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Refill Management with Honeybee Health

How to think about refills, and which workflow fits your integration​

Choosing your refill workflow​

API Driven (Partner Requested Fills) — best for subscription-based partners​

If your business runs on a subscription or recurring-fill model, the API Driven workflow is the best fit. The core advantage: you send one prescription once, and reference it as many times as needed for each subsequent fill.

POST /v1/orders
{
  "items": [
    { "prescription_id": 123456, "package_size": 90 }
  ]
}
info

This is an abbreviated request payload that does not include:

  • Patient information
  • A shipping address

In this scenario, an order will be created for the patient associated with the patient ID sent in RX_RECEIVED webhook event. We will use the shipping address provided on the prescription.

Each time a refill is due, you post a new order using that same prescription_id. Honeybee tracks what's already been dispensed against the prescription and enforces the written quantity and refill limits automatically, so you don't need to track remaining balance yourself.

This is the lowest-friction option for any partner whose fulfillment is driven by a recurring schedule (monthly, quarterly, etc.), since there's no need to request a brand new prescription for every cycle.

Automatic Processing — sending a new Rx each cycle​

If you're on the Automatic Processing setup, the alternative is simpler but more manual on the prescribing side: a new prescription is sent for each fill, and Honeybee automatically creates an order the moment we receive it. There's no reordering against a previous prescription in this model, each cycle starts fresh with its own Rx.

This tends to fit partners with lighter refill volume, or those who don't need fine-grained control over exact timing and package size per fill.

Dashboard — manual refills when due​

If you don't need programmatic control, refills can also be placed manually from the Partner Dashboard whenever one is due. This works well for lower-volume partners or as a fallback option even for API-integrated partners who occasionally need to place something by hand.

A note on building in extra fills​

Because refills are just new orders against the same prescription, it's worth having your prescribers write for a couple of extra fills beyond the bare minimum when clinically appropriate. Honeybee treats a replacement (for example, an order lost or damaged in transit) as consuming a refill, the same as a normal cycle would. Having a small buffer of extra fills on file means a replacement can go out immediately without needing a brand new prescription sent over, which keeps things moving for the patient.

Refills vs. replacements — and why you (usually) don't need the Reorder endpoint​

It's worth being clear about the distinction, since the naming can be a little misleading:

  • A refill is simply a new order placed against an existing prescription, using the standard Create New Order endpoint. This is how the vast majority of your ongoing fulfillment should work.
  • Reordering a previously shipped order (POST /orders/:order_number/reorders) is a distinct, purpose-built flow for replacing a specific order that has already shipped, for example, one that was lost, damaged, or needs to go out again exactly as it was.

For everyday refills, you do not need to use the reorder endpoint at all. Just post a new order referencing the prescription, the same way you would for any other fill. If something goes wrong in transit and you need a true replacement of a specific shipped order, use the reorder endpoint. The two paths are not equivalent for billing: a replacement placed through the reorder endpoint is credited rather than billed, while a plain new order is invoiced normally. Keeping true replacements on the reorder endpoint keeps your billing clean and makes the intent explicit on our side.

Quick summary​

WorkflowBest forHow a refill happens
API Driven (Partner Requested Fills)Subscription/recurring-fill partnersPost a new order referencing the same prescription_id
Automatic ProcessingLower-touch, per-cycle prescribingA new Rx is sent each cycle, and the order is created automatically
DashboardManual/low-volume needsPlaced by hand when a refill is due

Still not sure which fits?​

Reach out to your Honeybee implementation contact. We're happy to help you figure out the right refill pattern based on your order volume and how your platform is structured.