Answer: As of July 25, 2023, three options are available for getting (most) outpatient or discharge prescriptions to the patient's preferred pharmacy:
- New: Send via electronic fax ("eFax") directly from Connect Care to the patient's preferred pharmacy (or pharmacies).
- There are two steps for this option: confirm/enter the patient's preferred pharmacy (or pharmacies); and change the order class to "Fax" (the default is "Print", including for refills) and select the destination pharmacy (or pharmacies). As the screens where these steps occur depend on the context (ambulatory, ED or outpatient), see the tip sheet for further details.
- Print prescription from Connect Care, add handwritten signature, and manually fax to the patient’s preferred pharmacy.
- Print prescription from Connect Care, add handwritten signature, and provide to the patient (or patient’s agent) to bring to a pharmacy of choice.
Notes:
- We await pharmacy information system adoption of standards-based protocols for receiving and reconciling electronic prescriptions. A Canada Health Infoway initiative called "PrescribeIT" addresses the need for standards, currently piloted in Alberta. Connect Care plans to work with this protocol when tested and ready.
- Telephone verbal prescriptions may be okay for some pharmacies, where medications are delivered to a home or continuing care facility.
- Prescriptions for drugs classified as Type 1 under the Tracked Prescription Program (TPP) cannot be sent by fax and will always be printed.
If the patient requires a reprint or refill at a later date, consider opening an "Orders Only" or "Prescription Refill" encounter. Order or renew one or more meds, taking care to look to the "Class" field at the bottom of the order dialog. If sending via direct electronic fax to a patient’s preferred pharmacy (must already be set in their profile; see tip sheet), select “Fax”; if printing to manually fax or give to the patient to bring to the pharmacy, select "Print":
If printing from the computer and printer originally used to create a prescription: Note that an orders review icon appears just to the left of the "Sign Encounter" at the bottom right. Clicking on this lists the meds for potential printing and provides icons for printing individual or all prescriptions:
If printing from a different computer or personal device and locally installed printer: From an open chart, go to Chart Review, select the Meds tab, then either double-click on the medication to be reprinted or right-click to display the medication information in a side bar. Scroll to the bottom of the medication information (report) and note a link for generating a new prescription printout (1). Click on this, then the print icon (2), then select the correct local printer and generate the paper prescription for signing.
For more information on the new option of sending prescriptions via direct electronic fax, see the tip sheet and other resources: