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Answer a refill request without promising approval

Practice: Setting limits and rules. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

A patient asked through the portal whether her refill is ready. As the medical assistant, reply in under 50 words, plain text: say the request went to the provider and the timeline from the clinic policy in the first sentence, name the pharmacy it will go to (her updated one), and don't promise approval or give any medicine advice. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 50 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "3 sentences, each under 16 words."
  • Opening with sympathy. The AI starts with reassurance before the status. Try: Add: "First sentence: it's with Dr. Huang, response within 2 business days."
  • Promising approval or the old pharmacy. To reassure her, the AI says it'll be ready soon at Corner Drug. Try: Add: "Don't promise approval. If approved, it goes to CityMart on Elm Ave."
  • Answering the medicine question. The AI tells her whether she can split pills, which an MA can't do. Try: Add: "No medicine advice; send her half-pill question to the nurse line, 555-0138."
  • Ignoring where it will be pasted. AI loves bold and headings, which show up as stray ** and # symbols in the patient portal. Try: Name the place and the format: "For the patient portal. Plain text, no bold or headings."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Gives status first
  • Uses the new pharmacy
  • Rules out promises
  • Rules out medicine advice
  • Sets a word limit

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