Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Custom Prescriptions in Rx Writer?

I often use long custom instructions for SIGS on prescriptions that I write in AC (v.6.3.3) . For example, one custom 10mg Prednisone instruction might read:

"Begin six tablets nightly, decrease by one tablet each night until finished (eg 6-5-4-3-2-1-0)"

I try to save these custom prescriptions in AC by custom labeling them after I've written them out (eg. "Prednisone 10mg Six Day Taper" ). Adding the custom title to the medication immediately causes the top field in the medication writer to turn yellow.

Sometimes, at a later date, I can find these yellow custom prescriptions in Rx Writer by typing in the first few letters. Other times, my beautiful custom script is nowhere to be found, necessitating re-writing the entire thing.

Does anybody understand how this portion of the Rx Writer works, and how I may ensure preservation and easy retrieval of my newly formulated custom prescriptions?

Thanks,

Bruce Morgenstern, MD (Neurology)
Denver, CO

Bruce,

I don't think that NewCrop intended it to be used that way. Codified meds are what they want. Medications will remember the sig until another sig is written. You have a good idea, but I think you will find that happening again and again. Could be wrong.

Forgive the ignorance, who is NewCrop? Is there a way to contact them to suggest the possibility of allowing multiple custom instructions/sigs for any particular medication, or nonstandard scripts with customized instructions (such as splints or a home traction unit)?

Bruce

I am also confused about "remembered" scripts. Sometimes the sig is associated with the prescription and that is helpful; other times it does not. There is clearly some sort of a "favorites" list that is remembered, but I don't know how things get on the list or how it is altered. Is there any way to access the list? Does anyone know how this works?

(My example: if I want to prescribe "Golytely", the "dispense" and "sig" is always the same. I would like to pull up the medication and then have "disp" as 1; the sig as "as directed"; and refills as 0. I hate erasing and re-doing that over and over).

Bruce,

You might look into AutoHotKey.com. There are other similar programs, but it can allow you to automatically replace a few unique letters with a paragraph of text. It's an open source Windows program that you install on each of your computers.

"p106" could turn into your Prednisone taper instructions.

Shortkeys.com

Shortkeys sounds like a good work around (hmmm . . .I think I've heard the term "work around" before in this forum . . . )

that said, one would think that a program specifically designed to write prescriptions for a provider should include such a basic function as allowing a provider to write custom prescriptions and their instructions, and to then recall them as needed.

Currently, I make some of my own custom prescriptions by adding a title (prednisone 10 mg becomes "prednisone 10 mg-five-day tapering course) (when I do this the prescription name of Field becomes yellow) but my ability to retrieve these customs prescriptions is at times variable

But does this portion of the prescription writer allow for custom naming and retrieval of custom prescriptions,(and if it does how to we best do it?) and if it does not, is there any way we could request this from someone?

Bruce

I have spoken with user support at Amazing Charts about the prescribing issues, on more than one occasion, in the past. New Crop is a separate entity, with its own set of rules. Amazing Charts does not have significant influence on them. They have their own website, which I do not have the address of at my fingertips right now. One can look it up by doing a web search. We should probably start contacting them more often, directly, with our concerns and requests. In the meantime, if you are using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you should be able to create a custom template very easily, with the instruction that you want for the drug. For example, with the GOLYTELY prep, it would not take for a long to create a custom template for the directions and label it GOLYTELY prep directions, for example.

So, of course, it makes perfect sense to go to Electronic Prescribing at the top of the main page under online services, which is next to the drop down list of Electronic Prescribing.

As crazy as that site it, if you click everything there is some decent information including some free trials of The Medical Letter, etc.

You could also write some of your extra information in a new script. I am sure sending three scripts for GoLytely will irritate the pharmacies as they pay for the scripts one by one at ten cents a script. Then they may get in on the action.

Meanwhile, you can write customersupport@newcroprx.com