Prescription On Hold At Walgreens: Is your Walgreens prescription on hold? Don’t worry! When a pharmacy says that your prescription is on hold, it means that the pharmacist has not given you the medication yet.
The pharmacy may be waiting for confirmation or clarification from your doctor before they can give you the medication.
After filling the prescription, the pharmacy will give you a call to let you know that it is ready for pickup.
This usually happens when the doctor has not properly communicated with the pharmacy about the medication.
However, other reasons may include a delay in the insurance company processing the claim or an incorrect prescription being filled.
Do you shop at Walgreens for your prescriptions? If so, you might be wondering how long the pharmacy will hold your medication.
Keep on reading to find out when you can expect to collect your filled prescriptions from Walgreens, whether the store reminds you when your prescription is ready, and also about your prescription records at Walgreens!
How Long Does Walgreens Hold Prescriptions?
As per Walgreens’ Pharmacy policy, 7 days is the hold period for a prescription that has been filled.
So, if you don’t pick it up within that time frame, the store will try to contact you at least 3 times via phone.
As of 2022, Walgreens holds all filled prescriptions for 7 days and unfilled prescriptions for 12 months but if your prescription involves a controlled substance, the store will hold it for 6 months.
If your filled prescription isn’t picked up after the 7-day hold period, Walgreens will put it back in stock and it will be available for purchase by other customers.
After the Hold Period
Haven’t picked up your Walgreens prescription yet? Wondering what happens if you don’t even after 7-days?
This is what you need to know –
- Walgreens makes a reasonable effort to contact you when your prescription is ready for pickup.
- As the prescription has already been filled, the store will put it back on the shelf after 7 days if it’s not picked up.
- A few stores, however, will hold onto the prescription for some more time.
Prescription holding time may vary depending on the store and the laws of the state in which you reside.
So, it is best to contact your nearest Walgreens store and inquire about their policy.
However, if you are unable to pick up your prescription for any reason, you may explain the situation to the pharmacy staff and they might be able to help you out.
Refilling A Prescription After 7 Days
Didn’t pick up the prescription in 7 days? Want Walgreens to refill it for you again?
You can directly call your local Walgreens pharmacy and ask them to refill a prescription for you, even if it has been more than 7 days since the last time it was filled.
However, Walgreens may not be able to refill the prescription if the record of your prescriptions has been removed from its system.
So, the staff will look up your prescription information and refill it if they are able to.
If they are not able to refill it, they may suggest that you bring the prescription in so that they can review it.
Notifications
“Does Walgreens notify you when your prescription is ready for pick up?” This is a common question that is asked by customers of Walgreens Pharmacy.
The answer to this question is yes, Walgreens does notify customers when their prescription is ready for pick up.
This notification comes in the form of courtesy calls made by store staff during the seven-day period in which Walgreens holds filled prescriptions.
If your prescription is ready for pick up but you do not come to the store to pick it up, Walgreens will most likely call you to remind you.
Prescription Records At Walgreens
Worrying about your unfilled prescriptions is no longer necessary!
You can just call up Walgreens and let them know that you would like to have the prescription filled, and they will take care of the rest.
Because filled prescriptions are kept on file for two years, you don’t have to worry about losing track of them or forgetting to pick them up.
You can always refer back to your records at Walgreens if you need to.
Walgreens also keeps track of your controlled substance prescriptions, and these records are only kept for six months.
This means that you need to contact Walgreens within that time frame if you want to have a prescription filled for a controlled substance.
In the case of unfilled prescriptions, Walgreens will only keep the records for one year after the date of writing.
This means that you need to contact Walgreens within that time period if you want to have a prescription filled.
So, if you are wondering how long Walgreens keeps your prescription records, the answer is two years for filled prescriptions and one year for unfilled prescriptions.
Save A Trip Refills
If in case you always forget to pick up your filled Rx, then you may want to consider enrolling in the Save a Trip Refills program.
If you are a patient with a maintenance medication, you may be eligible to enroll in Save a Trip Refills.
This Walgreens Pharmacy program allows you to pick up or have your medications delivered on a single convenient date.
There is no extra cost for this service, and it is available at most Walgreens pharmacy locations.
This helps to reduce the number of trips you need to make to the pharmacy and can be convenient for multiple family members as well.
Rx Text Alerts
Walgreens offers a text alerts feature to all those who want to get reminded when their prescription is ready for pickup at the pharmacy.
It’s best to sign up for the Rx text alerts to avoid missing your prescription pickup. In order to sign up,
- Go to the Rx Text Alerts page on walgreens.com
- Scroll down
- Enter your phone number
- Hit the Get Alerts button
Instead, simply send a text message – JOINRX to this number: 21525. As soon as you text JOINRX, you will automatically be signed up for reminders.
Checking Prescription Status
To check whether your Walgreens Prescription is ready or not –
- Text RXSTATUS to 21525
- You will receive an SMS
Your prescription status will be notified in this SMS. You will see Ready For Pickup in the SMS you receive if your Rx is ready or else, you won’t see that.
Checking Status Online
You can also check your Walgreens prescription status online on walgreens.com. To view the status –
- Visit the Walgreens Rx Status page on your browser
- Enter your Email Address or Username
- Type in your account password
- Log into your account to view the orders
- Check your prescription refill orders
- The status of your order will be shown
If it’s a pickup order, the status will be either In Process or Ready or Picked Up. In the case of a home delivery order, you will either see Order Being Processed or Shipped status.
Summary
Walgreens will hold a prescription for up to 7 days. You will be reminded about your Rx in the meantime via phone or text alerts (if you’ve signed up). However, the medicines will be shelved if you fail to pickup within a week. This is the case with filled prescriptions whereas unfilled prescriptions will be on hold for up to a period of 1 year. For controlled substances, the store’s policy is 6 months maximum whereas it’s 12 months for all other medications. You can check the status of your prescription whether it’s ready for pick-up or not by texting RXSTATUS to 21525 or you can view it online on walgreens.com.