New doctor - can they see scripts written by other docs online?

voteoften on 12/01/2014 - 22:33

I am very adept at misplacing anything medical. Give me just the drive home in the car and it'll all be lost. Scripts, test results, test orders. I buy scripts and I immediately lose them.

I want a script written and am sort of seeing a new doc (cuz I went to her for a different reason and now I like her). If I ask her for some tablets, assuming she will prescribe them, will she be able to see that the other doc wrote me a script three or four weeks about that I refilled and then lost? I want the pills, but not the disbelief that I simply lost the old ones and didn't just gobble them up.

If you see another doctor, can they see what other doctors have prescribed for you.

General Discussion

Comments

  • retiredfeline on 12/01/2014 - 22:37

    I don't know about doctors, but I think pharmacists can because your scripts go towards the cap.

    If you have used the other script before losing, your pharmacist can generate a copy.

    If you didn't use the other script at all, I think there is no problem.

    • Apothecary on 14/01/2014 - 10:28
      +1

      Reprinting a repeat is actually illegal ;)

      • retiredfeline on 14/01/2014 - 10:32

        Rubbish, my pharmacist regenerated the yellow sheet when they thought I had mislaid it. I simply hadn't brought it along that time because I didn't want it filled. It had exactly the same information, even the date before which I could not get it filled except in dire deed. Even with a duplicate, there's no way I could have got more than 5 repeats since they know exactly how many they have dispensed already. The master information is in the computer, not on the sheet. This is the yellow sheet, not the doctor's script.

        • Apothecary on 14/01/2014 - 13:08

          I can take my repeat paper to one pharmacy and get it dispensed, and then take it back to the original pharmacy and say that I misplaced it, doesn't that mean that you get 2 lots of the medicine with the same paper?

          The only time when a pharmacist is willing to do that is when it's a private medication (not 36.10 or 5.90 whatever it is this year). There is no tracking of the paperwork by the NHS. But if it's a PBS one they can track it and will reject the second one and the pharmacy would not receive the payment from the government.

          Just because they do it doesn't mean it's not illegal.

        • retiredfeline on 14/01/2014 - 13:18
          -1

          You are thinking that the paper is the original but like so many things these days there is central tracking that makes the paper redundant and prone to abuse as is.

          Also a fill has to be accompanied by the original script that has all the stickers from dispenses stuck on it. So the other pharmacist can count that.

        • Apothecary on 14/01/2014 - 17:14

          There is no 'central tracking system'.
          Many pharmacists would reprint the yellow repeat paper without the original prescription.

          Stickers aren't very reliable either. If you have tried to dispense 20+ medication for the one person (generally very elderly), then the dispensing technician may get the stickers on the wrong page or even omit them accidentally.

        • retiredfeline on 14/01/2014 - 17:18

          Well for sure my pharmacy chain would spot me if I tried to submit the yellow form at another branch, even more so if I tried to do so without the original script. All the more reason to fully implement a central system and or properly check the stickers, which is the current "tracking system". Making it illegal doesn't forestall mistakes, the current system full of holes as it is.

          Though, come to think of it, as they normally staple the yellow form and the script together, both would get lost if I were the careless type, and my pharmacy would simply tell me to go back to the doctor to get a new script, including a prescription for fish oil to improve memory. :)

        • Apothecary on 14/01/2014 - 19:23

          Omg you don't get it. Chains aren't linked!!!!1

        • retiredfeline on 14/01/2014 - 19:34

          Damn, you mean I could have got lots and lots of fills? Even without the original script? My my what a holey system.

        • Apothecary on 15/01/2014 - 11:02

          If the pharmacy you go to is dodgy they will do it for the $5 dispensing fee. End of argument.

        • retiredfeline on 15/01/2014 - 11:03

          Ok, thanks for the tip. Not that I have need of it.

  • resubaehtgnolhcs on 13/01/2014 - 00:18
    +3

    No, your new doctors will not be able to see what a previous doctor has prescribed you, unless both doctors work in the same practice and have access to your file, or you have provided your new doctor with your medical files from your previous doctor.

    However, as Greenpossum mentions above, pharmacists can see what you have had dispensed (on Medicare) and if you lost your pills within 21 days of them being dispensed, then you may not be able to get more pills until the 21 days expire (dependant on the drug). This is to stop people from procuring large quantities of pills…

    • [Deactivated] on 13/01/2014 - 00:41
      -1

      You should be fine going to a different pharmacist :P I've had scripts for the same drug dispensed to me within a very short time frame (like a week or less) without problem. Different GP scripts and different pharmacists. At least that was completely do-able 2-3 years ago.

      … not that I'd know :P

      • resubaehtgnolhcs on 13/01/2014 - 01:52
        +1

        Today, you still can get some prescriptions within 21 days … but it does depend on the drug.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/01/2014 - 07:29

      I thought the 21 day rule was to stop people stocking up with free scripts at the end of a calendar year when they had reached the cap.

      • retiredfeline on 13/01/2014 - 07:37

        If people thought about it, there's little point in that. It just means that next year, you don't reach the cap. But if you have a 5% rebate running out, then you might gain a few bucks.

  • voteoften on 13/01/2014 - 01:37

    Okay, thanks.
    The beauty of this new doc is she is on that healthengine scheduling thing and I can see her availability. It;ll fit in with my morning plans, whereas with the orig doc, he is sooo hard to get into see.

  • sparkles on 13/01/2014 - 06:47
    +2

    If you go to the same pharmacist regularly they can hold your repeat scripts on file, so you don't need to keep them (and then lose them), well mine does at least. They can also note down any medications that didn't agree with you. I had a horrible reaction to a particular antibiotic and don't ever want to be dispensed it again. I find smaller pharmacies can give you better and more personalised service in this regard, rather than the large ones with numerous pharmacists.

    • eatwell365 on 13/01/2014 - 06:59
      +2

      +1 for supporting small business. I prefer to support local store too when price is not a concern.

      • lisss on 14/01/2014 - 12:58

        Likewise, unfortunately price is often a concern. I went to my local pharmacy and was charged $50 for the contraceptive pill that I pay $28 for at Chemist Warehouse etc… never again!

    • voteoften on 13/01/2014 - 11:53

      yes, the pharmacist does hold my scripts, it is just that i tend to lose the actual medicine later, especially if it is something I rarely actually use.

  • zenzeninbox on 13/01/2014 - 07:26
    +1

    I thought the government ehealth record mind control program way of recording health info is supposed to address issues like this.

    • DavidFong on 13/01/2014 - 21:22

      That is the eventual intent. But patient take-up (enrolment), doctor participation and most critically of all, functionality, including the function of viewing previously written and dispensed scripts, are all way behind schedule. Rather like the cough National Broadband Network cough, well, the NBN was somewhat worse.

      I should not mention this, but I will anyway. Thanks to patient rights advocates, patients are also free to block any or all information from the national ehealth record, including previously dispensed and prescribed prescriptions, and the fact that information has been removed from view will itself be 'invisible'. The vast majority of patients won't do this. I am afraid to say it is quite likely that a certain kind of 'doctor shopping' patient is the most likely user of such a facility.

      Naturally, as a healthcare provider, I am very biased. I well remember the days (just ten years ago) when it was possible for a doctor to enter into a contract with a patient, and be regularly provided information about the dispensation of potentially abused and addictive medication. Now that facility has been removed, it is quite hard for a doctor to be provided information about over-prescribing by multiple other doctors for the same patient, with all those unnecessary and potentially harmful medicines paid for by government Medicare (more strictly, Pharmaceutical Benefits) money.

  • anna10 on 13/01/2014 - 07:52
    +1

    It all depends what the drug on the original script was for. If it is a reportable drug, it may look like you are doctor shopping and the pharmacist may call the new Doc and have a talk, esp if they are all local and kinda 'know' each other. Then the new doc may tell you to not darken their door again, which is what they do for problem patients and there's no shortage of them.

    If it something that is more innocuous, maybe best to fess up and so prove that you are honest.

    • voteoften on 13/01/2014 - 11:55
      -5

      My pharmacist actually seems quite sweet on me. The second I darken his door, he is from behind the counter seeing how I am if he can help me etc. Even if he is with someone else.

      And he's hot too!!

  • vipulrm on 13/01/2014 - 09:52
    +1

    Irrespective of weather the Doctor/Pharmacist can track your scripts, I think it would be best you come clean with your new Doc and ask her to write you new ones.

    • vipulrm on 13/01/2014 - 11:26

      *whether

      • retiredfeline on 13/01/2014 - 11:27
        +1

        Swyped again? :)

        • vipulrm on 13/01/2014 - 11:41

          Yeah. You know the feeling… "Whoops! I need to correct this before some grammar Nazi hijacks this thread" ;)

          PS: I mean no offence to grammar Nazis. In fact, I think they are the only ones who keep the rest of us in check.

        • retiredfeline on 13/01/2014 - 11:51

          That's ok, I find it interesting trying to figure out which are Swype errors and which are genuine misconceptions. Swype generates some um, interesting textonyms, a friend once told me to meet her in Puppy Hills (Surry Hills). There's another textonym for Puppy but I won't go there. :)

  • aripper on 13/01/2014 - 11:24
    +6

    "I am very adept at misplacing anything medical. Give me just the drive home in the car and it'll all be lost. Scripts, test results, test orders. I buy scripts and I immediately lose them".

    (You "buy" scripts?)
    It's puzzling why you should say it happens with "anything medical". If there is no unstated agenda attached to your question, perhaps you should concentrate more on organising yourself and respecting the efforts and costs involved by your obvious lack of interest otherwise. It's as simple as remembering which side of the road you should drive on…. and we all hope you can remember that OK?

  • Apothecary on 14/01/2014 - 10:33

    To be honest, the things that us pharmacists worry the most about when you 'doctor shop' are narcotics, benzos, DDs. I'm not going to care if you tell me you lost your blood pressure or cholesterol tablets. I'm going to believe you.

    • voteoften on 14/01/2014 - 12:10

      What is a DD?

      • resubaehtgnolhcs on 14/01/2014 - 12:35
        +1

        drugs of dependence ..?

        • Apothecary on 14/01/2014 - 13:13

          So Endone, Oxycontin, Concerta, Ritalin, morphine, codeine (not in combination with paracetamol) .. etc

      • retiredfeline on 14/01/2014 - 13:13
        -1

        I don't know either but I want some ;).

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