Category: Patient Resources

What do I do if my medication is out of stock?

During periods of limited availability, prescriptions can continue to be filled at the pharmacy, but with potential delays. If someone experiences difficulty filling their prescriptions, they generally have the following options:

1. If you believe your medication (whether a refill or a new prescription) might not be available at your regular pharmacy, call around to different pharmacies in your area to see if it is in stock. If it is not in stock, then an alternative agent may be necessary to continue your medication therapy. You can then direct your doctor’s office to send a prescription to the pharmacy that has an alternative medication available.
2. Plan ahead for refills by contacting their pharmacy about 1 week before the refill is needed. Due to increased shortages, it’s important to factor in some time to get a refill on any medication you use.
3. If you continue experiencing difficulty obtaining your medication, you can contact your healthcare provider who can assist with your treatment plan, and determine other medications or therapies that could be alternative options for treatment during the medication supply shortage.
4. Check the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists website or the FDA website to see if your medication has a known shortage and see whether there is a timeline on when it might be available again. You can also check to see what similar medications might be available.
5. If you can’t find the generic version of your medication and are unable to get the price on the brand-name drug lowered, check for coupons. Many online pharmacies allow you to input the name of the medication and check the price you would pay using their coupon at different pharmacies.
6. For brand-name drugs, check the manufacturer’s websites. They often have co-pay assistance programs that can dramatically lower the cost of your prescription if you qualify (you will still have to find the medication though).

Some pharmacies do not proactively stock products like Trulicity, Mounjaro, Zepbound, Wegovy, Ozempic and Saxenda. In those cases, the patient can ask the pharmacy to order your specific medication, and it will typically arrive in 1-2 days.

If you would like to learn more, you can go to https://www.ashp.org/drug-shortages?loginreturnUrl=SSOCheckOnly and watch their video about drug shortages.

For Lab Orders:

• Log into your Privia portal on a computer/laptop.
• Please click on the ‘Task and Tools’ tab on the left
• Under that is the ‘Health Reminders’ you will see your lab orders.

If there are no lab orders posted then please contact your provider via the messaging system and specify which lab you want to go to in order for them to send the order to that lab.

For Lab Results:

• Log into your Privia portal on a computer/laptop.
• Please click on the ‘My Health’ tab on the left
• Under that is the ‘Test Results’ you will see your lab results.

You’ll be able to view your results if you’ve already discussed them at your appointment or if your provider left a note for you via the Privia portal. If you don’t see your results, they may still be pending with the lab or you need to schedule an appointment to review them with your provider.

Effective February 25, 2022, CDC previously announced that it would use
enforcement discretion to not require people to wear a mask in outdoor
areas of conveyances (if such outdoor areas exist on the conveyance) or
while outdoors at transportation hubs. CDC will continue to evaluate the
requirements of its Order and determine whether additional changes may be
warranted.

While in indoor areas of conveyances or while indoors at transportation
hubs, people are not required to wear a mask under the following
circumstances:

– while eating, drinking, or taking medication for brief periods of time;
– if, on an aircraft, wearing oxygen masks is needed because of loss of
cabin pressure or other event affecting aircraft ventilation;
– when experiencing difficulty breathing or shortness of breath or
feeling winded, until able to resume normal breathing with the mask; when
vomiting until vomiting ceases; or if wearing a mask interferes with
necessary medical care such as supplemental oxygen administered via an
oxygen mask.

For more information, please visit the CDC website.