Canceling a Prescription

You can easily cancel or discontinue prescriptions originally sent out of DrChrono.  This feature saves time by allowing you to cancel medications electronically instead of having to call the pharmacy.  It also reduces redundant renewal processes and provides an improved look at the patient's medication history. 

There are several uses for this feature such as:  

• Titrating by discontinuing one medication to prescribe a new one
• Moving Prescriptions by canceling the prescription with one pharmacy and moving it to another (For some states, when a controlled substance cancellation will need to be approved by the first pharmacy before the second can dispense the medication).
• Completion of treatment and discontinuing a medication
• Correcting mistakes 
• Urgent cancellations

To cancel a medication, go to the patient's chart and select Medications on the left. Click on the () icon to cancel the prescription.  

Next, you have the option to select:

1. Urgency Type of Standard or Urgent/Expedited 
2. Action Type of Cancel or Discontinue 
3. Add any internal notes in the Notes section. 

Canceling a Prescription 

Selecting Cancel Order will send a message to the pharmacy to cancel the prescription.  For example, if you need to cancel the prescription at one pharmacy and send it to another, the provider or staff member can cancel the prescription. Once the cancelation is approved by the pharmacy, the provider can then send a new prescription.  

Selecting Cancel and Send New eRx will take you to the new prescription screen under the Send eRx section of the patient's chart.  The prescription will pre-populate and you can make any adjustments to the prescription and send it as normal. 

Discontinuing a Prescription

The Discontinue Action Type allows you to stop the medication entirely for the patient.  For example, when a patient has completed treatment and is discontinuing the medication.   

Selecting Discontinue and Send New eRx will take you to the new prescription screen under the Send eRx section of the patient's chart.  The prescription form will be blank allowing you to send a new medication in place of the previous one. 

Under Past Medication Orders, the cancellation or discontinuation will be recorded. You can see the status of the canceled or discontinued medication.  The statuses are: 

• Cancel Request Pending
• Rx Canceled
• Cancel Denied
• Rx Discontinued
• Discontinue Denied

In the message center ()you can also view the canceled prescriptions. 

Outstanding Cancellation Request

If a cancelation request is pending with a pharmacy, it is recommended to reach out to the pharmacy after 12 hours. 

Denied Cancellation Request

If you receive a denied response from the pharmacy, in the message center, there will be a standard reason and reason code for the cancellation and sometimes a note from the pharmacy. Typically, this requires manual intervention. The prescriber or practice should contact the pharmacy for next steps. 

Reasons include: 

1. AA - Patient unknown to the pharmacy
   • The patient’s name may have been changed in the pharmacy’s or the practice’s records. The practice should call the pharmacy to address this. 
2. AE - Prescription not found at pharmacy
3. AC - Unable to Cancel Rx. Rx transferred. 
   • The pharmacy has sent the Rx to the pharmacy that the patient may have directed. If the Cancel and send new eRx is used and a new Rx is sent to the same subsequent pharmacy or another pharmacy, the practice should Cancel the redundant prescription.
4. AP - Request already responded to by other means 
   • The practice may have called or faxed in a cancellation. This may be more common in the initial adoption of the electronic cancel method to a practice.
5. N/A - Unable to Cancel Rx. Please contact pharmacy
   • The practice should contact the pharmacy to determine the right next steps.