Home Forums Discussions Problems Documenting meds

I am a newbie and see some minor annoyances with medication documentations-

When you pick a medication,often the form (tablet or capsule) is part of it. Now when you add the dose/sig it often becomes diltiazem 360 mg capsule: one tablet daily. Of course one can edit it but is annoying.

If you accidentally add a medication, it does not let you delete. You can only inactivate and that too have to give a reason.

Any way to sort the meds by your preferences? For ex. I like my cardiac meds on the top and the ones I am merely recording at the bottom. It becomes easier to focus that way as some of the folks are on 30 medications. Perhaps if there was a way to designate medications that you are controlling by a different color or something.

When you send an eRx and want to check its status thereafter, the screen lists all prescriptions sent but some would show the pharmacy names and the other do not!

Any way to see status of prescriptions over a range of dates?

I do not see formulary check button (version 6.3.3), is that in a future version?

This is a personal preference. Many people like that it remembers. For instance, I use a lot of Cefzil 250/5, 1 tsp po bid for 10 days. I don't want to write out that sig over and over. Penicillin tablets are almost always 500 mg, 1 po bid for 10 days. Unless I am overdoing this, when you think about it, you really don't have to edit. Because with a new script, you must either tab or click with the mouse on that field to get to the sig. And, when you do, it always becomes highlighted. So, it is like a clear field. Just start typing. Or, you can click on the Back space key, and you are all set.

When you inactivate a medication, you do not HAVE to give a reason. Now, I will say I have suggested long ago that the right-click inactivate should just inactivate it, while the button at the bottom left, should bring up the reason window. I do hate deleting the window each time when I don't need it. Now, if you enter the wrong medication, do not inactivate it, right click and select "Remove." You can also right click and select Re-transmit and Re-print.

Remember some of these things are controlled by New Crop and/or Sure Scripts. Usually, at this level I believe it is New Crop. IF you could do this, it would also be a personal preference. You can't do what you are wishing for, even though I see where it could be a good idea. But, I have a lot of patients on 30 meds as well, so I list having them in alphabetical order. But, just a preference.

As far as I can tell, some pharmacies not showing up may be a bug. Most do. When I just looked there were five missing, but they were all on the same patient. I wonder if some pharmacies just don't show up. There are other ways to tell. I may look at that screen once a week.


No. Just curious. How would that be helpful?

In 6.5.4

Thanks Bert.

I see now how I can remove rather than inactivate by right clicking. I saw the inactivate button but no remove button. Also I did not realize that I do not have to fill in the reason pop-up on inactivating. Thanks.

The reason I felt that having a range of dates might be useful on eRx-status is that I am not yet in the habit of checking my statuses everyday. If I wanted to check it every so often than I have to click through all dates. At least during my first week or so there were several prescriptions which seemed like were transmitted but the pharmacies never had them. if a eRx fails for whatever reason does it generate a message in the inbox? I think it is important to have an active alert mechanism rather than we looking for the failed ones.

Finally, perhaps I was not clear on the following-


The medication selection has the word "tablet" or "capsule" in it AND now when we add one of the sig selections it inserts the words again and sometimes contradictory. Ex. if selection is (diltiazem 360 mg oral capsule) + (take one tab daily)
The end result: Diltiazem 360 mg oral capsule, take one tablet daily

I am sure I am doing something wrong. I didn't realize it remembers the last action, does it?

Is there a way you can save favorite prescriptions?

Hi Anil,

Moving to the medication selection, the way it works can be quite helpful. It isn't always consistent, but it usually is. I think it is more consistent and helpful for users in FP, IM and specialties such as adult cardiology where capsules and tablets are the norm. In pediatrics, it is more difficult, because it remembers things like 3.5 mLs and then you must change it to 4 mLs next time.

Pretty much, if it is codified, and even not, when you write a script, the next time you write that same medication, it will remember your sig and dispensed number, which, for me, is quite helpful.

I may not be reading your post correctly, but if your write for a capsule, and then use the drop down list to choose your sig, there is no choice there for capsule, so you will always have an issue with your script if you choose tablet. So you can simply write: 1 capsule po daily. The next time it will remember. When you type in your medication next time, there will be a choice such as clonidine 0.1 mg under the area where you are typing the medication (the yellow field). If you type another medication such as clonidine 0.1 mg, then you will have both of those pop up, and when selecting them, get the last sig written for them. You could actually type in all your favorite medications, but each time you use one, you will be stuck with the last sign you used. This is where selecting the sig field or tabbing to it will give you the blue field that is editable. I, personally, never use the drop down box and tend to type in my sig.

One thing you may want to try (which gets a little getting used to but can be very helpful) is the Quick Script Writer. While it seems rather daunting at first, there really aren't many things to change. Soon, you can fly through the sig. For some reason, AC or New Crop is biased against capsules as you see it is not listed and you must choose the drop down box below. It does write a more accurate script that will likely not be filled wrong, which is good with Digoxin, etc.

The bottom line is if you type scripts for diltiazem 160, then 360 tabletls, capsules, etc., then they will be available quickly if you need them.

OK, sit down. I am about to save you at least five minutes a day. Well, maybe not, as all doctors are different. I have been using eRx since day one, and here is how many times I have used that screen. Maybe ten times. I may use it occasional to see where I sent a medication to, but I find the same thing by going to the patients charge and selecting a medication to see where it was sent. That one doesn't lie. As far as pharmacies not getting them, that should not be helping routinely. Since, you have just started, make a list of all of your pharmacies in the area. If one of them says it didn't get your script say, twice, then call the pharmacy and send an eScript and ask if they got it. Some are not set up to get it, but that should have been noticeable. You may even want your receptionist to call each pharmacy and make sure they accept ePrescribe.

It is always interesting how pediatrics is so different than other specialties. If one of our scripts doesn't make it through, we don't have time to check that status screen. We get a call from the patient. I certainly wouldn't get to the point of checking a week's worth of scripts. Make sure the columns says transmit and verified and not faxed and "whatever it says next to fax." It won't be verified. We had about an eight month stretch where there was an issue with New Crop and ALL of our scripts, even the codified ones, were being faxed, which as you know, is not nearly as efficient. You should get a message for failed prescriptions. Remember, you get a message from SureScripts IF it truly didn't get sent. You won't get a message if the pharmacy screwed up. If I were at your office and a pharmacy said they didn't get it, I would bet heavily that it was the pharmacy that screwed up. If you having issues with the same pharmacy, call them and ask if they get scripts directly from SureScripts or whomever. Those scripts usually get there in under five minutes or less. If, as one of our pharmacies that recently was bough out by a local hospital, the script is routed to the hospital's system, looked at, then sent to the pharmacy. It can take hours.

Here is how to save that five minutes. Don't look at the screen again. If everything is set up right, you should have very few that don't make it. I think you will spend your time much more efficiently by just waiting to see if you get a call. Either have your MA tell them or you can tell them, that if you get to the pharmacy and your medication is not there, simply call me right away. Anyone in your office can resend it as it is right there is the chart and the history will show it as being sent 0 days ago. You can even use the right click and select: re-transmit.

I would be willing to be that there is not another single doctor on here that routinely checks that status screen.

Bert thanks a lot. I agree, almost 100% of times a failed eRx is because of a pharmacy error. I have been using e-prescribing since 2004 or so with a company called oncalldata which used to sync demographics from Medisoft and it worked great. Almost always the pharmcay was not looking at the correct screen. May be I just had initial failures with AC and would be OK now on.Have not heard anything bad since then. One thing I do miss since oncall data was web-based, I was able to use it in the hospital, on the phone (has an app)or anywhere there was internet without requiring me to connect to my office remotely. I wish there was that option to an occasional prescription from the phone when you are on the road etc. or making rounds at the hospital. Thanks again.