Prescription Refill Workflow

The Prescription Refill Workflow is a Professional plan feature for healthcare practices. It lets your AI receptionist capture refill requests during calls and track them through a structured workflow with staff notifications and patient SMS updates.

How It Works

During the Call

When a patient calls and mentions a prescription refill, the AI:

1. Captures the medication name and pharmacy details.
2. Asks for the patient's name, date of birth, and phone number (if not already known).
3. Tells the patient: "I have noted your refill request. Your provider's office will review it and you will receive a text message when it has been processed."
4. Creates a refill entry in your dashboard.

After the Call

The system immediately:

1. Sends an SMS notification to your configured staff recipients alerting them to the new refill request.
2. Creates the refill entry with a "Staff Notified" status (blue badge).

Refill Status Lifecycle

Each prescription refill moves through these statuses:

Pending → Staff Notified → [Staff Action] → Completed

Status	Badge Color	What It Means	How It Gets Here
Pending	Orange	Refill request captured, staff not yet alerted.	AI creates the entry. Only visible briefly before the staff SMS sends.
Staff Notified	Blue	Staff received SMS notification about this refill.	Automatic -- set immediately after staff SMS is sent. This is the normal starting state staff will see.
Sent to Pharmacy	Purple	Staff confirmed and sent to pharmacy.	Staff clicks the "Sent to Pharmacy" button. Patient receives SMS confirmation.
Declined	Red	Staff declined the refill request.	Staff clicks "Declined." Patient receives SMS notification.
Requires Appointment	Yellow	Patient needs to be seen before refill can be processed.	Staff clicks "Requires Appointment." Patient receives SMS notification.
Completed	Green	Refill fully processed and fulfilled.	Staff clicks "Mark Completed" after pharmacy confirms.
Cancelled	Gray	Refill request was cancelled.	Staff cancels the request.

What staff will normally see

Most refills appear as "Staff Notified" (blue badge) because the SMS notification fires instantly. "Pending" (orange) only appears if the SMS notification failed to send -- this is rare and means staff should check their notification settings.

Managing Prescriptions

Where to Find Them

Go to Dashboard > Prescriptions (or navigate to /dashboard/prescriptions).

Two Tabs

• Active tab -- Shows all refills needing action (Pending + Staff Notified).
• Completed tab -- Shows processed refills (Completed, Declined, Cancelled) with a filter dropdown.

Stat Cards

At the top of the Prescriptions page, stat cards show:

Card	What It Shows
Total Requests	All refills ever created
Pending	Refills not yet seen by staff (SMS may have failed)
Staff Notified	Refills where staff received SMS but has not taken action
At Pharmacy	Refills currently sent to the pharmacy
Completed	Fully processed refills
Need Appt	Refills requiring a patient appointment
Declined	Declined refill requests
Cancelled	Cancelled refill requests

Processing a Refill

1. Click on a refill entry in the Active tab.
2. Review the medication name, pharmacy, and patient details.
3. Choose one of the actions:
   • Sent to Pharmacy -- You have confirmed and sent the refill to the pharmacy. The patient receives a confirmation SMS.
   • Declined -- The refill cannot be processed. The patient receives a notification SMS.
   • Requires Appointment -- The patient needs to be seen before the refill. The patient receives an SMS asking them to schedule an appointment.
4. After the pharmacy confirms the refill is ready, click Mark Completed.

Undo window

After clicking "Sent to Pharmacy," there is an 8-second undo window before the patient SMS is sent. If you made a mistake, click Undo within 8 seconds.

Patient SMS Notifications

Patients receive automatic text messages at key points:

Event	SMS Content
Sent to Pharmacy	Confirms their medication was sent to the pharmacy.
Declined	Explains the refill was declined and asks them to contact the office.
Requires Appointment	Asks them to schedule an appointment before the refill can be processed.

Staff Notifications

When a new refill request comes in, staff members configured to receive prescription notifications get an SMS alert immediately. Additionally, daily staff reminder emails are sent for any pending refills that have not been processed.

To configure who receives prescription notifications, go to Settings > Notifications and enable the "Prescription" notification type for the appropriate staff members.

Audit Trail

Every action on a prescription is logged:

• created -- When the refill request was captured by the AI
• staff_notified -- SMS sent to office staff (automatic)
• sent_to_pharmacy -- Staff marked as sent
• patient_sms -- SMS sent to patient (confirmation or notification)
• completed -- Refill fulfilled
• declined -- Staff declined the request
• cancelled -- Request was cancelled

To view the audit trail, click on any prescription entry and look for the History or Audit Trail section.

Common Questions

How does the AI know it is a refill request? The AI recognizes refill-related keywords in the conversation (e.g., "refill," "prescription," "medication," "pharmacy"). It then asks clarifying questions to capture the medication name and pharmacy details.

Can I edit a refill request after it is created? You can add notes to a refill entry, but the medication and pharmacy details captured by the AI are read-only. If the details are incorrect, add a note and process accordingly.

What if a patient calls about multiple medications? The AI creates one refill entry per medication. If a patient requests three refills in one call, three entries are created.

Do refill requests count toward my call minutes? Yes. The call itself counts toward your minutes. The refill workflow (staff notifications, patient SMS) uses your SMS allotment.