The Pharmaceutical Agent Order

1. The Pharmaceutical Agent Order

2. Prescription • An oral or written record of a physician’s order to pharmacist to dispense medication to patient.

3. Components of a Prescription – Written Form • prescriber’s name and title (MD, DDS, DMD, DO, etc.) • prescriber’s office address • prescriber’s phone number • patient’s name and address • patient’s age • date on which prescription was written • Superscription, or the letters Rx – Latin for recipe or “take thou” • Inscription, the actual body of the prescription indicating the drug name, strength and dosage form

4. Components of a Prescription – Written Form • Signature, not to be confused with the prescriber’s signed name; clearly written and understandable instructions • Subscription, the quantity of the drug to be dispensed to the patient • refill instructions • prescriber’s signature • prescriber’s DEA number

5. Physician’s Order • Form to order medication for the hospitalized patient

6. Components of a Physician’s Order • Patient’s Name and hospital number • patient’s room or ward location • attending physician • patient’s date of birth • allergies or sensitivities to drugs, foods, and other substances • Diagnosis • date of admission • patient’s condition

7. Components of a Physician’s Order • Services to be performed(i.e. tests, activities, diet, etc.) • medications ordered • strength of each medication ordered • dosage form specified to avoid any questions regarding the form to be administered – most drugs come prepared in more than one dosage form; patient’s condition often determines route of administration • directions for use or frequency of administration for each drug nurse’s or physician’s signature with date and time of entry on the physician’s order.

8. Oral Prescriptions • Phoned in – usually done by a prescriber known to pharmacists. Not applicable to schedule II drugs.

9. Components of an Oral Prescription • Doctor’s name • Doctor’s phone number • Patient’s name • Patient’s address • Patient’s phone number

10. Components of an Oral Prescription • DEA number • Name of drug • Quantity of drug • Directions • Refill instructions

11. Prescription Label • An identification label placed on the outside of the bottle.

12. Components of a Prescription Label • a prescription serial number (referred to as the RX number) and the date the prescription was filled • the patient’s full name • clearly typed (or printed) instructions for taking the medication • the first word of he directions should infer the route of administration

13. Components of a Prescription Label • name of the drug (labeling), unless specifically requested by prescriber not to label • pharmacist’s initials and initials of the tech preparing the drug for dispensing • prescriber’s name • drug’s expiration date (usually can be obtained from stock bottle, except in case of freshly reconstituted medication according to manufacturer’s recommendation

14. Components of a Prescription Label • number of refills left available, if any, or no refills, if none • additional labels, “strip labels”, accessory labels, informing patient of particular way to take medication assuring optimal effect