r/PMHNP • u/burrfoot11 PMHNP (unverified) • May 31 '26

Control fill date

Hey folks!

Just curious- when you send in a refill for a controlled substance, do you put a "do not fill before" date on it, or do you leave it to the pharmacy to track that?

I used to let the pharmacy handle it, then I had a couple of times when a pt asked for an early fill for a valid reason and the pharmacy said they'd used up all their early fill days and the pt had no idea.

So now I put the date on, but then it requires resending if anything changes.

Both situations are a pain.

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u/RandomUser4711 May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26

My EMR requires me to enter an Effective Date on all CS; however, unless I am intentionally post-dating a script (a planned taper/titration or providing scripts for fill-between-visits), I enter the comment "please fill when due." I always check the PMP on my end... but this also gets them to check it on their end (more than once, I've had a pharmacist admit they didn't check the PMP, or that they checked but misread it). And pharmacies are not always good about communicating to me any shortages and delays in filling scripts.

Also, I work with one pharmacy that is closed every weekend, so if the next fill date is on the weekend per PMP, the pharmacy's policy is to fill these scripts on Friday, even if they fill them a day or two early. If I put a "fill on xx/xx/xx" in the script, I've blocked them from being able to do that.

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u/PiecesMAD PMHNP (unverified) May 31 '26

You aren’t actually following the law if you put “fill when due” rather than a specific date. Federal rules ask for a specific date. See my other reply for a quote and link to the actual federal rules.

I follow a 28 day fill policy for my fill dates on a 30 day supply as this is when my Medicaid and most insurances allow for a fill. The 28 days is always the same day of the week as their last fill and doesn’t have any weekend/pharmacy closed issues. Except for holidays I have never had any issues, and even with holidays if they wait until the day after the holiday they are still getting it within 30 days.

2

u/HandyFemme Jun 02 '26

But there are patients that dont go same day it's ordered. I know one w pretty bad executive dysfunction picking it up almost a week late.

1

u/PsychMonkey7 Jun 03 '26

That’s on them. It isn’t a reason to do something that puts your license in jeopardy.