Third Party Pharmacy Q&A
What is a “Third Party” Prescription? A third-party prescription is anything that you purchase from any place other than in our clinic, on our online pharmacy, or from Hills to Home (contact the clinic for more info) or Purina Vet Direct.
Do you at Cedar Grove Veterinary Clinic like for your clients to order from third-party pharmacies? We would rather our clients order from us using one of the above-mentioned methods. It is extremely time-consuming for our staff and takes a lot of attention that we would much rather spend caring for our patients. The clinic doesn’t earn anything from approving these prescriptions, but it can take 15mn or more for one of our staff to approve one prescription from beginning to end. And some days we have a lot of prescriptions to approve. This is why we have decided to implement the $5 technician charge to have your third-party prescriptions approved.
There is also some risk in purchasing your pet’s prescriptions from third-party pharmacies. You can learn more about those risks here.
How can I get my pet’s food or drug prescriptions without using a third-party pharmacy? First and easiest, you can have Cedar Grove Veterinary Clinic order the item(s) you need. It can take as little as 24 hours in some cases, and rarely more than 5 days in any case, to get the item(s) you need. We will then contact you to let you know they are ready to pick up.
If you wish to shop online and have your items delivered to you, you can use our online pharmacy, VetSource. This is just like shopping from any online pharmacy, but it is trusted, human-grade, and safe.
If you’re looking to keep your pet well stocked with their prescription diet, supplements, or treats, you can ask our staff to sign you up with a Hills to Home account or ask us how to sign up for Purina Vet Direct. We would be happy to assist you.
If I understand the risks associated with third-party pharmacy prescriptions and am willing to pay the $5 technician charge, what are my responsibilities when I order these prescriptions? You as the client are responsible for ordering the correct item in the correct dosage for your pet. This information is double-checked by our staff and any prescribing instructions left out are added, but it can slow down or even stop your shipment from getting to you if the order isn’t correct.
You are responsible for the shipping information you give, and any subscribe and save orders you set up. If you wish to cancel one of the orders, that is between the pharmacy you’ve ordered from and yourself.
It works best and quickest for everyone involved if you contact Cedar Grove Veterinary Clinic and have your credit card information put on file before placing your order. This saves a lot of time and gets your item off to you much more quickly.
It also helps if any bloodwork or exams needed are up to date. Please don’t order something your pet needs a week before their bloodwork, exam or other test is due. Veterinarians cannot approve prescriptions without a current annual exam. This is a law. The best time to order and or set up auto-ship is right after your pet’s annual exam and any other care required to get their prescription has been done. If you’re getting reminders for annual exams, bloodwork, or a 4Dx (the test for heartworm and 3 of the tick-borne illnesses; Lyme, Anaplasmosis, and Ehrlichiosis), please take care of those things in a timely manner.
If you take care of the above responsibilities, your prescriptions will get to you more quickly, and without as many phone calls and emails from Cedar Grove staff.
What are the responsibilities of Cedar Grove staff when I order a third-party prescription? The staff member responsible for approving third-party prescriptions will check your pet’s record to see if your pet can have the prescription filled, and for how long. They will calculate how many refills are allowed. They will make proper documentation about the prescription you have ordered in your pet’s record. They will check to see if your name is on our list of clients who know about our $5 technician fee, and whether your credit card information is stored in our system. If yes, they will quickly charge the fee and call the pharmacy to approve your pet’s prescription.
If your name isn’t on the list or your card information isn’t on file, or there are questions or problems with your order, the staff member will contact you via email or phone to get the needed information, then charge the $5 fee and contact the pharmacy to approve your pet’s prescription.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and understand this information. Our staff greatly appreciates your cooperation in making this process as quick and convenient as possible for everyone involved.