Prescription home delivery for orthopedic practices

Why home delivery fits orthopedic patients

Picture the typical orthopedic workers' comp schedule: a meniscus tear from kneeling on a concrete floor, a distal radius fracture from a fall off a loading dock, a rotator cuff injury from years of overhead work, a tibial plateau fracture from a car crash. Many of these patients are in a sling, a brace, a cast or on crutches. Some have been told not to drive. Some live alone.

Orthopedic prescribing tends to come in short, time-sensitive courses around injuries and procedures. If a patient has to wait for a family member to get off work before anyone can collect the prescription, that wait happens at the worst possible time. Delivery lets the medication come to the patient.

Pre-operative visits add another opportunity: your team can tell patients ahead of surgery that delivery is available, so they're not trying to organise it while groggy at discharge.

• Patients in slings, casts, braces or on crutches
• Short medication courses around surgery and acute injury
• Driving restrictions after lower-limb or shoulder procedures
• A chance to plan delivery at the pre-op visit

How joining works

Joining follows four steps. First, fill out one form. Second, we send the agreements. Third, our training team helps install our partner pharmacy in your EMR or e-prescribing system. Fourth, your surgeons, PAs and NPs prescribe as usual and patients get delivery.

Orthopedic groups often have several subspecialties under one roof — sports, hand, spine, joints, trauma. Enrollment covers each prescriber, so list everyone who sends prescriptions from your system.

Think about where prescriptions are actually sent from. In many orthopedic groups, some prescriptions go out from clinic, some from the surgery centre on the day of the procedure, and some through a nurse line after a patient calls. The training team can walk through each of those points so the partner pharmacy is in the pharmacy list wherever it's needed.

If your group shares one EMR across several offices, setup is usually planned once and then rolled out to each site's prescribers.

What changes for your team — and what doesn't

Your surgical pathways, therapy referrals and follow-up schedules don't change. Prescribers see one more pharmacy in their e-prescribing pharmacy list and pick it when a patient wants delivery.

Surgery schedulers and post-op nurses are often the ones who'll mention the option, so it helps to include them in the training. A full training department helps install it so it doesn't impact your workflow.

Physical therapists and athletic trainers who work alongside your surgeons are often the first to hear that a patient never filled a prescription. If they know the delivery option exists, they can point the patient back to the prescribing team.

• The prescriber decides what to prescribe and where to send it
• The prescribing doctor decides refills
• Medication is dispensed by our licensed partner pharmacy
• Patients can still use their local pharmacy if they prefer

What to have ready

Pull together the following before you submit the form. For a larger group, a simple roster of prescribers with their licence and DEA details saves time.

• Practice details and the setup contact
• Licence numbers and copies for every prescriber
• DEA numbers and copies for every prescriber
• A W-9
• Your EMR or e-prescribing system name

Questions to ask before you join

Orthopedic prescribing around surgery sometimes includes controlled substances, so ask early which medications can be mailed. Some medications, such as Schedule II controlled substances, may not be available by mail — your partner pharmacy will advise.

Ask what patients pay so your team can explain it during pre-op: a $5 dispensing fee applies, and a delivery fee applies. The patient's adjuster or insurer can say whether the claim covers the medication.

Ask, too, how the training team schedules setup around clinic and surgery days.