Automating the Prescription Refill Request Workflow Process

Updated on March 15, 2023

Improving processes within a healthcare organization is a top priority for most practice managers and hospital administrators these days. With patients calling the office to schedule appointments, request prescription refills, and find out test results, staff members have a lot on their plate. 

Almost half of Americans take a prescription drug every day¹, which generates a significant administrative burden on healthcare personnel. Attending to prescription refill requests alone can occupy hours of time each week. It’s a process that requires the full and immediate attention of staff members, who must stop what they are doing to attend to the patient’s refill request. 

In fact, 44% of time spent in the EHR is taken up by clerical activity, including authorizing refills². It’s not surprising, then, that 54% of medical administrative staff suffer from at least one symptom of burnout.

To ease the burden, keep patients satisfied, and improve workflow within the healthcare organization, providers should implement interventions to improve the prescription refill request system.

Revamping the Prescription Refill Request Process

One solution to alleviate this issue is to automate the refill request process. With Bridge Patient Portal’s Prescription Refill Request feature, patients can request a refill at any time online, and office staff can respond without interruption.

This simple, time-saving feature automatically populates the patient’s information within the fields and sends a notification to the provider. 

To request a prescription refill, the patient can follow these simple steps: 

  • Select their physician from the list of doctors.
  • Select the medication to be prescribed.
  • Enter the medication frequency.
  • Add additional comments, if necessary.
  • Enter their pharmacy information.
  • Submit the refill request.

If interfaced with an EHR system, the notification is sent directly to that system without the need to go into the physician portal. In either case, the patient’s pharmacy will receive the refill request from the physician via the Scripts notification. The patient can receive notification of the approved refill via the patient portal, email, or text message. 

What makes the Prescription Refill Request feature attractive to both patients and providers is a streamlined workflow process that makes it unnecessary for the patient to call the office. This feature creates a convenient, time-saving, and better overall patient experience.

This article was originally published on the Medical Web Experts blog.

  1. CDC (2023). FastStats – Therapeutic Drug Use. [online] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/drug-use-therapeutic.htm
  2. Bhakta, K., Lee, K.C., Luke, T. and Bouw, J. (2022). Impact of a pharmacist-run refill and prior authorization program on physician workload. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, [online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2021.12.002
Blake Rodocker
Blake Rodocker

Blake joined Bridge Patient Portal in 2016 after transferring from our parent company Medical Web Experts. Since then, he’s acted as Bridge’s Business Development Manager. Blake is passionate about driving collaboration with clients, partners, and internal teams to achieve performance goals and successful relationships.