For chronic medications it is common to have a single prescription include multiple refills. So one paper document might get you 4 months worth of medication, b

For chronic medications it is common to have a single prescription include multiple refills. So one paper document might get you 4 months worth of medication, but only filled 1 month at a time. Mail order pharmacies often fill 90 days at a time, possibly with multiple refills. 90 days dispensed at once is uncommon at retail pharmacies, but is possible in at least some cases. (Not sure if it is laws or contracts that normally prevent this). It is also possible that a pharmacy may not have enough to fill the script all at once, so they dispense only part, and you come back for the rest later. (I've never experienced this so I'm unclear on the details.)