ANswers for Exercise 4: Prescription Analysis 1.What is a prescription blank?

A prescription blank is an order for medication issued by a physician, dentist or other properly licensed medical practitioner. It designates a specific medication and dosage to be prepared by a pharmacist and administered to a particular patient. 2. What are different parts of prescription? - Prescriber Information and signature - Patient information: Name and Address -Date prescription was written -Rx symbol (Superscription) -Medication Prescribed (Inscription) -Dispensing Instructions to the Pharmacist (Subscription) -Directions to the patient (sigma) -Special Instructions *note: 1 and 2 answers are taken from the book 3. Give the ways of reducing medication errors. Having accurate patient information is the first priority in medication safety, as it guides physicians to choose the appropriate medication, dose, route and frequency. The following tips can assist the practice are the following: use patient-specific identifiers, verify allergies and reactions, highlight critical diagnoses and conditions, update current medications and standardize height and weight measurements. Inadequate drug information, such as outdated or limited references, is one of the most common causes of medication errors and is the next priority in medication safety. In Drug Information, maintaining drug references, establishing guidelines and identifying high-alert meds are the things that we must know to reduce medication errors. High-alert medications are those that have a propensity to cause serious patient harm when used in error. They include warfarin, low-molecular-weight heparins, insulin and oral agents for diabetes, opiates and methotrexate. Effective communication is critical to medication safety. Practices must promote an equal team member concept where communication flows in all directions, for short, Share information. To reduce medication errors, the prescriber should as well improve his/her handwriting and avoid problematic abbreviations. Awareness of similar drug names, and considering using electronic systems are also ways to reduce errors. For Pharmacists, Labeling and Storage are also needed to be supervised to reduce medication errors. The following ways are to be considered in labeling and storage: separate problematic drugs, keep the storage area well organized and control access to medications. In addition, your practice should have strict procedures for logging, storing and monitoring drug samples. The use of proper drug devices, along with adequate training, can have a significant impact on patient safety. Medication-related errors are often the result of the

patient not knowing the proper way to take medications. To help improve patients' understanding, follow these tips. First, Evaluate patients' medical literacy. In some cases, you may be able to determine that a patient has low health literacy simply by the way he or she fills out the new patient questionnaire or other forms in your practice. In other cases, you may need a formal assessment. Second, Do not rush medication counseling. Patients should be given both oral and written instructions on the use of their medications.