Types of Pharmacy Scripts

While doctors can still write prescriptions on prescription pads, this is by no means the only way for a doctor to get his prescription into the pharmacist's hands. The computerization of medical offices has provided doctors with new, often safer, ways to get your prescription to the pharmacy.

Scripts Written on Prescription Pads

• Traditionally, the doctor writes the prescription on a prescription pad during an appointment. The patient then takes the prescription to the pharmacy and the pharmacy fills it. According to a 1997 American Medical Association report, errors related to illegible handwriting and misread prescriptions were the second most common malpractice claim. In order to combat errors created by misread handwriting, many doctors now electronically print prescriptions for their patients.

Triplicate Scripts

• The triplicate prescription program started in 1940 in an attempt to make it more difficult for people to acquire Schedule II drugs from pharmacies for illegal purposes. Triplicate programs are state regulated. The doctor has a numbered prescription pad with triplicate paper. He produces three copies of the prescription; he keeps one, gives one to the patient, and forwards the third one to a state agency. Triplicate rules vary from state to state, and some states are phasing out these programs in favor of more secure computer-based alternatives.

Called or Faxed Scripts

• When a doctor calls or faxes a script, the patient does not need to handle a piece of paper at all. The patient simply gives the medical staff her pharmacy's phone or fax number and picks the prescription up at the pharmacy. The prescription must include the name of the person faxing or calling in the prescription, and prescriptions for controlled substances can never be called or faxed in, though they may be issued as an e-prescription.

e-Prescriptions

• One relatively new type of pharmacy script is the electronic prescription. According to the National Council for Drug Prescription Programs, an electronic prescription is "the computer-to-computer transfer of prescription data between pharmacies, prescribers and payers. It is not the use of an email or a facsimile transaction." A provider who electronically prescribes drugs must first select an electronic providing vendor. Instead of handing the patient a printed script, the doctor simply enters the information electronically and the prescription is filled through the patient's pharmacy or mail order service. Electronic prescriptions have exciting potential. When a patient's medical and drug records are stored together electronically, doctors can closely monitor a patient's medicine intake and confirm that the patient is not taking medicines that shouldn't be taken together. Although electronic prescriptions are new, they are legal in all 50 states.