Despite the labeling law passed in 2004, Pharmacists still putting protocol physician name on the patient's prescription "bottles". Why? The answers vary from all the retail pharmacies... It appears reimbursement issues are problematic if NP's name is used since NP's are generally not listed by insurance providers.

Key West leaders sent the following to ALL the pharmacy's hoping to get the word out. Let FNPN know if this is a continuing problem for you as well.

October 14, 2005

Dear Pharmacists:

We represent our local organization of physician assistants and nurse practitioners, PAs and NPs of the Keys. Many of our members have noted that your usual practice is to put the collaborating/supervising physician’s name on a patient’s prescription bottle instead of the name of the PA or NP that prescribed the medication. As you may be aware, changes to Florida prescribing laws were passed in 2004 which mandate that the prescribing provider’s name be placed on the patient’s prescription bottle (Chapter 456 of the Florida Statutes, “Prescription Labeling” 456.0392).  

By placing the prescriber’s name on the patient’s prescription bottle, the chances of confusion are reduced for several reasons. The patient knows whom to call with medication questions and the pharmacist is aware of whom to contact with questions or refill requests.  This is also important because PAs and NPs see thousands of patients and write tens of thousands of prescriptions in Florida each year. If their names are not included on the prescriptions that they write, their contributions to patient care become invisible to pharmacies, insurance companies, policymakers and pharmaceutical companies. The Florida Medical Quality Assurance web site provides rapid healthcare provider licensure verification at http://ww2.doh.state.fl.us/irm00praes/praslist.asp.
This web site can assist pharmacists in determining the validity of a prescription.
 

We understand that some pharmacy and insurance companies’ computer systems have not adapted to accommodate this change in the law, and that sometimes an insurance company requires the collaborating/supervising physician’s information to be filed with a claim. Soon, all prescribers will have a new national provider identification (NPI) number and this will stop the improper use of DEA numbers to track prescriptions. Recently, local and state PA and NP organizations have been working closely with Florida pharmacies to resolve these issues and have helped many independent and chain pharmacies make the changes necessary to comply with current law. We would be glad to personally meet with you to discuss how we might collaborate to resolve any remaining issues.  We appreciate the service that you provide to our patients and look forward to working with you to improve patient care.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Pat Perry, ARNP  

President

Darlene Fischer, PA-C