Steven is correct. I am not using V4 yet, but in ANY version I have used prior to that, it shouldn't matter where the cursor is.
Basically, this is how it works. When you open a chart to do a progress note, there will be the list of meds the patient is on or at least what you had him/her on before. The ONLY way to change those for that visit, is to double click in the Current Medications field. This will open up the prescription writer. When the prescription writer is opened up by clicking in the Current Medications field at the bottom left, then EVERYTHING you do at that point in the script writer will affect the medication field and ONLY the medication field.
So, what should be happening is that you open the writer from that field, and go through each medication to see if the patient is still on it. Or, if they were on a medication such as Cefzil and it is over, you would inactivate that. So, if a patient has stopped a medication or changed how he or she is taking it or if a medication has run its course, then you would click on the medication to load it into the middle of the script writer and choose inactivate medication or edit it. This will remove it from the active list and also remove it from the current medications field or edit it. Alternatively, you would never prescribe something new from the script writer that you pulled up by clicking in the Current Medications field, BUT you would want to add meds if the patient was new and you wanted to have a list of his or her medications in the Current Medications field as they were on them when they came in.
Now, after you do the physical exam, et. al., you then open the script writer from the actual presciption writer icon button on the right. When you open it this way EVERYTHING you do will be in the plan. If you choose to discontinue or change a medication, say change from Prevacid to Prilosec, then you would inactivate Prevacid and prescribe Prilosec. In the plan, it would show "Discontinue Prevacid blah, blah...and Prescribe Prilosec..blah blah.
Vicki is correct that you normally wouldn't click on the button moving a copy of the current medications to the plan. There are times that you may want to.
It should be noted that most of the time you will wish to inactive medications so there is a record, but at times you will want to delete the medication altogether. You do this, by choosing delete in the script writer and clicking yes on the warning. Again, if you do this from the script writer obtained by clicking on the script button, it will delete the medication and it will be gone next time, but it will stay in the actual recorded note for that visit. If you were to delete it from the script writer from the Current Medications, then it would be gone in that note and in the record as if the patient never came in with it.
Once you are used to it, it is rather intuitive, but maybe the script writer from clicking in the Current Medications box should be labeled boldly at the top "Current Medications" and the one from the button "Medications Prescribed At Visit.
I reread this, and it isn't the most perfectly written or clear, but I believe it is accurate. Let me know if I can explain it better. Or if I am wrong.
But, really, if it has to do with where your cursor is, then something is wrong. The only thing I can think of is that the times you use the script button is generally the time when your cursor would be somewhere on the right side of the window.
