Rational Prescribing Prescription Writing Once a patient with

Rational Prescribing & Prescription Writing Once a patient with a clinical problem has been evaluated and a diagnosis has been reached, the practitioner can often select from a variety of therapeutic approaches.

n Medication, Surgery, Psychiatric treatment, radiation, physical therapy, health education, counseling, further consultation and no therapy are some of the options are available. , of these options, drug therapy is by far the most frequently chosen. In most cases , this requires the writing of a prescription.

n A written prescription is the prescriber’s order to prepare or dispense a specific treatment usually medication for a specific patient.

Rational Prescribing : n Like any other process in healthcare, writing a prescription should be based on a series of rational steps. n 1. Make a specific diagnosis n 2. Consider the pathophysiologic implication of diagnosis n 3. Select a specific therapeutic object n

4. Select a drug of choice n 5. Determine the appropriate dosing regimen n 6. Devise a plan for monitoring the drug’s action n and determine an end point for therapy n 7. Plan a program of patient education n

Elements of the prescription: n 1. Name of the prescriber n 2. Professional degree n 3. Address n 4. Office telephone # n 5. Date of prescription n 6. Name of the patient n 7. Address of the patient n

8. Drug name n 9. Strength of drugs n 10. Quantity of drugs n 11. Signature (directions of medicine to be used) n 12. Refill (repeat prescription)----Times or until n 13. Child proof container n 14. Warning (eg. May cause sedation, don’t take alcohol etc. n

15. prescriber’s signature n 16. License no. / Registration no. n

Common prescribing errors : n a. Omission of needed information n b. Poor prescription writing n c. Inappropriate drug prescription n n

n n n n n COMPLIANCE/ NON COMPLIANCE Four types of non compliance leading to medication error 1. The patient fails to obtain medication 2. The patient fails to take medication 3. The patient prematurely discontinues medication 4. The patient ( or another person) takes medication inappropriately. For example, the patient share a medication with others for any of several reasons. .