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Understanding Re-Orders Valid Until & Refill Reminders

These two important values are associated with patient orders and prescriptions. Here is everything you need to know:

  • Re-Orders Valid Until determines how long Otto can use the prescription for future patient reorders.
  • Refill Reminder determines when Otto will remind the patient that it may be time to order more contact lenses.

Understanding the difference helps ensure patient reorders are handled correctly and reminders are sent at the right time.

Re-Orders Valid Until

Re-Orders Valid Until tells Otto how long the patient's prescription can be used for future reorders. We recommend setting this to the patient's prescription expiration date.

What Happens When the Prescription Is Still Valid?

  • If the patient places a reorder before the Re-Orders Valid Until date, Otto can automatically process the order using the prescription information saved to the patient's file.

  • If you don't want patient reorders to automatically process, you can turn this off under: Settings > Preferences > Automatically Process Patient Re-Orders

What Happens When the Date Has Passed?

  • Patients can still let your clinic know they're interested in placing an order, even after the Re-Orders Valid Until date has passed. However, the order will not automatically process. Instead:

    • The patient's order will come through as an order request requiring your review.
    • Your clinic will receive an email notification letting you know the order needs attention.
    • Review the patient's prescription and requested order.
      • Process the order, if appropriate, or
      • Contact the patient to schedule an exam before fulfilling their order.

  • This workflow prevents an expired prescription from being automatically used while still allowing patients to indicate that they're ready to purchase.

  • In short: The patient can always submit their order request, but once the Re-Orders Valid Until date has passed, your clinic maintains control over whether that order is fulfilled.

Important: If no date is entered in the Re-Orders Valid Until field, the patient will be able to continue order this prescription without an effective stop date.

Refill Reminder

The Refill Reminder controls when Otto reaches out to the patient to let them know they may be due to reorder their contact lenses. The reminder also provides the patient with a link to easily place their next order.

The reminder is automatically set when an order is placed based on:

  • The quantity of contact lenses the patient purchases
  • How frequently the patient wears their lenses

By default, Otto assumes patients wearing daily contact lenses wear them 7 days per week.

  • When Do I Need to Adjust the Refill Reminder?

    • In most cases, you don't need to make any changes to the Refill Reminder. 

    • The wear frequency only needs to be adjusted if a patient wears daily contact lenses but doesn't wear them every day.

  • How to Adjust Daily Wear Frequency

    • When Placing an Order
      • Click New Order and begin placing the order as usual.
      • Select the patient's product and quantity.
      • Click the blue (7 days/wk) shortcut above the Refill Reminder Date.
      • Select approximately how many days per week the patient wears their contacts.
      • Otto will automatically adjust the Refill Reminder Date based on their usage.
    • When Adding a Prescription
      • Open the patient's file in Otto.
      • Locate their assigned contact lens product and Refill Reminder.
      • Click the wear-frequency shortcut beside the Refill Reminder.
      • Select the number of days per week the patient typically wears their daily contact lenses.
      • Otto will use this information to calculate a more accurate Refill Reminder date.

     

    Why Both Dates Matter

    Keeping both dates accurate helps Otto automate the appropriate parts of your contact lens workflow.

    An accurate Re-Orders Valid Until date helps ensure valid prescriptions can be processed appropriately while prescriptions requiring attention are sent to your clinic for review.

    An accurate Refill Reminder helps ensure patients hear from your clinic when they're actually approaching the end of their supply—not too early or too late.

    Quick Summary

    • Want to control how long a patient can reorder from their prescription? Review Re-Orders Valid Until.

    • Want to control when the patient receives their next refill reminder? Review the Refill Reminder date.

    • Patient doesn't wear daily lenses every day? Update their expected days of wear so the reminder better reflects when they'll actually need more lenses.

    • Reorder has an expired or missing Re-Orders Valid Until date? The order will require clinic review rather than automatically processing.

    • Want valid patient reorders to process automatically? Review your clinic's setting under Settings > Preferences > Automatically Process Patient Re-Orders.