Health Information Compliance Alert
Saturday Night Fever
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Question: How and when should providers distribute their NPPs if a patient calls up on a Saturday night seeking a prescription refill? Florida Subscriber Answer: Providers must distribute NPPs to their patients no later than the first date of service delivery, reminds attorney John Gilliland with Gilliland & Caudill in Indianapolis. With that said, renewing a prescription over the telephone constitutes a service delivery and providers should make every effort to mail out an NPP to the patient on the same day as the call, he states. But if the call occurs on a Saturday night when the office is closed? The Department of Health and Human Services has said that the provider should distribute the NPP on the "same date you provide the service ...quot; if possible," reports Gilliland. "And in my opinion, that allows you to wait until Monday" to mail out the NPP, he says. When mailing out those NPPs, don't forget to send along an acknowledgement of receipt form, adds Gilliland. And while the odds of getting the acknowledgement sent back to you are slim to none, make sure that you've documented your efforts and the reason you couldn't obtain the written acknowledgement, he directs.
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