Policy

After-hours / weekend medication refills will only be accommodated for cases of chronic illnesses and life-threatening conditions, such as seizures and cardiac crises during the weekday hours of 5 pm to midnight, and weekend hours of 8 am to midnight. Requests outside of this time must wait until the next day during allowed hours. This policy will also be followed when the Medication Dispensary is closed for holidays.

After-hours/weekend medication refills will only be accommodated with a current VCPR (seen within the last year), and if the medication falls under the permitted list from this policy. New prescriptions or renewals (zero refills or an expired prescription) must be prescribed through the patient’s regular provider or, if the patient is seen through the ER service. For patients who have not been seen by one of our providers recently, an appointment will be required for the approval of non-life-threatening conditions and ongoing maintenance prescription refills.

Prescription refills entered through the VTH Medication Refill Request online portal will not be filled during after-hours/weekends or holidays when the Medication Dispensary is closed.

Guidelines

The VTH Medication Dispensary is open Monday through Friday from 8 am – 5 pm. In the case of after-hours/weekend medication needs, the procedure must be followed, and medication refills will be at the discretion of the on-call veterinarian. As agreed upon between the client and the on-call veterinarian, prescriptions may also be called into outside pharmacies.

Authorized medications for after-hours/weekend filling:

*Controlled substance

• Schedule II narcotics are not permitted under this policy (e.g., hydrocodone tablets/syrup, codeine tablets)
• Dispensation of Schedule III-V controlled substances must follow hospital protocols for prescription storage, verification, and documentation. *Associated Policy: After Hours Controlled Drug Dispensing

Procedure (if applicable)

Requested Medication is on the Approved List

The client will call the Small Animal Clinic and speak to a CSR. If the requested medication is on the approved list, The CSR will speak to the on-call resident for that service. The on-call resident clinician will use their best judgment, following state laws and hospital regulations, to dispense a refill of medications.

• If refilling through the VTH Medication Dispensary, refills will be done by the on-call resident, or coordinated with the ECC staff.
  • Once the prescription has been filled, it will be stored at Small Animal Client Services. Controlled substance prescriptions must be stored inside the Medication Dispensary until the client has arrived at the VTH. Clients must pay for the medication(s) at the time of pick up.
• If refilling through an outside pharmacy, the on-call resident must enter a new prescription to the outside pharmacy, and document the outside prescription in the HIS, using the RXOUT procedure code.

Requested Medication is not on the Approved List

The client will call the Small Animal Clinic and speak to a CSR. If the requested medication is not on the approved list, the CSR will inform the client that the medication cannot be filled at that time and will have to be requested during Medication Dispensary business hours.

The CSR can direct the client to complete a request on the VTH Medication Refill Request online portal, (https://appserv7.admin.uillinois.edu/FormBuilderSurvey/Survey/UIUCVetMed/vth_pharmacy/vth_refill_request/) where prescription requests will be reviewed the next business day.

Definitions (if applicable)

CSR – Client Service Representative

HIS – Health Information System

VCPR (Veterinarian-Client-Patient-Relationship) – The connection between a veterinarian, their client (the animal owner), and the patient (the animal), maintained through regular veterinary visits. To keep the VCPR valid, the veterinarian needs to have seen the animal within the last year to continue providing care and prescriptions legally.

Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) – The collective clinical services of the Large Animal Clinic, Midwest Equine, the Small Animal Clinic, and the Veterinary Medicine South Clinic.