How to Transfer a Prescription to Another Pharmacy (Step by Step)

Call or visit the pharmacy you want to move to, not the one you're leaving. Give them your name, date of birth, the name and phone number of your current pharmacy, and the medications (or prescription numbers from your bottles). The new pharmacist contacts your old pharmacy, receives the prescription, and lets you know when it's ready. At Arrow Pharmacy, call (860) 522-9289 and we handle the rest.

No. The new pharmacy requests the transfer directly. For controlled substances, federal rules require the transfer to be made pharmacist to pharmacist. You don't need to explain why you're leaving or get permission from anyone.

Many transfers between pharmacies are completed the same day. The timing depends mostly on how quickly your old pharmacy responds, and on whether anything else needs attention, such as a refill that needs a new prescription or an insurance prior authorization. If you're close to running out, tell us when you call so we can prioritize it.

Sometimes. Under federal DEA rules, refills for Schedule III, IV and V drugs (for example alprazolam, tramadol, testosterone or pregabalin) can be transferred between pharmacies only once, unless the pharmacies share a real-time online database, as stores within the same chain often do. Schedule II drugs (for example Adderall or oxycodone) have no refills to transfer, but since August 2023 an unfilled electronic prescription for Schedule II–V drugs can be transferred once for its first fill, at the patient's request.

Only in a limited way. Adderall is Schedule II, so it has no refills. If your prescriber sent an electronic prescription that hasn't been filled yet (for example, because your pharmacy is out of stock), federal rules since August 2023 let a pharmacist transfer it once to another pharmacy for that first fill. A prescription that has already been filled can't be moved, so the next month's prescription needs to be sent to the new pharmacy by your prescriber.

There's nothing left to transfer, so you'll need a new prescription. Tell us which medication it is and who prescribed it, and we can contact your prescriber's office to request a new prescription sent to us.

Yes. Stores within the same chain usually share one prescription system, so moving a prescription between their locations is often done in the chain's app or with one call, and for Schedule III–V drugs the shared-database rule lets refills move more than once. Moving from a chain to a different pharmacy works the same way as any transfer: you call the new pharmacy.

Usually yes, as long as there are refills left. But check your plan first. Some plans require 90-day maintenance medications to be filled by their mail-order pharmacy, or charge a higher copay at retail. We can check what your plan allows before we transfer anything.

For most non-controlled prescriptions with refills, yes. Pharmacies in different states routinely transfer them. Controlled substances follow the federal one-time rule, and some states add their own requirements. If you're moving to or from Connecticut, call us and we'll confirm for your specific medications.

Usually, but it depends on your plan's pharmacy network. Bring or read us your insurance card when you call, and we'll run a test claim so there are no surprises at pickup. If your plan uses a preferred-pharmacy network, we'll tell you whether your copay would change.

Yes. Give us the list (or read us the labels on your bottles) and we'll request them together. If you take several medications on different schedules, ask about lining up your refills on one date, or about Medicine-on-Time pre-sorted packaging.

No. Once a prescription is transferred, the old pharmacy marks it as transferred and can't fill it again. If you had automatic refills set up there, they stop for that prescription. Don't request a refill at the old pharmacy while the transfer is in progress.