Warfarin refills?

[Granbonny]

I was chating with my clinical nurse today..before my Cardio came into room...I asked her..why did she just call in a 4 month refill..when before, it had always been for 6 months... She told me, they were??(who) cracking down on refills, due to older patients not knowing to come in for their protimes.(INR) testing..and they were getting scared...(Clinical nurses) She said, it was the ONLY one they don't refill...as needed. she told me, I know, you call me once a month....with your INR ..but, there were many patients that don't come to office for their's... Anyone else find this to be true? Not getting a refill for more than 4 months?No problem for me.. I can leave her a voice mail and she is back to me the same day... Bonnie

 

[Ross]

Might be their policy, but it's not the policy in general for everyone.

 

[Guest]

I only give 30 days at a time. No re-check, I call in OK for 7 days. When they find out that the price is the same for 7 as for 30 they start showing up regularly - or quit coming.

 

[Gail in Ca]

My insurance pays for 90 days and 4 refills and my cardio always gives me what I need. I NEVER call in to report my INR or what I am doing. He knows me and trusts me to do the right thing if I have a problem. I am so glad my doctor sees it this way. I believe I still am one of the few at my HMO who has their own machine. My INR is almost always in range, I test weekly, and write down what I take daily and what my INR is on the test day, in case my doc does ask.
Gail

 

[Harpoon]

In NYS they're limited to X number of months worth of a given prescription (it might be less for narcotics) so I can only get up to six months worth of warfarin at once. It's cheaper to buy in bulk, but, at least for warfarin, my dosage can change so I generally don't get more than a months supply at a time. So far as I know, the pharmacy doesn't place any additional restrictions on how much of a given medication I can get at once due to my age or whatever.

I should mention that the clinic where I do my INR screening (my primary physician's office) doesn't write the scrips, that's done by my cardiologist who gets a copy of my INR report whenever it's done (monthly.)

I'll also add that it's a HELL of a lot easier to get my cardiologist to send in a new scrip (I just call his number directly, leave a message if he doesn't answer the phone) than it is to get my primary's office to do it!!!!

The only way I talk to my primary physician directly is if I'm sitting in an exam room with him or I happen (this is REALLY rare, but it has happened) to bump into him during a shooting assignment.

On the other hand, my cardiologist has all but given me his home phone number (I do have it, he's listed in the phone book and told me I could contact him at home if neccesary)....


Oh, and my cardilogist was at my wedding.


We invited Dr. Mee too, but I think his schedule was too restrictive.