How to Transfer Your Prescriptions When Traveling: By a Pharmacist

As a pharmacist, I know first-hand how confusing pharmacy operations are to the outside world. Even non-pharmacy healthcare professionals such as doctors can lead a patient’s expectations astray before coming to the pharmacy.

When I did a little research to see what kind of internet information was out there about the topic of the prescription transfer process, I gasped. I cringed. I had to intervene! There is a lot of misinformation out there, even from medical websites. Yikes!

Now, lets get right to the topic at hand for anyone in a pickle with lost or forgotten medication while traveling…

IS YOUR HEALTH IN IMMEDIATE DANGER?

If your prescription medication must be taken urgently to avoid negative health consequences, such as an inhaler or insulin, seek medical care. A new pharmacy can’t dispense your prescription medication to you if they have never filled it before. A transfer would be needed and that process could take longer than you have to spare in a true emergency. What’s more, most life-sustaining medications are quite expensive and may not be kept in stock at any pharmacy near you. Large chain pharmacies can afford to keep more in stock than independents.

You can receive acute treatment if needed at an Urgent Care or walk-in clinic to be stabilized, and also be given a new prescription. A transfer is no longer necessary if you have a new prescription. As a former ER pharmacist, I will ask you to avoid going to any hospital emergency department unless you are experiencing a true medical emergency.

OPTIONS TO GET A REPLACEMENT PRESCRIPTION FILLED

A prescription medication is a medication that requires a prescription written by a qualified medical provider such as a doctor or nurse practitioner before a pharmacy can dispense it to you. A non-prescription medication is often referred to as an over-the-counter or OTC medication, and it does not need a prescription to purchase. Tylenol is an example of a non-prescription medication.

Below are some options if you have forgotten, lost, or damaged your medication when traveling and need to replace it.

▪️ Pharmacy to pharmacy transfer if you have refills. (Learn how below).

▪️ Have your doctor send in a new prescription to a nearby pharmacy of choice.

▪️ Seek Urgent Care, clinic, or telehealth services to obtain a new prescription.

HOW TO GET YOUR PRESCRIPTION TRANSFERRED

1. Verify that your prescription has refills and that it is is not expired.

• Even if you have refills remaining, your prescription could be expired. Don’t waste time waiting at a new pharmacy just to find out your prescription isn’t eligible to be transferred.
• Pharmacy laws actually differ among states and the local state law will determine if your prescription is eligible to be filled. Prescription drugs are often referred to as controlled medications (such as opioid pain medications) or non-controlled medications (such as blood pressure medications).
• In the states I am licensed in, a non-controlled prescription expires 1 year from the date written. Check your patient portal or call the pharmacy to verify if the prescription is still valid if you are unsure of the date it was written.
• If you are transferring a controlled substance, read more about the specifics in the next section.

2. Make sure your home pharmacy is open to give the transfer.

• Although I am a big proponent of independent pharmacies, they usually have more limited hours of operation. If your home pharmacy is closed, a new pharmacy cannot obtain a transfer from them. Give both pharmacies plenty of time before closing to process your transfer request. You will inevitably have customers in front of you in both of their workflows.

3. Choose a new pharmacy near you.

• Two of the most important factors are selecting a pharmacy with your medication in stock and one within your insurance plan’s preferred list (if applicable).
• You may have to call or drive around if your medication is not one that is commonly stocked on the pharmacy shelf.
• Selecting a pharmacy within the same company or chain as your home pharmacy will make the transfer process easier. Pharmacies within the same chain share a computer database and can pull prescriptions from a store in a different state without even calling for transfer information. This could also be a loophole for “transferring” controlled substances depending on the state laws and company protocol.

4. Give the new pharmacy your information and make the transfer request.

• Any new pharmacy will need some basic information from you such as your legal name, date of birth, address, phone number, allergies, and insurance information. Once again, using a pharmacy within the same company as your home pharmacy could be an exception to this step in the process.
• If you do not have your insurance card and can’t find your information via any online source, see if the new pharmacy can pull it up electronically (they may need your social security number to do this) or look up your Medicaid or Medicare number online for you. The pharmacist can also request insurance information from your home pharmacy if they know in advance to ask for it when they request your transfer.

5. Ask your home pharmacy to transfer the prescription back to them.

• This doesn’t have to be done immediately, but don’t forget that your prescription will need to be transferred back to your home pharmacy before they can refill it for you. Your home pharmacy will need to call the previous pharmacy for the transfer. Even though the home pharmacy has previously filled it, they no longer are in legal possession of the prescription until the transfer process is done again.
• If you transferred a controlled medication that can’t be transferred back due to the law, call your doctor well before your next refill is due to request a replacement prescription.

ARE YOU TRANSFERRING A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE?

If your medication is not a controlled substance, feel free to skip this section and move on to learning about insurance issues, options for payment, and tips. If you are not sure if your medication is considered a control, you can do a quick internet search or ask the pharmacist as these classes can differ between states.

• Let me reiterate that if you are trying to transfer a controlled substance and your home pharmacy is a chain pharmacy, it will be much more likely to get your medication successfully transferred if you select a new pharmacy within the same chain. Laws are more lenient in this situation.
• Controlled medications are assigned schedule I-V (or CI-CV) depending on their potential for abuse and their medical use. CI medications have no accepted medical use, so CII medications like hydrocodone or stimulants have the strictest laws in relevance to this topic.
• In my states of practice, controlled medication prescriptions (except CII) expire after 6 months and can only be transferred 1 time, meaning they will be stuck at the new pharmacy once transferred. In this instance, you could have your doctor call in a one-time prescription to the new pharmacy, or call in a replacement to the home pharmacy when you return.
• If you have a new prescription “on hold” at your home pharmacy that has not been used yet, even if the pharmacy has filled this medication previously, it is likely that this prescription can’t be transferred. Local state laws, pharmacist discretion, and the type of prescription on file will determine eligibility of transfer in this situation.
• When traveling to other states, be advised that you could have a hard time getting an out-of-state controlled medication prescription transferred. Pharmacists have to follow local laws, company policy, and their own ethical discretion as we are monitored by the DEA too. Many pharmacists cannot or will not fill controlled substances written by an out-of-state provider.
• Those with controlled substances should plan their travels with more caution to avoid missing doses of their medication.
• Providing documentation of your medication would make it more likely that an urgent care or walk-in clinic provider near you would write you an emergency supply until you get back home if you can’t get a transfer. Providers can also verify your medication by an online controlled substance reporting database.

GREEDY INSURANCE WOES

For those of you blessed with prescription insurance, here is where my pharmacist expertise shines. First, I need the world to know that insurance information is processed BEFORE the medication is filled as part of the entire process, not at the cash register like a credit card. Many people think that an insurance card can be presented at the cash register for a quick price adjustment. Doing this will add to your wait time as the pharmacist will need to enter and submit the claim at their computer.

Now for the greedy insurance part. If you have recently filled this same medication at home, when the new pharmacy tries to submit the claim to insurance it will reject as “refill too soon”. Doctors often send in these prescriptions and write “authorized to fill early” to be extra helpful in this process, but the pharmacy is left to battle the insurance claim regardless. Insurances do not care about these thoughtful sentiments notated by the doctor. Their objective is to pay for as little as possible at every turn.

The good news is that most insurances allow a certain amount of “vacation” or “lost prescription” overrides each year. If that doesn’t work, the pharmacist will call the insurance claims department and speak to an agent. This further adds to the time it takes to complete a transfer since we frequently encounter long holds when we call your insurance.

If your insurance plan has a preferred pharmacy that is not available where you are, they could try to reject the claim or charge a higher copay than you are used to paying.

Knowing all of this, you can be proactive by calling the number on the back of your insurance card before arriving to the pharmacy if you want to try to save yourself time waiting. Let an insurance claims representative know your situation and ask if you are eligible for an early refill authorization at the new pharmacy of choice.

DON’T HAVE INSURANCE OR THEY REJECTED YOUR CLAIM?

If you do not have prescription insurance coverage or your insurance refuses to pay for the refill, you have the option to pay cash. Please remember that pharmacies have nothing to do with assigning copays or determining coverage. We want to be paid for our services too.

Talk to the pharmacy staff about pricing options as many have their own coupons they can try. You can request a partial fill, but the price might be similar for a few pills versus the entire prescription depending on the medication and the pharmacy’s pricing. Once you are home and have time to spend talking to your insurance company, you can ask to speak to a supervisor and request a reimbursement for your medication. It’s worth a shot!

Coupons are processed in a similar fashion to insurance and once again, not at the cash register. GoodRx coupons are pretty well known as many providers often try to use these for their patients. I will be very frank and tell you that I am not a fan of GoodRx because they charge pharmacies money to use their coupon. Many independent pharmacies will not accept GoodRx because they can’t afford to take the hit, but some of the larger chain pharmacies accept them.

TIPS TO TRAVELING WITH YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS

After experiencing the panic of being without your medication when traveling, prepare to avoid this hassle in the future. Reading my blog has already familiarized you with the process of prescription transfers, but being prepared is key. Here are some tips from your favorite travel blogger pharmacist when traveling with prescription medications…

▪️ Always travel with a current medication list, including the generic names. You can ask your pharmacy for a printout or keep pictures of the list or the medication bottles in your phone.

▪️ Pack medications in your carry-on luggage or personal item to keep them safe. I have dealt with nightmare scenarios of airlines losing medications in checked bags of patients.

▪️ Always travel with your insurance cards, or keep a picture of the front and back of the cards in your phone.

▪️ Keep medications in their original containers with the prescription label attached, especially when traveling internationally.

▪️ Request a note from your doctor when traveling with controlled substances or medications with needles like diabetic supplies or an Epi pen.

▪️ Request your pharmacy to fill a 90 day supply for eligible prescriptions if you plan on being away for a long duration.

▪️ Do not assume it is legal to travel to foreign countries with your prescriptions. You can contact the embassy of your destination for verification prior to travel. People have faced jail time and fines for traveling with their everyday prescriptions in foreign countries!

▪️ Account for any time zone changes when planning your medication dosing schedules.

▪️ Make sure your pharmacy uses your legal name for your prescription labels. Your name should match your travel documents to avoid any confusion or issues traveling abroad.

▪️ If you are traveling internationally, try stopping by a local pharmacy if you need medication. Some countries can dispense medication without a prescription.

▪️ To ensure you aren’t separated from your medication in the event the plane runs out of carry-on space, pack it in a bag that fits under your seat. My friend recently sent her daughter, who is a type-1 diabetic, on her first international flight independently. American Airlines in Charlotte forced her to gate check her bag of life-saving supplies because they ran out of room for carry-ons. Even though she informed gate agents of the situation and provided medical documentation to prove her disease, she was left to endure a long flight anxiously separated from her diabetic supply bag. This is unacceptable and reckless behavior by the airlines who are now having to face formal complaints made to TSA, the airport, and the airlines.

▪️ Ask for a medical pre-boarding if you are flying with medications in a carry-on that you can’t be separated from, or that you don’t want to risk being lost by the airlines. You do not have to elaborate on your condition, but the earlier you board, the more likely you will find space for your bag.

See my blog about common travel illnesses written with my husband, Seth, who is an ER physician to learn more about staying healthy for your travels! I hope this information was helpful for my non-pharmacy traveling friends out there. Subscribe to my website if you don’t want to miss any of my upcoming informational blogs!

Feel free to ask questions or leave comments below!

-Amanda K. 💗

🔗Check out London’s most luxe pharmacy featured by my friend, Emma at Londonaire!