The resource manual

Table of Contents
OVERVIEW .....................................................................................................................................................................3
LOG IN ...........................................................................................................................................................................4
ALLERGY MAINTENANCE ..............................................................................................................................................5
ADD A DEFAULT PHARMACY ........................................................................................................................................6
CREATE A NEW PRESCRIPTION .....................................................................................................................................8
DRUG SEARCH ...........................................................................................................................................................8
DRUG CATEGORY SEARCH.........................................................................................................................................8
FAVORITE PRESCRIPTION ...........................................................................................................................................9
ACTIVE MEDICATIONS ...............................................................................................................................................9
ENTER DETAILS ............................................................................................................................................................ 10
REVIEW PRESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................................................... 11
SEND TO AN EPCS ENABLED PHARMACY ................................................................................................................... 13
SEND TO MAIL ORDER PHARMACY ............................................................................................................................ 13
SPLIT PRESCRIPTION ................................................................................................................................................... 14
HOW TO TAPER SIG DETAILS ...................................................................................................................................... 15
CUSTOM PRESCRIPTION NOTES ................................................................................................................................. 15
RENEWAL REQUESTS................................................................................................................................................... 16
RENEW ACTIVE MEDICATIONS ................................................................................................................................... 17
DRUG INTERACTION ALERTS....................................................................................................................................... 18
ALLERGY INTERACTION ALERTS .................................................................................................................................. 18
FORMULARY CHECKING .............................................................................................................................................. 19
MINI MEDICATION REPORT ........................................................................................................................................ 19
PBM/PHARMACY HISTORY ......................................................................................................................................... 20
MANAGING PROBLEMS .............................................................................................................................................. 20
DOSE CALCULATOR ..................................................................................................................................................... 21
PROVIDER AGENT OPTIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 21
STAFF OPTIONS ........................................................................................................................................................... 21
OPTIONS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 21
PATIENT ADVISOR ....................................................................................................................................................... 22
F.A.Q. (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS) .................................................................................................... 26
1
Definitions
Portal API: a web service that allows partners to launch an Rcopia session as part of a single sign-on solution from
the partner’s web portal or EMR system. A patient may be specified in the call
Private Label: a group of options that allow a partner to brand Rcopia as an extension of their own product.
Single Patient Mode: An optional flow in which the user is limited to acting on a single patient’s record during an
Rcopia session
Limited Multi-Patient option: A variant of Single Patient Mode that provides access to data for multiple patients
for the purpose of signing renewal requests and pending prescriptions by batch
Medication: a drug that the patient is already taking
Prescription: written or electronic order of medication
Electronic prescription: a prescription sent directly to a pharmacy through Surescripts
Fax prescription: a prescription sent directly to pharmacy and printed from a fax machine
Enter details screen: The screen where instructions are provided for prescriptions
Sig screen: The sig is instructions for the patient on how to use their prescription
Category Search: This allows you to use therapeutic categories to find the list of drugs
Refills: the number of times a prescription can be refilled at the pharmacy
Renewals: A request from the pharmacy to obtain additional refills on a prescription or receive an updated
prescription
Eligibility: this determines whether the patient has a prescription drug benefit
Formulary: a list of drugs covered by the insurance or health plan
PBM/Pharmacy History: a list of medications that the patient has taken in the past. This information may be
obtained from the health plan, PBM, or pharmacy
Coinsurance: The percentage the patient will pay for their prescription
Formulary coverage codes: these codes will determine prescription drug benefit coverage for a particular
medication, such as step therapy (ST), or prior authorization (PA)
Formulary status: the status determined by the health plan. Drug can have formulary, non-formulary, or preferred
status
Prescription status: shows whether the prescription has been sent, printed, and/or signed
2
Overview
The DrFirst Portal API allows partners to launch an Rcopia Web session from an external system, such as a web
portal or an EMR system. This is a single sign-on solution; logins are authenticated between the partner and
Rcopia, so users only needs to log on to the partner system and then navigate to Rcopia. DrFirst also offers a
private label option that allows the partner to have their logo displayed in Rcopia. Portal API access is frequently
implemented with one- or two-way data interface calls. The partner can upload data to Rcopia, such as patient
demographics, and then download records generated by Rcopia, such as medications and prescription orders.
By default, all features of Rcopia Web are fully available to partner users. Some partners, however, wish to strictly
control access to patient records in Rcopia. This is often needed to support business rules within the partner
system, such as a requirement that prescriptions be created within the context of an office encounter. The partner
may also want to retain control over data that need not be changed in Rcopia, such as patient demographics,
allergies, and problems.
In order to meet these needs, the partner may elect to use Single Patient Mode (SPM). In this mode, certain
controls are disabled in Rcopia to restrict the user’s ability to change patient data and to prevent the user from
navigating to a different patient within Rcopia. In Single Patient Mode, patient selection is done entirely in the
partner system, and then Rcopia is launched with that patient selected. To select a different patient, the Rcopia
session is closed, and another patient is selected from the partner system.
When the user needs to access data for multiple patients, a Limited Multi-Patient option is used. For example,
when electronic renewal requests arrive from pharmacies, it is convenient to view on one screen all requests
received for a provider, not just the requests for a single patient. Similarly, if staff create prescriptions for later
signing by providers, these pending prescriptions are better handled all at once, not one patient at a time. The
Limited Multi-Patient option allows the Messages and Prescription Report screens to be called through the Portal
API and to show renewals and pending prescriptions for multiple patients. However, since SPM remains in effect
for the partner, certain functions remain disabled to prevent violation of the single patient concept.
Limited Multi-Patient
Options*
NA
Feature
Standard Rcopia
Single Patient Mode
Patient Selection
Any patient; may
select within Rcopia
One patient per
session; selected in
partner system
Edit Patient Demographics
Yes
No
NA
Edit Medications
Edit Allergies
Edit Problems
View Renewals
Yes
Yes
Yes
All pending
NA
NA
NA
All pending
View Pending Prescriptions
All pending
Yes
Optional
Optional
Pending for one
patient only
Pending for one
patient only
All pending
* The Limited Multi-Patient option is only available when the Portal API is launched to the Messages (renewals) or
Prescription Report screens.
3
Log In
In a Single SignOn (SSO) Mode, when you select your patient in your partner system, you will launch into Rcopia
onto either the Patient Summary screen shown below, or the Allergy Maintenance screen (Page 4).
In either instance, you can enter in the patient’s pharmacy by clicking on Change below the patient’s name at the
top of the screen to the right of the Pharmacy link. For directions on how to choose a pharmacy skip to the
Pharmacy Information section on page 5. To proceed to the directions on how to prescribe, go to page 7.
If your Partner system is not fully integrated with Rcopia, the user will need to add in the allergies for their
patients. So when you launch Rcopia from your partner system, you will be brought to the Allergy Maintenance
screen shown below.
4
Allergy Maintenance
1.
Click on Manage Allergies at the top.
2.
Enter the patient’s allergy history. There are three different ways for entering your patient’s allergy
information.
a.
If your patient has no known allergies, click the Indicate 'No Known Drug Allergies (NKDA)' link at the
top.
b.
Select a common allergy from the drop down menu and click Add Common Allergy.
c.
Enter search criteria for your patient’s allergy, click Find and select the appropriate allergy.
i. Entering non-drug related allergies: Enter the allergy (peanuts) and click Find. Click Enter free
text ‘peanuts’ as allergy at the top of the list.
ii. Note: A red triangle next to an allergy (peanuts) indicates that Rcopia does not conduct a drugallergy checking because this allergy was not selected from the coded list.
3.
After you select the desired allergy, select the appropriate reaction such as hives or nausea and onset date
(optional).
5
4.
Click Add.
5.
Repeat steps 3 - 4 for each allergy.
6.
After you have entered all of your patient’s allergies, click Done With Allergies. You will now be taken to
the Patient Pharmacy Information screen.
Add a Default Pharmacy
To add a pharmacy for a patient in Rcopia, click on Change to the right of Pharmacy below the patient’s name.
Select the pharmacy list you would like to search from:
Favorites List – Contains only the pharmacies that the individual user has previously selected to be in their
favorites list.
Practice List – Contains only those pharmacies located in the first three numbers of the practice’s Zip Code.
All Lists – Contains all available pharmacies in the Rcopia database. Since this is the most complete list, this is
usually the desired way to search for pharmacies.
6
1.
Enter the search criteria for the pharmacy.
2.
Note: The less information you enter, the more successful your search results may be. Start with the city
and zip code and maybe the first few letters of the pharmacy name.
3.
Click Find.
4.
Click on the desired pharmacy’s name to attach it to the patient’s record.
5.
Please be aware of the Codes next to each pharmacy entry that represent its qualities, such as being open
for 24 hours, or accepting electronically sent controlled substances. The screenshot above shows a
summary of the codes and their meaning.
6.
After adding the desired pharmacy, you may begin to prescribe for this patient.
Note: Rcopia will remember up to the last five pharmacies that were chosen for the patient. This pharmacy dropdown menu can be found above the sig instructions. These pharmacies can be changed by clicking change, or
removed by clicking remove (only on the enter details or sig page). The pharmacy drop-down menu can also be
found under the patient’s name and phone number in the patient demographic box at the top of the screen.
7
Create a New Prescription
There are four main ways you can create a new prescription for a patient. Be sure you have selected a patient
before creating a new prescription.
Drug Search
1.
Enter in your search criteria. (Less is more, enter the first few letters of the drug name)
2.
Click Find.
3.
Select the desired form and strength.
Note: Capitalized medications are the brand name versions of the drug. Medications listed in all lower case are the
generic versions of the drug. The designation (otc) next to the strength indicates that this medication does not need
a prescription and can be purchased over the counter. Formulary information may or may not be present. See the
formulary section for more information.
4.
Continue to the Enter Details section.
Drug Category Search
1.
Click Category Search. This allows you to look up all medications within a specific therapeutic class.
2.
Click the + icons to expand each category until you find the desired form of the drug.
3.
Click the desired form of the drug.
4.
Continue to the Enter Details section.
8
Favorite Prescription
The Favorites drop-down list contains lists of medications previously prescribed by this practice and saved as a
Favorite. It includes the SIG and strength previously determined appropriate for an existing patient. This offers the
physician a quick method of prescribing similar drugs without having to enter the same information over and over
again in the medications Enter Details window.
1.
Select the desired prescription from the Favorites drop-down menu. (see screenshot)
2.
Once you engage the drop down list, you can type the first letter of the desired medication and the list
will move to that area of the alphabet.
3.
Click Use to create the prescription and add it to the pending prescriptions at the bottom of the page.
4.
Click View/Edit if changes are needed in the entry before creating the prescription.
5.
Continue to the Enter Details section.
Active Medications
Note: This method can only be used if the patient has an active medication history.
1.
Find the desired medication in the patient’s active medication list on the Patient Summary screen.
2.
Click Prescribe.
3.
Continue to the Enter Details section.
9
Enter Details
1.
Verify the provider and pharmacy fields are correct and select the appropriate values from the drop-down
menus for the SIG (instructions) details.
2.
If you used a Favorite Prescription or an Active Medication to create this prescription, verify/change the
SIG details as necessary.
3.
Click Continue
4.
If you need to change the drug, click Change Drug.
5.
Click Cancel to cancel the prescription
6.
In order to taper a sig in Rcopia use the drop downs provided on the Rcopia Prescription Form page or Sig
page to start the sig or leave them blank.
7.
You can also go down below where the Directions to Patient box is and free text all of the directions here.
8.
There is no limit so you can type in as much text as needed to complete the tapered sig. (Note: If you
exceed 140 characters the prescription will be faxed, and will not go electronically.)
9.
When you are done click on Continue and if it is a drug that you prescribe all the time this way, make sure
to add it to your favorites so that you don’t have to type out all the directions again.
10
Review Prescription
1.
Click one of the action buttons at the bottom.
a.
OK – Adds the prescription to the Pending Prescription list.
b.
Back – Allows you to return to the previous screen to edit the details.
c.
Cancel – Cancels prescription.
d.
Add to Favorites – adds current prescription to your Favorites list.
2.
After clicking OK, your prescription is added to the Pending Prescriptions list on the Patient Summary
screen.
3.
Note: The Add to Meds check box is selected by default so that the prescription is added to the patient’s
active medication and history.
4.
You are then taken to the Patient Summary screen.
5.
Scroll down to the Pending Prescriptions section on the Patient Summary screen
11
6.
Select the desired prescriptions you want to process
7.
If you are a provider, enter your Signature Password
8.
To complete, click one of the options provided:
a.
Send – Transmits the prescription to the pharmacy electronically.
b.
Send and Print – Transmits the prescription to the pharmacy electronically and prints out a copy of
the prescription for your records.
c.
Print w/o sending – Prints the prescription without sending it to the pharmacy. This is useful if the
patient is unsure which pharmacy he or she would like to use or for controlled substance
prescriptions.
d.
Sign w/o sending – Adds the medication to the patient’s active medication list. This is useful if you
gave the patient a sample.
Note: Due to DEA regulations as of July 2008, controlled substances in schedules II-V must be printed, unless a
Provider is registered for EPCS (Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances).
If not registered for EPCS, for schedule II medications (this is denoted next to the drug as II), you must print these
prescriptions and give them to the patient. For schedule III-V, you must print the prescription, sign it, and then you
can manually fax it to the pharmacy for the patient, or hand it to them to take to the pharmacist.
12
Send to an EPCS Enabled Pharmacy
If registered for EPCS, users have the ability to send controlled substances electronically to pharmacies that are
certified by the DEA. To choose a pharmacy enabled for EPCS, follow these steps:
1.
Filter the pharmacy search to retrieve only EPCS enabled pharmacies by selecting the box highlighted
below.
2.
There is a key at the top of the page that details what each abbreviation means that can be found within
each pharmacy listing.
3.
Locate a pharmacy with a (C) and select the desired pharmacy by clicking on the pharmacy name.
Send to Mail Order Pharmacy
1.
Mail order pharmacies are given for patients who show eligibility obtained from Surescripts.
2.
Note: Only when eligibility is obtained for your patient can you send to a mail order pharmacy, such as
Caremark, Express Scripts, Medco, etc. You will notice when you log into Rcopia and pull up a patient if a
formulary appears for the patient then the system may provide a mail order option.
3.
Mail order pharmacies can be easily displayed. Once in the Pharmacy Information page, underneath the
search criteria will be a link that says “All Mail Order”. Clicking on this will display each Mail Order
location.
4.
Mail order locations will also show underneath physical pharmacies on your searches. They must fit the
search criteria in order to display.
13
Split Prescription
Rcopia allows a Provider the ability to send a “Split Prescription”, which will generate 2 prescriptions: A long term
script for a patient from a Mail Order location, and a short term script at a physical pharmacy location.
1.
Once your drug is selected, and you are in the Prescription Details screen, to the right of the Pharmacy
field will be the “Split Prescription” button. Click on it.
2.
This will generate a 2nd Pharmacy field called “Split Pharmacy”, and a 2nd Quantity field called “Split
Quantity”. Filling this information in and continuing will create two pending scripts.
14
How to Taper SIG Details
In order to taper a sig in Rcopia:
1.
Use the drop downs provided on the Rcopia Prescription Form page or Sig page to start the sig or leave
them blank.
2.
You can also go down below where the Directions to Patient box is and free text all of the directions here.
3.
There is no limit so you can type in as much text as needed to complete the tapered sig. (Note: If you
exceed 140 characters the prescription will be faxed, and will not go electronically.)
4.
When you are done click on Continue. If it is a drug that you prescribe all the time this way, make sure to
add it to your favorites so that you don’t have to type out all the directions again.
Custom Prescription Notes
1.
Custom prescription notes can be created by clicking on Additional Options on the blue navigation toolbar
at the top of the screen and going to Preferences – User.
2.
At the very bottom of the screen you will find a box which allows the user to enter customized prescription
notes that will be available to select while prescribing medications.
a.
A custom prescription note can be any length desired.
b.
Do not hit the return key while typing the prescription note, let the text wrap on its own.
c.
Hit the return key to delineate between individual prescription notes.
d.
You will find these notes in a drop down on the sig page above the Directions to Patient box.
e.
These can be very helpful and are the next best thing to creating favorite prescriptions.
3. When finished, click on Make These Changes.
15
Renewal Requests
Renewals requests are electronic requests generated by a pharmacy for the patient, and you will have a link to view
these messages in your EMR. Click on this link and you will be launched into Rcopia through the portal onto the
renewal request screen with your pending renewal request.
1.
Click Renewal Requests (XX) at the top of the screen in the blue toolbar
2.
Select the desired action from the dropdown menu for each renewal request
a.
Deny – Will deny the request for a Renewal and sends a denial message to the pharmacy.
b.
Change – Allows you to change the prescription and/or pharmacy information. When change is
selected, and the prescription is changed, the prescription becomes a pending prescription in the
appropriate provider’s prescription report. This will alert the pharmacy that the requested renewal has
been denied, but a new prescription will follow.
c.
Renew plus, X refills – Renews the prescription with a desired amount of additional refills
d.
Forward – Allows a staff member to forward the prescription request to another qualified prescriber
in their practice.
e.
Remove – Should only be used if you have previously handled this request and it is a duplicate. Also
sends a notification to the pharmacy
3.
If necessary, select appropriate Pharmacy Notes from the dropdown menu or type them into the box to
the right
4.
If necessary, enter comments in the comments box. These comments are visible only to you and your office
staff.
5.
After you have selected an action for each request, enter your Signature Password at the top or bottom of
the screen and click Perform
6.
All requests that have an action will be executed.
7.
When receiving a renewal request for a patient that does not exist within your system, they will be marked
as ‘New Patient’ within the request.
8.
In order to link this patient to an existing patient within your system, simply click ‘Make This Patient An
Alias’. You will then be given the opportunity to search for the patient or account that this renewal should
be linked to.
9.
Make sure to do this step first so that when you respond to the renewal, this medication is linked to the
appropriate patient and will be loaded back into your EHR.
16
Renew Active Medications
For patients with an active medication list, one or more medications can be renewed at a time.
1.
Click Renew Selected to renew all of the medications on this patients list at once. (Rcopia automatically
selects all the medications in the patient’s list)
2.
Click Select None to unselect all of the medications so you can manually select a desired number of the
medications on the list.
3.
Once you have selected the medications you wish to renew, click Renew Selected.
4.
You can renew a particular medication by clicking Renew to the right of the listed medication.
5.
You can change the details (Sig, Duration, Quantity, Renewal, Pharmacy, etc.) of a prescription by clicking
on the Prescribe link to the right of the listed medication.
6.
You can stop a medication by clicking the [Stop] link to the right of the listed medication. To remove it
completely from the Patient’s Active Med list, you will need to change the Stop Date to today’s date.
a.
You will be prompted to enter a reason for stopping this medication.
17
Drug Interaction Alerts
When prescribing medications, Rcopia will always check against the active medication list for drug to drug
interactions. The alerts will appear after you have searched for the drug and chosen the strength. These alerts will
appear in RED, as shown here:
DRUG INTERACTION ALERT! This patient is being given Lipitor (atorvastatin), which has a severe incidence of
adverse effects when combined with the drug you have just prescribed, erythromycin. [See Reference]. Proceed
with extreme caution.
These alerts will have a See Reference link that allows the user to view an Interaction Report. The user will also be
given the ability provide a justification for prescribing this medication notwithstanding the warning, this is optional.
Allergy Interaction Alerts
When prescribing medications, Rcopia will always alert you if you are prescribing something that is associated with
a drug on the list of allergies and adverse reactions. The alerts will appear after you have searched for the drug and
chosen the strength. These alerts will appear in RED, as shown here:
ALLERGY ALERT! This patient is listed as having an allergic reaction (unspecified) to amoxicillin, which is identical to
the drug you have just prescribed, amoxicillin. Proceed with extreme caution.
The user will also be given the ability provide a justification for prescribing this medication notwithstanding the
warning, this is optional.
18
Formulary Checking
Formulary information in Rcopia is obtained from Surescripts
1.
2.
When you select a patient, the system will automatically start searching for his/her eligibility using the
patient’s first name, last name, zip code, and DOB.
a.
Surescripts provides formulary information for health plans and payers such as Blue Cross, Anthem,
Mamsi, etc.
b.
They do not provide eligibility for government funded formularies or some small payers.
Once the formulary information is obtained the system can tell you what medications may or may not be
covered by the patient’s insurance.
a.
3.
If you try to prescribe a medication that is not covered, or has higher co pay, you will receive a formulary
alert in the system.
The user can override these alerts or select from the list of alternatives and prescribe a medication that has
a lower co pay.
Mini Medication Report
1.
To print a wallet-sized version of a patient’s current medication and allergy list, click Mini on the patient
summary screen once you have selected a patient.
a.
This is an ideal way for patients to keep track of the medications they are currently taking.
19
2.
The Mini Medication Report will then open in a new window.
a.
3.
Note: If you have disabled pop-up blockers, the print window will automatically display so you can
quickly print a copy for the patient.
To close that window, click the X or Close button in the upper right corner of the title bar.
PBM/Pharmacy History
1.
PBM/Pharmacy History is found on the Patient Summary Screen, located below the Medications heading.
a.
2.
3.
Click on PBM/Pharmacy History.
a.
PBM/Pharmacy history is available for all patients whose insurance companies provide this information
to Surescripts
b.
Patient medication information is displayed according to their primary insurance company’s records. If
the patient has more than one insurance company, this information will be listed for selection in the
Formulary drop-down list.
You can use the Obtain New Data drop-down list to choose the timeframe you wish the PBM/Pharmacy
History to display.
a.
4.
PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Management)/Pharmacy History will display up to 2 years of the patient’s
prescribed medications.
Click on the Obtain New Data button to generate report against the parameters you just selected.
Adding to the Active Medication List
a.
Medications that are not currently on the patient’s active medication list can be added by adding a
check in the box to the left of the medication’s listing and clicking on the Add Selected button. This will
copy all of the medications information, to the patient’s active medication list.
b.
By clicking on the + sign, you can get detail records of the patient’s history.
Managing Problems
Rcopia allows you to enter a patient’s diagnosis or problem, this will allow you to associate a diagnosis with a
prescription and allow the drug diagnosis checking to be enabled.
20
You can begin populating problems by clicking on Manage Problems, located to the right of the allergies on the
Patient Summary page.
To find a problem, just type the diagnoses or ICD-9 code and choose the problem that best describes your patient’s
diagnoses.
Dose Calculator
A dose calculator is available on the Enter Details screen.
1.
Click on the show dose calculator button next to the patient weight, the calculator appears on-screen to
view the calculator.
a.
The calculator does not open in a new window.
b.
You must ensure that the patient weight and the mg/kg/day for the drug are populated in order for the
dose calculator to work properly.
2.
Enter desired prescription information and click on the Continue button.
3.
Next the prescription review screen appears so that you can:
a.
Review the prescription for accuracy.
Provider Agent Options
Provider agent options are identical to the Prescriber options displayed above with the following two exceptions:
First, a Send, signature to follow button will display instead of the Send button. This will send the script to the
pharmacy (who will dispense the script to the patient), and to the Prescriber’s pending prescription queue review
and validate the prescription with their signature at a later date. Second, an Archive without sending button will
display instead of the Sign without sending button. Both buttons adds a medication(s) to the patient’s active
medication list, and does not send to pharmacy (often used when giving samples).
Staff Options
1.
Hold for Signature – Sends the prescription request to the appropriate Prescriber so they can review and
act upon it as they desire.
2.
Print without sending – sends the script(s) to the local office printer, and does not send to the Prescribers
queue.
3.
Archive without sending – adds medication(s) to the patient’s active medication list, and does not send to
a Prescriber.
Options
There are many additional options available in the Rcopia application.
Click on the Options link in the blue toolbar.
21
A few of the provided Options are informational and a few have already been performed for your practice. We will
mention those briefly:
1.
Configure Formularies – Rcopia is connected to Surescripts, so it automatically provides most formulary
information regarding your patient’s insurance preferences. However, DrFirst does host some formularies
and these need to be enabled within the application to be available for manually linking to patients.
2.
Favorite Prescription – allows users to add prescriptions to their favorites list (My List or Practice List)
without being in a patient’s record or having to be in the Manage Meds section of the application. A current
list of your favorite prescriptions is provided in the Favorites drop-down list.
Note: You will be directed to Find a medication. Please reference the Prescribing a Medication portion of
the manual for directions.
3.
Pharmacy Data – This option allows the users to add or modify the practice’s pharmacy data list without
having to be in a patient’s record. You will be directed to the same screen that was covered in the Pharmacy
Information – Adding a Pharmacy section of this manual. Please refer to that section for use.
Patient Advisor
Patient Advisor is a tool designed to highlight patients who have a history of not taking their medications as
prescribed. Patient Advisor provides you with the ability to support patients with education, co-pay savings,
evidence-based tools, and resources.
1.
To access Patient Advisor you must log into Rcopia and pull up a patient.
2.
Once within a patient’s chart you will automatically see the Patient Advisor toolbar between the “Patient
Demographics Information” box and the “Prescribe a Medication” box.
3.
There are three functional tabs you can navigate through to utilize medication adherence, patient
education, and find useful links to outcome studies on medication adherence.
4.
In addition to the tabs, there is also a service that alerts the physician of a coupon or co-pay savings for
the electronic prescription that was just written for their patient.
22
How to View and Interpret the Patient Report Card/At Risk Patient
On the Patient Advisor toolbar if your patient has any gaps in filling their prescriptions the first tab will appear
orange and titled as “At Risk Patient”.
For a patient without gaps it will appear as “Report Card”. This report card is a tool to give you an overview of the
patient’s compliance with their medication regimen and lists the patient’s active medications.
Medication Adherence Rate
Medication Adherence Rate (MAR) is a calculation of a particular drug expressed as a percentage (MAR = total
days’ supply for all fills during the interval/maximum days’ supply available during interval). The calculation is
made for each drug with the same generic name regardless of dosage. To get the MAR for each active medication,
the user clicks on the name of the drug in the chart. The MAR will change for each drug and display the
percentage. The wheel will change as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Green – MAR is 80% or greater, i.e. No risk for non-adherence. Patient adherent to treatment regimen
most or all of the time.
Yellow – MAR is 60% - 80%, i.e. Risk for non-adherence. Patient not optimally following treatment
regimen; offer education and/or evaluation.
Red – MAR is less than 60%, i.e. High-risk for non-adherence. Patient not following treatment regimen;
requires adherence evaluation.
N/A – there is insufficient data to calculate an MAR. A minimum of two “fills” for a single prescription are
required in order to calculate the MAR and for medications that are PRNs.
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Interpreting the Medication Adherence Rate on the Report Card
1.
The At Risk Patient alert (tab in orange) will be triggered when the patient is on a drug for which his
adherence rate is 70% or less
2.
Brand name drugs will have the first letter capitalized. Generics will be displayed in lower case.
3.
Medications will be sorted by ascending MAR with the lowest percentage on the top of the list. N/A will
appear at the bottom of the list. Drugs marked as N/A do not have sufficient fill data to show a MAR.
4.
Rx (Prescription Date) – When you hover over the icon you will be shown the details from the prescription
including the drug name, drug strength , prescription start date and the MAR.
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5.
F (Fill Date) – When you hover over the icon you will be shown the date in which the medication was filled
at the pharmacy as well as medication and the drug strength.
6.
R (Expected Refill Date) – Indicates that there was a refill event that should have occurred but was missed.
When you hover over the icon you will be shown the date it was expected to be refilled based on the
original prescription. The refill takes into account when the prescription was actually filled.
7.
X (Expected Completion Date) – When you hover over the icon you will be shown completion date of the
prescription along with the name of the medication. The end date will be calculated and readjusted based
on dates the prescription was filled.
8.
Red Bar – Indicates the number of days between the time the patient should have had their medication
filled and the next event. This can show up between an “Rx” and an “F” and between an “R” and an “F” or
the end of a prescription.
9.
Blue Bar – Indicates the duration of the fill for that medication before a refill is required or when the
prescription ends. The number of days and the date range are displayed.
10. No Gap in Rx - If there is no gap in Rx fill, then the blue bar is displayed. The date ranges for the blue bar
includes the Rx date or fill date (F) up to the DAY BEFORE the subsequent fill date or expected refill date
(R) and counts only that number of days. If the blue bar is from Rx/F to prescription end (X), the date
range includes the X date and is included in the number of days.
11. Gap in Rx - If there is a gap in Rx fill, and then the red bar is displayed. The date range for the red bar
includes the Rx date or expected refill date (R) up to the DAY BEFORE the subsequent fill date (F) or R and
counts only that number of days. If the red bar is from Rx/F to prescription end (X), the date range
includes the X date and is included in the number of days.
12. Additional Features:
a. Yellow Date Mover – Allows you to move the date line over any information on the chart to quickly get
the date without having to click on the chart.
b. Grey Current Date Display Marker – Allows you to see the chart lined up against the current date.
c. Chart Legend – Shows a legend to help interpret the MAR chart.
d. Print – Allows you to print the MAR chart.
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F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)
Eligibility and Formulary
Q: “Why isn’t my patient’s insurance and formulary information being displayed in the dropdown menu? I
entered the correct demographic information.”
A: If formulary information is not displaying for your patients, (i.e. the display says “none”), there are a few
possible causes:
1.
The information doesn’t match what the insurance company has on file: double check that the patient’s
information in your system matches the information on their insurance card. If it does match, we
recommend that you ask if they have recently changed their address or insurance companies. For
example, if you listed a patient as Bill and their legal name is William, then change the first name to reflect
that.
2.
The patient may be insured by a non-participating PBM/Insurance Company. Some payers are not yet
sharing information electronically.
Logging in
Q: “I forgot my signature password.”
A: Contact DrFirst at (866) 263-6512 to get it reset. (Please have your credentials available as we will be verifying
your information.)
Prescriptions
Q: “The drug I want to prescribe is not in the system. How can I add it?”
A: DrFirst researches and incorporates new drugs into Rcopia every month at the end of the month. Please be
patient, but if you do not see your drug in the system, you can send it through as a “Free Text Drug,” and/or send a
add drug request to [email protected]. (Note: It is better to use a medication from the med list then to Free Text
whenever possible in order to utilize the clinical alerts functionality.)
Q: “The sig dropdowns don’t meet my needs. What should I do?
A: DrFirst continually researches and develops new ways to make your time prescribing Simple, Powerful, and Fast.
If the available dropdowns are not sufficient for the medication at hand, please use the “Directions to Patient”
section and enter the sig as free text. This section functions the same as the dropdown sig does, but it gives the
user more freedom to tailor the sig to match their specific directions. Please make sure you do not leave data
entered in the dropdown SIG boxes and then put conflicting data in the “Directions to Patient” section.
Q: “The pharmacy says that my prescription didn’t go through. What should I do?”
A: There are a few reasons this may be the case:
1. First verify that the prescription has been sent. Go to the “Prescription Report,” or if it is for a single
patient, go to “Select Patient,” find your patient, scroll all the way down to: “Pending Prescriptions for this
Patient,” and make sure it is not still pending.
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2.
3.
Try and resend it. Many times when a script does not go through, it is because the pharmacy may have
mishandled it during a “training error” (i.e. their machine was not set up correctly; they were out of ink or
paper and in resetting their machine, all the incoming prescriptions were erased; some pharmacies still
need to print out electronically-received prescriptions and can lose the print-out).
If they still have not received the script and you have called to confirm, please contact DrFirst:
a. On the Prescription Report of completed prescriptions, click “sent” next to the patient’s name
and then click “Contact Us About this Prescription” on the upper right of the prescription image.
If you cannot send us the message electronically, call DrFirst at (866)263-6512. Be sure to have
the prescription handy. Customer Service will ask you questions about the script including the
serial number, which can be found along the bottom. It will be an “AA-“ or “BB-“ number –
example: AA-5555555.
Q: “I got an alert/warning. What does this mean?”
A: As you prescribe, the system will show you clinical and formulary alerts when applicable.
 Clinical Alerts: When you receive an alert in RED, this indicates a clinical alert. (Examples are: Drug/Drug
Interaction, Drug/Allergy Interaction, Dose checking, and Duplicate Therapy.)
*Note: It is very important to make sure the patient's medication list is accurate and up-to-date to receive
complete clinical alert checking.
 Formulary Alerts: When you receive an alert in BLUE, this indicates a formulary alert. (Examples are: nonformulary drugs and drugs that offer a preferred alternative(s) with lower co-pay for the patient.) If you
receive a formulary alert, you can switch to an alternative provided in the dropdown. Click the "Switch"
button.
 Prescribe Anyway: You may also click the "Prescribe Anyway" button to continue to prescribe the alerted
drug.
o "Prescribe Anyway"- Creates the prescription despite the warning.
o "Cancel"- Does not create the prescription and will return the user to the patient's homepage.
This is used when the user decides not to prescribe the selected medication.
Q: “There is a prescription I voided and it still shows up. How do I get rid of it?”
A: Show Voided Prescriptions: To remove voided-prescription notifications, go to “Additional Options,”
“Preferences—user,” go down to “Show voided prescriptions in reports,” and select “No.”
 To remove a voided medication that the patient HAS taken from the active medication list, click “stop”
just to the right of the medication listing, and enter a reason for removing the drug from the active list.
 To remove a voided medication that the patient has NEVER taken from the active medication list, click
“Manage Medications” on the blue menus at the top of the screen, and click “delete” to the right of the
medication.
Pharmacies
Q: “I can’t find a pharmacy in DrFirst. How do I add/delete a pharmacy?”
A: To add or delete a pharmacy:
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


Click the "Pharmacy" link in the patient demographics section to bring up the Pharmacy search criteria. At
the bottom of that criteria will be a link that says “Add a new pharmacy to the practice list”. Click on this
link.
You will then see a list of Pharmacy fields that you can fill in. The required fields are in red.
FAX NUMBER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FIELD, SINCE MANUALLY ADDED PHARMACIES ARE NOT
ENABLED ELECTRONICALLY. Any script sent to this pharmacy will only travel to the Fax number that you
set.
Printing
Q: “Why can’t I print?”
A: If you are not able to print, please check the following:
 Is your printer is turned on and ready to receive new printing jobs?
 Is your computer set up to print to that printer? Or is not defaulted to a different printer.
 Make sure your popup blocker is turned OFF.
o In Internet Explorer, you can find this under “Tools,” “Pop-up Blocker,” “Turn Off Pop-up
Blocker.”
o For Firefox, you can find this under “Tools,” “Options,” “Content,” and uncheck “Block Pop-up
Windows.”
Q: “What sort of printer should I use?”
A: Any inkjet or laser printer (Like an HP, Epson, or Canon) should work great with DrFirst. Beware of using a Dot
Matrix printer, as those won’t work as well. (Note: DrFirst users writing prescriptions electronically with Rcopia
now meet the Medicaid Tamper Proof requirement without special paper due to new modification-resistant
printing of prescription information and micro printing text on original prescriptions in order to avoid improper
prescription duplication. DrFirst Rcopia meets the Medicaid requirements through innovative features such as
quantity fields which are bordered and spelled out as text, filler characters to prevent alterations to data fields,
and micro printing to prevent copying.)
Q: “Every time I print multiple prescriptions, the last one(s) are getting cut off. What should I do?”
A: Click to begin E-Prescribing and then go to “Additional Options,” at the top of the page. Go to: “Preferences -user: Set Rcopia options for yourself” and scroll down until you see: “Print at most
__ prescriptions on a single
page” and change that value to 2.
***If you have any other questions or if you require additional assistance, please call DrFirst Customer Service at
(866) 263-6512 or email us at [email protected]. Please have your DrFirst username/login name handy, in order
for us to expedite your service requests.
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