details of prescription steps and process

2. At the end of the lecture the students will be able to:
 Define prescription.
 Explain the different parts of prescription.
 Interpret the information on the prescription.
 Process the prescription order / Handle the prescription.
 Define the different types of prescription.
 Define Electronic prescribing and how it works.
 Compare the advantages and disadvantages of Electronic
prescribing.

3. Prescription is an order from a physician,
dentist or any other registered medical
practitioner to a pharmacist for the supply of
medicine ,dressing or appliance for the
patient.

4.  The concept of prescriptions dates back to the beginning of
history. So long as there were medications and a writing
system to capture directions for preparation and usage, there
were prescriptions.
 Modern prescriptions are actually "extemporaneous
prescriptions" from the Latin (ex tempore) for "at/from
time"."Extemporaneous" means the prescription is written on
the spot for a specific patient with a specific ailment. This is
distinguished from a non-extemporaneous prescription which
is a generic recipe for a general ailment.

5.  Prescribers office information
 Patient information
 Date
 Rx symbol or Superscription
 Medication prescribed or Inscription
 Dispensing directions to the pharmacist or
Subscription
 Direction for patient or Signatura
 Refill ,special labeling ,and /or other instructions
 Signature and registration number of prescriber

7.  The patient’s name , address and age if under 12
years.
 The names and quantities of the medicaments to be
supplied.
 Instructions for the patient.
 The prescriber’s profession ,address and signature.
 The date on which the prescription was written or
signed.
 Proper name labeling requirement(NP)

8.  Receiving
 Reading and checking
 Numbering and dating
 Collecting the materials
 Dispense the medicine
 Counsel the patient
 Endorse the prescription
 Collect any fee
 Dispose of the prescription
 Make the appropriate records and filing
 Pricing

9.  NHS prescription
 Private prescription
 Prescription for hospital inpatients
 Prescription for hospital outpatients
 Prescription for patients discharged from the
hospital.

10.  NHS form -------------Retain until the end of month
 Private form for prescription only medicine
----------------------- Retain to 2 years
 Hospital inpatient form ------------- Return to ward
 Hospital outpatient form --------------- Retain in
pharmacy (usually 2 years)

11.  Medication errors affect more then 1.5 million Americans
each year in hospitals alone, according to the Institute of
Medicine.
 Error can be made in the following areas:
 Similar spellings / pronunciations / names
 Inderal and Adderrall
 Zyrtec and Zantac
 Celebrex and Cerebyx
 Others include Aciphex (for stomach reflux) and Aricept (for
memory), Allegra (for allergies) and Viagra (for erectile
dysfunction) or Fosomax (for bone) and Flomax (for veins
and arteries).

12.  Incorrect dosage
 Drug interactions
 Human error
 Doctors, notorious for bad handwriting, may choose the right
drug, but the pharmacist may read it incorrectly.
 Sometimes the prescription gets transferred by phone from
the doctor's office to the pharmacy, but the people making or
receiving the phone calls make mistakes.

13. Electronic prescribing or e-prescribing is the
electronic transmission of prescription
information from the prescriber's computer to
a pharmacy computer.

15.  The doctor logs on to the system and authenticates their
identity.(i.e. log on their passwords)
 The doctor looks up the patient in the system.
 A drug is chosen, with parameters including strength,
quantity, directions, and number of refills .
 The patient's active medication list and known allergies are
reviewed for potential adverse drug reactions

16.  The software may suggest alternative drugs that are either
more effective or less costly.
 Select a pharmacy that will process the order, and place the
order.
 The connection may be direct peer-to-peer, but usually it is
indirectly routed over a commercial network of pharmacies
such as Sure Scripts or eRx Network.

17.  Orders take the form of standardized electronic messages that
both the prescriber's system and the pharmacist's system must
implement.
 The order appears in the pharmacists computer system, where
it may be filled.
 The patient shows up at the pharmacy to pick up and pay for
their medications.

18.  It improves beneficiary health outcomes
 It improves quality and efficiency
 It helps in reducing costs by actively promoting
appropriate drug usage
 It speeds up the process of renewing medications
 It reduces the incidence of drug interaction
 It saves the time of pharmacist

19.  Each prescription can be checked electronically
 Reducing / eliminating the error.
 Information on prescription can be linked with the
patient’s medical records.
 Refill request can be expedited.
 Facilitation of data transfer between physician and
pharmacist.

20.  Accidental data entry errors such as selecting the wrong
patient or clicking on the wrong choice in a menu of dosages.
 Inadvertently divulging protected health information on the
internet through inadequate security practices
 Inability to use electronic prescribing when the power is out

22. THANX FOR ATTENTION
REFERENCES:
 Pharmaceutical practice
DM Collett
Pg # 61 -72
 The science and practice of pharmacy
Remington
Pg #1823-1839