Yes , it was definitely an adventure in the beginning. We even had CVS go in and re-educate their pharmacists. We would call the pharmacy and say, "Do you have a computer screen? Now go to your in-box and click it." Then the pharmacist would generally reply, "I see you sent it 7 times!" Our e-prescribing company at the time was IScribe and they took care of the pharmacy education.
The patients were educated by the staff. I would think that in the age of the IPhone that this would be an easier explanation than 8 yrs ago. Remind the patient to give the pharmacy a half hour to receive and prepare rx. Then recommend that the pt call you directly if the rx is not at the pharmacy. Then simply resend it. It is not usually worth the argument with the pharmacist that you already did it, so sending 2 or 3 times may be necessary the first few months your area gets started.
As to controlled substances, we have chronic pain specialists in this area who do a great job of taking care of those patients. I probably only go through 2 paper script pads in an entire year.
Hang in there! It is so worth the initial education of the practice. Every script given is documented, interactions are prevented, patient satisfaction is HIGH!
