Refilling prescriptions and physician consent.

Much has been written regarding physicians' prescribing behavior. However, a literature search revealed a dearth of information regarding physicians' refilling behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore how authorization is given to community pharmacists for refilling a prescription by telephone. A total of 30 physicians (general practitioners and internists) was systematically selected with a random start from the telephone directory of a large metropolitan city. A surveyor acting as a registered pharmacist from a fictitious pharmacy called and requested refill authorization from a prescriber using a simulated patient's name and prescription. Half of the 30 phone calls utilized a controlled substance as the drug in question, and the remaining half utilized a noncontrolled legend drug. All of the phone calls were made either during late afternoon or evening. The results of this study show that 48.3 percent of the physicians authorized refills. Positive refill authorization was given in 29 percent of the instances with the controlled drug and 66 percent of the instances with the noncontrolled legend drug. Only 27.6 percent of the physicians checked their records.