Patient Policy

Carolina Internal Medicine Physicians participates with electronic prescribing directly to your mail order and local pharmacies.  Our goal is to assist our patients with prescription requests in an efficient and timely manner.  Due to the volume of prescription requests, we have created the following guidelines to help meet these goals.

1. To request a prescription refill, you should contact your pharmacy. The pharmacy will then forward your request to our office for authorization. Please call your pharmacy directly to check on the status of the medication refill and plan accordingly.
2. Prescription refills require close monitoring by your provider to ensure their safety and effectiveness. Your provider will prescribe the appropriate number of prescription refills to last until your next scheduled appointment. Generally, when you are down to zero refills, it is time to schedule a follow up appointment. We prefer you to request any refills of your medications at the beginning of your office visit.
3. It is the patient’s responsibility to notify the office in a timely manner when refills are necessary.  Approval of your refill may take up to three (3) business days, so do not wait to call.  If you use a mail order pharmacy, please contact us fourteen (14) days before your medication is due to run out.
4. Medication refills will only be addressed during regular office hours (Monday – Friday (8:00am – 4:30pm). Please notify your provider on the next business day if you find yourself out of medication after hours.  No prescriptions will be refilled on Saturday, Sunday or Holidays.
5. Patients requesting new prescriptions or antibiotics must be seen for an appointment. They are not prescribed over the phone because it generally requires an office visit and at times can be accomplished with a telehealth/virtual visit.
6. Refills can only be authorized on medication prescribed by providers from our office. We will not refill medications prescribed by other providers.
7. Some medications require prior authorization. Depending on your insurance, this process may involve several steps by both your pharmacy and your provider.  The providers and pharmacies are familiar with this process and will handle the prior authorization as quickly as possible. Neither the pharmacy nor the provider can guarantee that your insurance company will approve the medication.  Please check with your pharmacy or your insurance company for updates. Depending upon the complexity of the prior authorization there could be a $30 charge to the patient.
8. It is important to keep your scheduled appointment to ensure that you receive timely refills. Repeated no shows or cancellations will result in a denial of refills.
9. If you have any questions regarding medications, please discuss these during your appointment. If for any reason you feel your medication needs to be adjusted or changed, please contact us immediately.