Processing an OCR Prescription

This topic is intended for Rexall pharmacies only and is not applicable to Independent pharmacies.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology converts text found on a prescription image received through cloud fax into text that can be auto-populated in Propel Rx. In doing so, OCR helps reduce manual data entry. OCR currently supports English language only.

Once a cloud fax is received by Propel Rx, it is passed to the OCR service which reads the fax and identifies if the fax is a prescription or not.

  • If OCR identifies the fax is a prescription, it passes the extracted data to Propel Rx and the prescription appears as a single row on the Workbench. If a fax contains multiple prescriptions, only one row appears on the Workbench but each prescription will be assigned its own shell in Intake.

  • If OCR identifies the fax is not a prescription, the fax is placed in the Fax tile of Propel Rx where the user can manually action it if needed. If OCR services are down, all cloud faxes will appear in the Fax tile.

OCR prescriptions are processed like regular prescriptions with a few exceptions. Select the dropdown below to learn more.

  • OCR prescriptions cannot be parked. If you attempt to Park an OCR prescription, the following prompt appears.

  • OCR prescriptions are never auto-processed. A user must always review the prescription in the Intake window before processing them into Rx Detail.

To process an OCR prescription:

  1. On the Workbench, ensure the Data Entry queue is selected.

  2. Select the OCR prescription.

    • These prescriptions appear with an OCR icon on the Workbench. The icon remains associated to the prescription as it moves through Workflow.

    • The Request column will display "Rx Request."

    • The Ready Time will default to what's set for OCR prescriptions in More (...) > Pharmacy > Workflow > Ready Time. However, it can be updated if needed from the Workbench or Intake window. For more information, see Updating a Ready Time.

  3. Select Process. The Intake window opens with an image of the fax on the left and auto-populated information on the right.

    • There may be multiple drugs on a single fax. When this occurs, each drug will be loaded into its own shell in Intake. The image will be copied over to each shell automatically.

    • The information that auto-populates on the right is based on the Intake Preferences set in More (...) > Pharmacy > Preferences. For more information, see Intake Preferences.

    For OCR prescriptions, you are required to confirm the patient in the Intake window. If the patient has not been confirmed yet, the Workflow prompt will not appear automatically when the prescription is processed from Data Entry.

  4. If needed, edit any auto-populated information and enter any information that's outstanding for the prescription. Repeat this step for each prescription that's loaded into Intake.

    • Any edits to auto-populated information are logged and sent to the OCR service to train the model. As more corrections are received, the accuracy of the model improves.

    • Information about the patient, prescriber, and/or drug are auto-populated but the user is still required to search and select the correct records from the Propel Rx database.

  5. If the drug already exists on the patient's Profile:

    1. Select the Profile button.

    2. Select the prescription.

    3. Select ReAuth.

    4. Select OK. The prescription in the Intake window is now linked to the existing prescription on the Profile.

    If you skip this step, a Duplicate Checking prompt will appear upon selecting Process if the patient already has a record of the medication on their Profile. From the prompt, you can choose to reauthorize, refill, or create a new prescription.

  6. Repeat steps 4 - 5 for each prescription if multiple prescriptions were loaded into Intake. Use the left and right arrow buttons to navigate to each prescription.

  7. Select Process. The prescription(s) opens in Rx Detail.

  8. Continue processing the prescription(s) as per usual process.

Processing an OCR Prescription from Archive

The cloud fax that accompanied an OCR prescription is automatically archived once the prescription lands on the Workbench. The cloud fax can be viewed and processed again from the Fax tile by selecting Intake, if for example, the prescription was accidentally refused and removed from the Workbench.

If an OCR prescription has already been processed and completed for the cloud fax, the following prompt will display for awareness purposes.

  • Select Yes to continue processing the prescription.

  • Select No to abort the action.

If Yes is selected, the OCR prescription opens in the Intake window for you to process again.

You cannot add a previously processed OCR prescription to the Workbench from the Fax tile. If you select Add to Workbench from the Intake window, the following prompt will display.

Escaping an OCR Prescription

If an OCR prescription is escaped in Rx Detail, it will return to the Workbench for processing later. To remove the prescription from the Workbench, highlight it and select Correct > Refuse.