For many people, the idea of automatic prescription refills sounds like a convenience. Medications arriving without having to call or request them seems helpful. But in the long-term care settings we serve, automatic refills can create far more problems than they solve.

One of the biggest concerns is medication waste. Treatment plans change frequently. Doses are adjusted, medications are stopped, and sometimes an entirely new therapy is introduced. If prescriptions are automatically refilled, unused medications quickly pile up. This creates clutter, confusion for caregivers, and increases the risk of errors.

These errors are not just theoretical. In real-world cases, individuals have ended up with multiple versions of the same prescription or medications that should have been discontinued weeks earlier. Even a small mix-up in a group home or long-term care residence can lead to dangerous consequences.

There are also regulatory concerns. State agencies and federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid have raised red flags about automatic refills, since medications can be dispensed and billed without a patient or their care team ever requesting them. At best, that leads to waste. At worst, it raises issues of overbilling, audits, and even fraud investigations.

While some studies suggest automatic refills improve medication adherence, those results mostly come from controlled, individual settings. In the real world where multiple caregivers, busy schedules, and evolving care plans intersect, automatic systems do not provide the safety net they promise.

That is why at Hudson Regional LTC Pharmacy, we have made a clear choice. Prescriptions are never filled on autopilot. Instead, we rely on communication with care teams and prescribers to confirm needs before every refill. This extra step ensures the right medication, at the right dose, is delivered at the right time.

Safety, clarity, and flexibility matter more than convenience when it comes to healthcare. Choosing not to use automatic refills is just one way we put patient well-being at the center of everything we do.