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The post-op discharge medication program.
The medication should be waiting when the patient stands up.
Nothing about this is clever. It is the same prescriptions, filled a few hours earlier, in a bag with the patient's name on it, sitting at your facility instead of at a counter three miles away that the patient will not reach.
What the day looks like from your side.
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The day before — the order arrives
E-prescribed to the pharmacy, or faxed to (323) 653-4079 with a call to (323) 653-4070. Tell us the approximate discharge time and whether the bag is going to the facility or to the patient's home. If it is a lien patient, give us the law firm's name now, not at discharge.
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That afternoon — we clear the obstacles
Coverage checked, prior authorization started if there is one, CURES reviewed, protection letter chased with the firm. Every one of these is a thing that would otherwise happen while your patient stands at a counter in a sling.
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Morning of — it is packed
Filled, labeled, and bagged per patient with the discharge instructions matched against what is actually in the bag. If something on the order cannot be filled — quantity limit, formulary, a supply problem — you hear about it in the morning, not at four o'clock.
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At discharge — hand-off and counselling
Courier delivers to the facility timed to the discharge. Identification verified for controlled substances. Counselling happens at hand-off or by phone with the patient, in English or Spanish.
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That evening — nobody calls your office
Which is the entire point of the exercise.
Whatever the discharge sheet says.
A typical outpatient orthopedic or spine discharge, assembled as one labeled set rather than five separate errands.
Analgesia
The short-course opioid where one is prescribed, plus the scheduled non-opioid the surgeon wants running alongside it. Quantities exactly as written — no more, no less.
Nausea and the bowel regimen
Ondansetron or promethazine, and the stool softener and laxative that should accompany any opioid course. The two omissions that generate the most after-hours calls.
Prophylaxis and support
Antibiotics, anticoagulant prophylaxis where ordered, muscle relaxant, GI protectant, and the wound care supplies the instruction sheet assumes the patient already owns.
Bracing and equipment
The post-op brace, sling, immobiliser, cold therapy unit or TENS — on the same delivery and the same statement as the medication.
A schedule the patient can read
A one-page card in plain language, in English or Spanish, saying what to take when. Discharge instructions written for a chart are not written for someone two hours out of anaesthesia.
A number that answers
The patient leaves knowing who to call about the medication, and it is not the surgeon's after-hours line.
Any payer. Including none.
The program is not a lien program. It is a discharge program that happens to be able to handle the lien patient, which is the one every other discharge vendor cannot.
- Commercial insurance and Medicare Part D — billed normally, copay collected from the patient
- Cash — quoted before dispensing, no surprises at the door
- Workers' compensation — billed to the carrier, with the lien route available if the claim is denied or delayed
- Personal injury lien — nothing collected, balance held against the case
The facility is billed for none of it and signs nothing.
Before the first case
Ten minutes on the phone is enough to set this up. What we want to know:
- Your typical discharge windows — so the courier is not guessing
- Who sends orders — scheduler, DON, the surgeon's office
- Your standard post-op sets — so common cases are pre-staged
- Where deliveries go — front desk, recovery, or a named person
- Your fax and a mobile for the case that goes sideways
What happens after six, and at weekends
The counter is open Mon–Fri 10am–6pm PT. Outside those hours you are not talking to voicemail: text (310) 266-0682 and a person answers — the owner, not a service. That is the difference between a pharmacy that is shut and a pharmacy you cannot reach.
Be clear on what it does and does not mean. We are not dispensing or running a courier at nine at night. What we can do is take the call, get the order queued, and have the medication moving first thing — or tell you straight away that tonight needs a 24-hour pharmacy instead, which is occasionally the honest answer. For a scheduled Friday list, send the order the day before and none of this arises.