There are multiple ways to transition over to a Mail Order pharmacy.

• If ordering from the doctor’s office, the doctor will need to send a new prescription to the patient’s preferred mail order pharmacy.
• If a patient wants to switch their prescriptions over to a payor associated mail order pharmacy, the associated pharmacies require the patient to sign-in to their account to transfer or manage their prescriptions or patients can contact the associated pharmacy customer service lines.

Payment is typically required before the order is shipped. Most mail order pharmacies accept debit and credit cards, and some may accept electronic checks over the phone. The following pharmacies offer alternative payment options:

• Center Well Pharmacy – Accepts personal checks or money orders.
• CVS Caremark – For online transactions, CVS Caremark accepts debit cards and electronic checks. If ordering by mail, they accept checks, money orders, and debit cards.
• OptumRx – Accepts debit card or bank account information.
• Centennial Pharmacy – Prelabeled payment envelopes can be included with deliveries to mail back cash or a check.
• Morrell Park Pharmacy – cash or check payments at time of local delivery can be set up on a case-by-case basis.

For more information on payment options, please contact the prescribing mail order pharmacy.

There are varying shipping and arrival periods depending on the mail order pharmacy used and the prescription(s) ordered. Most mail order pharmacies recommend ordering prescriptions at least three weeks before the patients need their refill. Please contact preferred mail order pharmacy for more information on shipping and delivery timeframes.

Mail theft is a real concern that many of your patients may have. The United States Postal Service (USPS) have taken several steps in the last several years to make the mail delivery service more secure. In general, all mail order prescriptions are in secure, discrete packaging that is tamper-evident and weather-resistant. There are no identifiers on the packaging that would lead curious thieves to believe the contents are valuable or from a pharmacy. The USPS recommends that patients receiving their medications through the mail take steps to prevent mail theft including, checking their mailbox daily, signing up for informed delivery though USPS, and taking note of what time of day your mail gets delivered.

Mail Order pharmacies follow strict quality and safety procedures to make medications arrive safely and securely. Medications that require refrigeration, for example, may be shipped overnight or via next-day delivery in insulated packaging with a cold gel pack. Other medications may be shipped in bubble wrap to protect against moisture. There are specialized shipping procedures that prevent medications from freezing and spoiling. These special shipping methods have no added cost for the patient.

During the COVID-19 pandemic mail order pharmacy struggled due to the United States Postal Service experiencing higher than normal mail volumes as well as staffing shortages. Since the effects of COVID-19 have subsided, mail volumes, as well as staffing have returned to normal levels. The mail order pharmacies listed above are now seeing shipping times comparable to pre-COVID numbers. Most mail order pharmacies expect delivery within 7 to 10 days from shipment.

It would be advisable to caution against this practice. The claims for prescriptions filled by Good Rx coupons do not go through payor pharmacies and therefore, the prescription is not counted as being filled, and the patient will be counted as non-adherent. If a patient is having financial difficulty and cannot afford their copays, each mail order pharmacy will work with the patient to assist in helping with copays so the patient can fill their prescriptions. Please have patients reach out to their payor pharmacy for assistance.

Using a mail order pharmacy is a way to prevent patients from stockpiling medications. There is communication between mail order pharmacy and patient where the pharmacy will be aware that the patients have more medication than needed.

If there is a delay, obtain a short supply at local pharmacy. There is an expedite order option at no cost and moved the order up on queue. Expedited shipping is an option at additional cost.

• Humana- CenterWell Pharmacy Call Center. 800-379-0092 for regular scripts. For Specialty drugs – 800-486-2668. Members can also connect with the Call Center via the Chat feature on the Web.
• Aetna- Member services on the back of their card.
• United- The number on the back of their ID card.

• Aetna- Process for lost or delayed mail is monitored by specific team. The team will reach out to mail carrier, if that is unable, they reship. They then check back in to see if original shipment was ever received resulting in surplus medication.
• Humana- the current rate at which Humana mail order medications need replaced for any reason is 0.33%. If medications do get lost in the mail or are stolen this can be reported using the number on the back of the member card and a replacement will be sent
• United- United’s year to date reported lost package rate is 0.0009%. Medications that are lost before being received by the member are replaced and shipped overnight at United’s expense.

This can depend on if a patient chooses to have automatic refills. However, refills generally are filled and shipped 10 days prior to when the next refill is due.

No, one-time fills are not excluded. You can get one-time medications filled via mail order pharmacies.

No payer pharmacies offer Pill Packs/Blister Packs. However, the two independent pharmacies listed above do offer Pill Packs/Blister Packs through their Mail Order Pharmacy.

• Aetna- No. Auto-refills is the only automation process.
• Humana- Humana has a Medication Synchronization program that aligns timing of refills to a single delivery date every 90days. The scope is currently MAPD Individual with specific eligibility criteria but if there was a compliance need to be able to synchronize specific members/LOB we may be able to depend on volume.
• United- If a patient calls customer service and refills are available for additional medications within 5 days of a fill request, the customer service agent will offer to process these meds together. When medications are on auto refill, if multiple medications are set to fill within 9 days of each other, they are bundled for processing and shipping. If orders are placed for multiple medications within 30 minutes of one another, they are shipped together in the same package.

Under all insurers, once the prescription is received by the provider, the pharmacy will reach out to the patient by phone, or by online portal (if it is a returning customer) to obtain consent for mailing and a payment method.

Yes, fax’s regularly are monitored by a specific team.

The very first time someone uses mail order, that order is stopped for “ship consent.” That first order cannot ship without specific consent from the member at the time of shipping. For all subsequent orders, once the pharmacy receives a prescription, the pharmacy puts it through claims, if it is due, they will fill it, if it is not due, they will fill it when the claims allow it to be filled.

If the patient is opted into automatic refills, as soon as the refill is available it will get filled. If the patient is not opted into automatic refill, they will need to request a refill by calling or using their online portal.