Prescription home delivery: what physical therapy practices can share with referring physicians

Why home delivery matters to the patients you treat

Two or three therapy sessions a week is a lot of travel for someone recovering from a knee reconstruction, a shoulder repair or a back injury from lifting. Patients often tell their therapist things they don't mention to the doctor: that they never filled the muscle relaxant because they had no ride, that they're rationing a medication until a family member can get to the pharmacy, or that standing at the counter makes their back spasm.

Therapy sessions themselves can leave patients sore and tired. By the time they finish a session, the last thing many want is another stop. Auto-injury patients in particular may be without a car while a claim is sorted out.

You can't solve the prescribing side, and you shouldn't try. But you can let your referring physicians know that home delivery exists, so the patients you share have one less barrier.

A useful habit is to note practical barriers in your communication back to the referring physician, the same way you'd note a change in pain or function. A line such as patient reports difficulty getting to a pharmacy gives the physician what they need to decide whether delivery would help.

• You see patients frequently and hear about practical barriers
• Patients may be sore and tired after sessions
• Some patients have no car after an auto accident
• Physicians are the ones who choose where prescriptions go

How joining works — for the physicians who prescribe

The physicians are the ones who join. For them, there are four steps: fill out one form; we send the agreements; our training team helps install our partner pharmacy in their EMR or e-prescribing system; then they prescribe as usual and patients get delivery.

Your practice's part is simply to make the introduction. Many PT practices have a short list of orthopedic, sports medicine, occupational medicine and PM&R offices that send most of their workers' comp and PIP referrals. Those are natural places to mention the program.

If your PT practice is part of a larger group that employs physicians, those physicians can enrol directly using the same steps.

What changes for your team — and what doesn't

Nothing changes in how you evaluate, treat or document. You don't prescribe, you don't recommend specific medications, and you don't need to set anything up in your own EMR.

What you can do is listen for the practical barriers patients mention and suggest they ask their doctor whether their prescription can be sent to a pharmacy that delivers. The doctor decides what is appropriate, and the prescribing doctor decides refills.

• No change to your plan of care or documentation
• No prescribing or medication advice from therapists
• Patients ask their own doctor about delivery
• Medication is dispensed by our licensed partner pharmacy

What the prescribing physicians will need

If a referring physician asks what enrollment involves, the list is short. It helps to pass it on so they know what to gather.

Our training team takes care of the setup inside their e-prescribing system, and a full training department helps install it so it doesn't impact their workflow.

• Practice details
• Each prescriber's licence number and a copy
• Each prescriber's DEA number and a copy
• A W-9
• The EMR or e-prescribing system they use

Questions to ask before you pass it on

It's reasonable to want to understand something before you mention it to a referral partner. Ask us how the program works from the patient's side, what patients pay, and which medications can't be mailed.

The answers are straightforward: a $5 dispensing fee applies, and a delivery fee applies; whether a claim pays for the medication is for the patient's adjuster or insurer to say; and some medications, such as Schedule II controlled substances, may not be available by mail — your partner pharmacy will advise.