<p>We have a mail order prescription plan that has messed up more prescriptions than they have gotten right. The current fiasco is a script for one of my Ds. Her doctor prescribed it in May, faxed it to the company and we are STILL waiting for it. First they said they never got the fax, then they said they got it but it was missing the dosage, then they said they got it and it was on the way…now we are back to they need the dosage. We contacted the MD and she said that she sent a complete script in May and has a confirmation fax from them. Two days ago I spoke with the prescription plan (very heatedly, I might add) and they gave me a number for the MD to call to straighten it out. My D emailed it to her doctor and got a reply from the doctor saying that she would take care of it even though the doctor had sent in a complete script in May. Today, two days later, my D gets a voicemail from the prescription plan that they cannot process the order because they are waiting for communication from the Dr. Soooo…once again I called them and after a 15 minute conversation I come to find out that they gave my D the wrong number to have the doctor call!!! </p>
<p>Other issues we have had:
Sent a family member’s meds to the wrong family member in another state.
Called one D to discuss a med that had been prescribed for the other D (called the wrong phone number!) Violating HIPPA laws. This happened repeatedly.
Sent a letter through the MAIL to one D saying that they didn’t have her MAILING address!!! WTH!!!
After D notifies the company of a change of address, continues to send meds to the old address, necessitating that we send it from our home to her college at our own expense.</p>
<p>My question is WHO oversees these prescription plans and how do I lodge a complaint?</p>
<p>It must be the moons. It took me four days to get a RX refill at Target. The doctor said they faxed the script, target said they didn’t receive it. Called again…doctor said they had faxed it three times. Target said they hadn’t received it. Called again…asked the doctor to please call and talk to the pharmacist. Miraculously…the fax came through. Sheesh!</p>
<p>This doctor claims to have a confirmation for the original fax. She is forwarding it to my D for her records. They just keep messing up in a huge way. It is so irresponsible! I don’t know what the governing agency is.</p>
<p>Well, yes. It is through our insurance. I will start there. Just looked them up on the Better Business Bureau and they have 1463 complaints. Several of them are identical to my issue.</p>
<p>Who are you paying to get prescription coverage? I would start my complaints there. </p>
<p>I had a similar problem with my new insurance coverage. After paying them over $5000 in premiums without using it, my insurance company told the pharmacist they had no record of me being covered. I called them and threatened to sue them for stealing my money. They responded by immediately rectifying the “miscommunication” as they called it. </p>
<p>It just burns me that this is even possible! We are talking about medication, not a car muffler or a set of curtains for the living room. It matters that they come in a timely manner!</p>
<p>I totally agree EPTR. I started my refill extravaganza five days ago…and I’m going out of town tomorrow. And this is a maintenance med that I’ve been taking since I was 11 years old! It’s a controlled substance so needs to be refilled every six months. And every six months, I go through this SAME song and dance. My mail order company doesn’t stock this med…it’s a very low price generic…no profit for,them, I guess.</p>
<p>I have found that the only way to insure that we can get the prescriptions we need is for the doctor to write the script and for me to take in to the pharmacy myself. I can’t tell you how many of my husbands faxed or called in prescriptions never seem to make it to the pharmacy. I just no longer trust that a prescription will get there. and the thing is that he has many doctors so I know it’s not the doctors that are messing up. There is no way I’d do mail order for any important prescription. There are too many steps involved where things can get messed up.</p>
<p>I’d call HR. maybe they can log a complaint for you.</p>
<p>EPTR, I think I’d start with the insurance company since this is their contractor (ask for a supervisor). It may be something they can quickly fix. But I’d also tell them that if it’s not fixed within X amount of time, your next call will be to your state insurance commissioner.</p>
<p>We’ve had similar issues with Express Scripts mail order. Prescriptions supposed to go to D in college came to our home, so I had to send them to her (which I believe is illegal). She had a temporary address on file with them, but if the doc called in a new prescription, it always came here instead. The calls to home are often robo calls, they ask is this ____? I always just push yes. Refills can come really fast or take weeks, it seems random.</p>
<p>EPTR, Is the company Express Scripts, by any chance? Our insurance company encourages us to use this company, and we get a break on the copay if we do - I think we get a 3-month supply for 2 copays? In any case, it’s not worth it. I tried filling a prescription through them once, and it was a horrible mess. They messed up the prescription, messed up the billing, gave me the wrong information multiple times. Straightening this out took so much time and aggravation that I will never use them again. </p>
<p>My husband is a pharmacist. The problems OP describes with the mail order pharmacy are inexcusable. Report it to the state board of pharmacy in the state where the mail order pharmacy is located. If it’s an employer sponsored health plan and they require you to use mail order, complain to the employer and the health plan as well, but start with the state board.<br>
It’s best to use a local pharmacy if you can, and take all your prescriptions to the same place. Know what your doctor is prescribing, including dosage and instructions, and what it’s being used for—many people don’t know this information when they leave the physician’s office—and hand carry a paper prescription if possible. The error rate with digital prescriptions is actually higher than with the handwritten ones–it’s very easy for a prescriber to inadvertently click the wrong drug/dosage/instructions on a drop down menu. In addition, it’s easy to mix up fax number and send a prescription to the wrong pharmacy, or the doctor says they will send it right away and doesn’t, and that’s before you even start dealing with insurance and all the delays and complications that can cause. Mistakes can happen at the pharmacy level as well. Having a good pharmacist and pharmacy team is as important as having a good doctor (bias previously stated, but oh the stories my husband can tell!). </p>
<p>My H takes numerous prescriptions, but we’ve never used the mail order option, despite my insurer’s nagging and the potential savings. (My time and peace of mind are worth a lot to me.) The pharmacists in my local drugstore are helpful when it comes to solving problems, and being able to discuss an issue face to face with a human who has an ongoing relationship with my family is invaluable.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that you are dealing with this mess! I do not trust the mail order companies after Mr B’s fiasco with one of them and continue to schlep all our prescription to the local Costco. The folks there know me by name (because of my diabetic cat), and I get any issues with prescriptions sorted right away. The copays for most meds are $10. It is just not worth in my situation to try to save $3/prescription at the cost of pulling all my hair out. </p>
<p>I like these ideas, even more than reporting to the state insurance commissioner (although you could do all of them). </p>
<p>EPTR, were you forced into the mail-order program? Can you get out of it? I’m with Parentof2014grad, I wouldn’t choose mail order if I had any choice at all, no matter what the savings. I’ve had too many problems with my parents’ prescriptions, usually involving faxes not being sent/received. Those are sometimes very hard to untangle even in person. I can’t imagine trying to do it by phone!</p>