Prescriptions

You may have a prescription sent electronically to the pharmacy of your choice by a clinician in Student Health.  Sometimes, however, a written prescription is required and will be given to you.  

After the clinic sends a new prescription, the time needed before your prescription is ready to be picked up varies depending on the pharmacy and their available staff of the day.  The clinic will not know when your prescription is ready.  Many pharmacies require more than 1 hour to prepare your prescription.  The Student Health Pharmacy can generally dispense your medication promptly after you arrive in the Pharmacy.  If you have questions about when your prescription will be ready, please contact your pharmacy.  

Discuss with your clinician the amount of medicine and number of refills available to you.  Your insurance may dictate that you can only get one month of medicine at a time even if your prescription is written for months at a time.  

Once you are nearing the end of your prescription, you may need to make an appointment for further refills or you may call to see if further refills are available without an appointment.  Look at the information sticker on your medicine container and it will list the number of refills available. Since many medicines for chronic conditions should not be stopped, contact the clinic when you are getting near the end of your medicine.

If you are going to be away from Lubbock and will need to refill your prescription while you are away, you may:

-          Go to the pharmacy you will use outside of Lubbock

-          Give that pharmacy the name and phone number of your Lubbock pharmacy and the prescription you wish to have filled

-          Your chosen pharmacy will then transfer your prescription for you and help with a refill of the medication you need.  

-          Some pharmacy chains such as CVS or Walgreens may look up your prescription for you and transfer it to the CVS or Walgreens of your choice outside of Lubbock.

If your prescription is not covered by insurance, or that your co-pay is high, some options to try include:

-          Search for coupons that may be found by looking up the prescription online.

-          Use a site such as GoodRX.com that allows you to search which pharmacy might have the prescription at a better cost.   

-           Ask that the prescription be filled in a smaller amount (for example one month at a time versus three months).

-          Ask if there is an alternative or if there is a generic available that is less expensive.