Prescriptions & Refill Requests:

What’s the policy with refills?

Refills are granted at the time of your office/phone appointment and not in between visits. Please DO NOT ask your pharmacist call the office asking for a refill. When you are running low on your medication, it is a reminder that you are probably due for an appointment. I prescribe enough medication to last until your next appointment.

How much medication can I get at the time of my appointment?

If you have no issues and you are stable on your medication you can usually get 3- or 6-month supply. If you have issues that are not under control then you usually need to return every 1-3 months for medication and evaluation (thyroid problems, for example). Some people who have dangerously out of control issues have to come back in 1-2 weeks.  So the moral of the story is to get your health issues under control in partnership with me, and make sure you ask for your refills at the time of your office visit so you are not surprised when the pharmacist says “Sorry, you have run out of medication.” You MUST have an appointment at least every 6 months to receive refills. Otherwise, I can not safely prescribe for you.

Why can’t I just call when I’m on my last pill like at other doctor’s offices?

The average medical office is inundated with refill requests and they often need to hire lots of staff to handle the sheer volume of refill requests. Thirty percent of the phone calls to the average office are related to refill requests. Another 20% of calls are second calls in the same day from the same person who did not get their call returned. “It’s 4:45 and nobody called me back! I just took my last pill! Help!” We have a firm boundary around this so that we prevent this from causing a bottleneck in our practice.

Why is it my responsibility to keep track of my medication?

Your physician usually has thousands patients to keep track of at the average office. It is

impossible for physicians to keep track of your medication. It is also hard on the pharmacists if you wait till the last minute to ask for a refill. Please keep track of your medication so you can ask in advance of using your last pill. It is best to schedule an appointment while you still have a several weeks of supply left.

What if I know you wrote me a longer supply than the pharmacists says I have left?

Tell the pharmacist to pull the “hard copy” and make sure that the pharmacist entered it in their system correctly.

Anything else I can do to make things easier?

If you take a look at your prescriptions and try to get them renewed on the same cycle such as every 3,6,9 or 12 months then you will have them all in sequence and easy to remember the renewal date on all of them.  Ask each time you go to the pharmacy to make sure you know when you will run out. Keep that list in your wallet so you will know when you come to your appointments.

What if I’m in a pinch? Are there exceptions?

Pharmacists will usually give you a 3-day supply to tide you over in an emergency. You may also contact your primary care provider (required, since I am a consultant only) for last-minute requests – but what works best is for you to create a sane, reasonable plan for your refills.

 Office Hours

 Monday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm EST

 Tuesday through Thursday 8:00 am to 5:pm EST

 Friday 8:00 am to 1pm EST

Contact Information

Email: info@quinnmd.net

Phone:904-296-0900

Fax: 902-296-7597

I hope this was helpful!  Thanks for being proactive and helping me have an efficient and streamlined medical practice. This allows us to respond faster to your emails and other requests for help.