DECEMBER 18, 2024 – Do you get your prescriptions at a military pharmacy in the U.S.? You should know that the Defense Health Agency is upgrading to a new prescription refill system at military pharmacies. The new Interactive Voice Response system will help standardize refill notices.
“DHA’s commitment is to deliver exceptional care anytime, anywhere, always, including our pharmacy services,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Julie Meek, deputy pharmacy program manager, Informatics Integration Branch, Pharmacy Operations Division at the Defense Health Agency.
Meek is managing the transition to the new system.
“We embrace opportunities like this to take advantage of available technology and better fulfill that promise,” she said.
This change means your military pharmacy may have a new phone number for its prescription refill line. To find your military pharmacy’s refill phone number, check the military hospital or clinic’s website. The pharmacy’s old refill number will automatically transfer to the new refill number until the transition is complete. (Note: If you typically reach your pharmacy by calling the military hospital or clinic’s main line, you can still do this by selecting the pharmacy option.)
If you get prescriptions at a military pharmacy overseas, this upgrade will happen later in 2025. You don’t need to check for a new phone number yet.
You can also refill your prescriptions using the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal. Follow these steps:
- Log in to the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal.
- Click on the “Rx Refills” tab at the top menu bar of the homepage. You can see all your prescriptions that are ready for refill in one place.
- Choose which prescriptions you want to refill.
- Pick where you want to get your refills.
- See when your refills will be ready.
Want to learn more about managing your prescriptions in the patient portal? Check out the TRICARE Newsroom article “MHS GENESIS Patient Portal Makes Refilling Prescriptions Easier.”
It’s important to know this transition won’t affect any of your existing prescriptions or refills. All remaining refills will move over to the new system—for example, if you have two refills left on a prescription now, you’ll still have those two refills once the new IVR system is in place.
Remember: At a military pharmacy, you can get up to a 90-day supply of most covered drugs, as described in the TRICARE Pharmacy Overview Fact Sheet.
Have more questions about this new prescription refill system? Contact your local military pharmacy to learn more.
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Courtesy Story
Defense Health Agency