Prescription Processing and Dispensing
What this domain tests
This domain covers what makes a prescription legally valid in New Hampshire, how it may be transmitted, refilled, transferred, labeled, and what the pharmacist owes the patient at hand-off. Most items are timing questions, so learn the numbers as sets rather than isolated facts.
Validity elements
- Prescriber name and signature (manual or electronic), DEA number for controlled substances, patient name and address, drug name, strength and dosage form, quantity, directions, date written, and refills authorized.
- Oral orders: Schedule III–V prescriptions may be phoned in; a Schedule II oral order is limited to a genuine emergency, and the prescriber must deliver a written or electronic prescription within seven days.
Refills and life of a prescription
- Schedule II: no refills, ever.
- Schedule III–V: no more than five refills and never beyond six months from the date written, whichever comes first.
- Non-controlled prescriptions in New Hampshire generally expire one year from the date written unless the prescriber states otherwise.
Worked example
An alprazolam (Schedule IV) prescription written March 1 says "refill x5." The patient first fills it March 10. Reasoning: the six-month clock runs from March 1, not from the first fill, so the last permissible refill date is September 1; and even if refills remained, five is the ceiling. Filling on September 3 is a violation regardless of what the prescriber wrote.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming a Schedule II partial fill can be completed at leisure - the remainder must be supplied within 72 hours or the prescriber notified and the balance voided. Transferring a Schedule II prescription. Documenting counseling as "not required" when the patient simply declined - the offer itself must be documented. Labels missing the pharmacy name and address, prescription number, date, patient, prescriber, directions, quantity, refills, or beyond-use date.