Dear Editor,
Pharmacists have been faced with a challenge by physicians not completely identifying him/herself on prescriptions. Why is this important?
Here are several reasons: It is the law. The Pharmacy Act lays out in section 20 that a prescriber must put his/her name in print legible form, signature, telephone number, address, and registration number on every prescription written by the said prescriber.
When a prescription does not properly identify the prescriber, then the pharmacist has great difficulty identifying genuine prescriptions from fraudulent ones. Prescription fraud does exist in Jamaica, and lately it is getting more prevalent.
Also, there are times when the medication’s name, dosage strength, frequency and directions are not clear, and as pharmacists we cannot legally make a change on the prescription without first contacting the prescriber. Many times we may be able to identify the health facility, but on calling we cannot identify the actual prescriber in order to communicate these errors.
When the prescriber information is missing, deficient or not registered on the insurance system, pharmacists are challenged to select the correct prescriber in order to submit the claim. When a pharmacist is unable to select the prescriber the patient may not be able to utilise the benefits of the insurance card and eventually have to pay more out of pocket or the prescription is not filled at all.
In circumstances when the prescriber cannot be identified or located, the patient or caregiver oftentimes has to return to the health facility to have corrections made.
It is the fundamental right of the patient to know that the individual offering care is a qualified doctor and the identity of that prescriber should be forthcoming. It is unfortunate that a white coat and stethoscope and the name doctor is all we need. I had the experience of a patient taking a fraudulent prescription to be filled and on doing the checks, it was identified that the person purporting to be a doctor was in fact not a registered doctor and was fraudulently practising under the name of another registered doctor. The patient was in shock on discovering this misfortune. What alerted me was the fact that the actual doctor usually stamps and signs all his prescriptions and I was familiar with his signature.
So, doctors, please, I appeal to you in the interest of our mutual patients to understand as pharmacists, we need to be able to identify and communicate with you when the need arises. So please stop putting only your signature, or only the initial or first/surname on the prescriptions.
Finally, when writing out your names, please do so in print format which is more readable than cursive. Remember we have the mutual interest of caring for our patients. Let us work together to resolve them towards better patient outcomes.
Shereen Dawkins
President
Jamaica Association of Private Pharmacy Owners
coxshereen@gmail.com
Pharmacists have been faced with a challenge by physicians not completely identifying him/herself on prescriptions. Why is this important?
Here are several reasons: It is the law. The Pharmacy Act lays out in section 20 that a prescriber must put his/her name in print legible form, signature, telephone number, address, and registration number on every prescription written by the said prescriber.
When a prescription does not properly identify the prescriber, then the pharmacist has great difficulty identifying genuine prescriptions from fraudulent ones. Prescription fraud does exist in Jamaica, and lately it is getting more prevalent.
Also, there are times when the medication’s name, dosage strength, frequency and directions are not clear, and as pharmacists we cannot legally make a change on the prescription without first contacting the prescriber. Many times we may be able to identify the health facility, but on calling we cannot identify the actual prescriber in order to communicate these errors.
When the prescriber information is missing, deficient or not registered on the insurance system, pharmacists are challenged to select the correct prescriber in order to submit the claim. When a pharmacist is unable to select the prescriber the patient may not be able to utilise the benefits of the insurance card and eventually have to pay more out of pocket or the prescription is not filled at all.
In circumstances when the prescriber cannot be identified or located, the patient or caregiver oftentimes has to return to the health facility to have corrections made.
It is the fundamental right of the patient to know that the individual offering care is a qualified doctor and the identity of that prescriber should be forthcoming. It is unfortunate that a white coat and stethoscope and the name doctor is all we need. I had the experience of a patient taking a fraudulent prescription to be filled and on doing the checks, it was identified that the person purporting to be a doctor was in fact not a registered doctor and was fraudulently practising under the name of another registered doctor. The patient was in shock on discovering this misfortune. What alerted me was the fact that the actual doctor usually stamps and signs all his prescriptions and I was familiar with his signature.
So, doctors, please, I appeal to you in the interest of our mutual patients to understand as pharmacists, we need to be able to identify and communicate with you when the need arises. So please stop putting only your signature, or only the initial or first/surname on the prescriptions.
Finally, when writing out your names, please do so in print format which is more readable than cursive. Remember we have the mutual interest of caring for our patients. Let us work together to resolve them towards better patient outcomes.
Shereen Dawkins
President
Jamaica Association of Private Pharmacy Owners
coxshereen@gmail.com