail, and give whatever name, drug, DOB, etc, they pleased. They had DEA numbers, drug handbooks, and insurance coverage information ready for handy reference. The reason this works is that pharmacies, like most other businesses, are trying to improve customer service with greater convenience and less time waiting. Calling the office to confirm the script would have to wait till the next day, and if the customer in front of the counter is complaining of pain, fever, or a nasty cough, the pharmacy generally won't ask them to wait. If they did, they'd have found that these employees were not who they said they were, and the MD had never prescribed what they said she did. (I did report this to my supervisor- absolutely nothing happened. I left there after less than a year.)

These employees, incidentally, were MAs, but that doesn't scare me quite as much as what anyone who knows how to work the pharmacy system can do.

Also, I've called in prescriptions to pharmacists and pharmacy techs who had such strong accents that I had no idea what they were saying. What struck me as the big worry was whether or not they could understand what I was saying. There was at least one instance I knew of when I called in Estrostep for a pt, spelled the name of the drug and gave the DOB of the pt, and the pharmacy still gave her Estratest.

There's no question that giving too much authority to unlicensed personnel in the doctor's office (or anyone anywhere else) can create dangerous situations, but we also need to worry about the lenient policies of the pharmacy. They need to let pts know that all phoned-in requests (or at least those for new prescriptions) need to be confirmed with the MD prior to being filled, and that this is necessary for patient safety.

Just my 0.02.

[Brownms46]

Good post! Nice to read some balance for a change. Unlicensed pesonnel are not the real problem in this, but anyone who decides they want to circumvent the system to their own personal gain. And the way the system is now, anyone can and do abuse it.

Not to mention the fact, that the way things are now, there are too many mistakes made on all sides, and that is something we all need to work toward changing.

[Itisazenlife]

Right on!!!!

[icie rn]

This is so funny to me because I spent 3 hours on the phone on Friday trying to get the pharmacy, the nurse, and the doctors to get hubby's Rx right before we leave for a month to visit daughter up north. Here in WV, I know less than licensed personal call in the RX's, so I know there are lots of mistakes. I shudder to think of what would have happened to hubby if I did know the correct meds, doses, and how he is to take them. I know there must be several patients who are mistreated because of these mistakes. The problem is how to fix it? Some doctors here just do not do as adequate a job as needed when writing RX's and keeping records. Hard to believe, well just make a visit and see for yourself.