Do you get your prescriptions filled at a military pharmacy? If so, Offutt has now joined the ranks of bases offering remote pharmacy check-in using Q-Anywhere.

Q-Anywhere is a Defense Health Agency-funded program that allows patients to use text messaging to communicate with the pharmacy 24/7 via their cell phone to activate new prescriptions without waiting in line or on the phone.

The patient texts “get in line” to 1-833-338-1720 and replies with the member’s DOD ID number, when appropriate, to activate that member’s prescriptions to get started.

“This service is for NEW prescriptions only and should not be used for refills,” said Maj. Cassandra Pomeroy, chief of 55th Medical Group’s Satellite Pharmacy. “The pharmacy staff will review the patient’s profile, based on the DOD ID number provided by the patient, and activate any prescriptions submitted by their doctor in the last 14 days. If there are no new prescriptions, the pharmacy will send a reply text to the patient letting them know nothing has been submitted by their provider.”  

Although the pharmacy does have multiple staff members answering phones, the remote check-in makes things easier for patients who have limited time to wait in line or on the phone. Q-Anywhere is offered even if the pharmacy is not open. The patient can text into the queue and the pharmacy will receive the ticket once it opens during normal business hours.

“This is a great program that is being rolled out across many military medical treatment facility pharmacies,” said Pomeroy. “It also allows patients to activate new prescriptions from the palms of their hands, the comfort of their home, or while sitting at their desk at work.”

The pharmacy staff is using the Interactive Customer Evaluation (ICE) comment service as well as direct feedback from patients to work out any issues to improve how the system works here at Offutt.

“We are happy to assist with any questions patients have locally at the pharmacy,” said Pomeroy. “We want to make the process of reaching the pharmacy easy and convenient, and we know how bogged down the phone lines can get, so we really encourage patients to use this option.”