SGCMH Patient Portal Now Offers Medication Refills

Patient convenience is a high priority for Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital (SGCMH) and its physician practices. And to make life a little easier, the SGCMH patient portal now has the capability to provide medication refills.

Patients can request a refill at any time online.

Judy Schmieder, director of Clinical Informatics at SGCMH, said using the patient portal streamlines the process.

“This is absolutely much faster,” she said. “You can do anything on the portal any time of day or night from the comfort and privacy of your home or office. You don’t have to wait for business hours. If you’re thinking about it at midnight, you can go on the portal and ask for a medication to be refilled or send a message to the doctor’s office or even request an appointment. The portal is a very convenient feature.”

Schmieder explained how easy it is for patients to refill requests for medications that have been prescribed at SGCMH hospital clinics.

“The steps are pretty straight forward,” Schmieder said. “Log into the patient portal; go to the medications button; click on which medication you want to refill, and the refill button will send that renewal request directly to your doctor’s office. When you send that renewal request, the clinic staff and providers can approve or deny that request and reply back to you and tell you that the prescription has been sent to your pharmacy. Or, if they deny it, they can explain why. Perhaps it’s merely because you haven’t seen your provider in a year and need to make an appointment.

“If the medication is one that the patient had taken years ago and it was no longer on their medication list, they would not be able to request that medication again through the renew or refill option,” she added. “However, they could most certainly send a secure message to their provider and ask about it.”

SGCMH began offering the patient portal in 2011. Patients since have been able to view their electronic health records, see lab results, X-ray reports, allergies, list of medications and immunizations, upcoming appointments, and information like height, weight, and blood pressure from recent doctor visits. They can also send a secure message to their clinic team so their physician, nurse practitioner and staff can be able to ask questions outside of their visits.

“At Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital, we see healthcare as a partnership between each provider and their patient,” Schmieder said.  “The goal of our Patient Portal is to help you better manage your health information so you can stay informed about your health. Given all the features of the patient portal, and now the medication refill ability, managing your healthcare and communicating with your doctor’s office has never been easier or more convenient.”

Those who are not yet a user of the SGCMH patient portal can log onto www.stegenevievehospital.org to learn more.

(Information in a release from Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital.)