eFax Refills

The ALIS eFax feature is an easy way to request order refills via fax directly from ALIS without having to use a fax machine. This guide covers how to request refills from pharmacies and prescribers, and how to set up the feature.

No pharmacy integration is required, and you can request refills from multiple pharmacies and prescribers.

If you have an integrated refill feature set up between ALIS and your pharmacy, read this article for more details: How to Request Refills through your Pharmacy Integration.

Request eFax Refills

Refills can be requested on Pass Meds and on Manage Orders for any order. 

When you are recording the med pass for a resident, find the eFax Refill button toward the middle of the page.

Once you click eFax Refill, a pane opens on the right side of your screen. Notice that the details of the order and resident are already queued up to send in your fax message. You may have up to three options that will populate the correct fax number:

1. Connection: This will send the request directly to your pharmacy's software. This option is only available for specific types of pharmacy integrations.
   • If the pharmacy's fax number has been added to the Pharmacy Integration settings, this will automatically pull into the Fax # field.
   • This number can also be added by navigating to Settings > Medications > eFax Refills > Manage Pharmacy Fax Information.
2. Community Contact: This will allow you to choose from a list of Community Contacts that either have the Pharmacy Contact Type or have been set as a Medical Contact for a resident. If the contact has a fax number added, this will automatically pull into the Fax # field.
   • This number added or changed by navigating to Settings > Medications > eFax Refills > Community Contacts.
   • For more information about managing these and other Community Contacts, read this article: How to Add Community Contacts.
3. Manually Enter Info: This allows you type the name of any pharmacy or prescriber and their fax number.

Type additional message details and click Submit!

To send refill requests to prescribers, click the Community Contact option (item 2 in the image above), and select from the list of community contacts.

This list contains community contacts that either have the Pharmacy Contact Type or have been set as a Medical Contact for a resident. If the contact has a fax number added, this will automatically pull into the Fax # field.

If the prescriber is not showing in the list, you will need to add them as a community contact. 

• • The fax number can added or changed if you go to Settings > Medications > eFax Refills > Community Contacts.
  • For more information about managing these and other Community Contacts, read this article: How to Add Community Contacts.

You can also request the eFax refills for an order on a resident's Manage Orders page when you click the Options button next to an order.

Status and eFax Messages Report

The Fax status will display on the Pass Meds and Manage Orders pages to show whether it was successfully delivered. You can click View PDF to review the details of the last time a fax was submitted.

Additionally, you have an eFax Messages Report available in Reports>Medications Reports. Review this to see the status of all eFax refill requests sent from ALIS.

eFax Setup

First the ALIS team must enable this feature. For help with this part, contact your onboarding manager or ALIS Support.

To update the following settings, click Settings >  Medications > eFax Refills tab.

You will need Administrator permissions to access the settings.

1. Add the community's fax number.

This is labeled Community Fax Information in eFax Refills settings.

2. Add fax numbers for the pharmacies and prescribers.

• If the community sends refills directly through their pharmacy integration, verify the fax number in Manage Pharmacy Fax Information in eFax Refills settings.
  
  • This is only available for specific types of integrations.
  • For more information, read this article: How to Request Refills through your Pharmacy Integration.
• Verify that all pharmacies and prescribers are added as Community Contacts with their fax numbers.
  • Find this in the Community Contacts section of eFax Refills settings.
  • For more information about community contacts, read this article: How to Add Community Contacts.

3. Verify permissions for which staff members can request the refills.

This permission is automatically turned on for any security role that can access Pass Meds. If you need help seeing which Security Roles have access to the eFax Refill button, contact ALIS Support.

Related articles:

How to Request Refills through your Pharmacy Integration

How to Add Community Contacts