Well, "BUG SOLVED" is an exaggeration, but there's an easy workaround for the problem described above.
When you type a letter, clicking "Meds" just brings up the medications that the patient was on when the last encounter began. The reason for this is pretty obvious: the letter writer buttons merely paste sections of your last signed note into the letter you're working on. The medications you prescribed at your last encounter are obviously not contained in the "Medication" field of your last note, they are contained in the "Plan" field of your last note!
So, if you want to use the letter writer to create a med list for someone, and you want it to contain your most up-to-date medication changes, it is really very simple:
1. Open the letter writer, following the steps that Bert outlined above.
2. Click on "Meds".
3. Click also on "Plan"!
4. Highlight and cut out all of the unrelated material.
5. Print list.
I am not claiming that this is an elegant solution, just that it is simple and that it works.
Postscript:
Of course, as a matter of note hygeine, we should all make sure that we always inactivate all inactive medications before we sign off on our notes, and type a brief reason (if they finished the antibiotic, just type "completed").
This will make sure that your medication list is correct the next time you open it, and if you're creating a medication list like the one described above, it will help make sure there are no out-of-date medications in the "Meds" field.
Post-postscript (only for the tedious detail minded, I warn you):
There is another solution for this problem, but it is problematic itself. Before you sign off on a note, you can double-click on the "medication" field of the note you are currently working on. The prescription writer screen will appear. Close it. When you look at your "medication" field of the current note, you will find that all of the medication changes you have made during this encounter have now magically appeared inside the "medication" field of the current note!
Now, when you sign off on this note, open the letter writer, and click on "meds", and a completely up-to-date medication list will appear in your letter. However, when you print your last note, it will look like the patient was already taking all of the medications that you ended up prescribing at the end of the encounter. (if that makes any sense).
Oh, well! If you want to use the letter writer to type a medication list for someone, just use steps 1-5 above, and don't worry about the rest! Happy New Year!
