I need to give patients a (frequently updated or changed) list of their meds w/ layman's language for how to take them. Do any of you know a way to do this either w/ AC or any e-prescribing program? I'm not currently using AC but I have in the distant past...

If you want AC to print a medication list in layman's terms, then you will have to write your scripts in layman's terms.

AC can easily print out a complete list of medications, but will do it in this format:

LEXAPRO TABLETS 20 MG, 1 PO Q AM

if you wrote

Lexapro tablets 20 mg
1 po q am

But, if you wrote:

Lexapro tablets 20 mg
Take one tablet by mouth every morning

then it would write:

LEXAPRO TABLETS 20 MG, TAKE ONE TABLET BY MOUTH EVERY MORNING

As they say, doctor's terms in, doctor's terms out and layman's terms in, layman's terms out.

It's just a computer.

thank you.
I don't suppose you could change the drop-down instructions so as to not have to type it our every time?
And when you print out the med list, can you add any inspiring phrases at the bottom, like "don't stop taking your medicine..."?
Can you increase the font size on the med list? I recall that it was quite small.
M. Quann

1. You can't change the drop-down instructions (that I know of)

2. If you print out the med list the way I mentioned, you can't print anything inspiring or uninspiring. Not sure what kind of patients you have; mine either take their medications and I am happy, or they don't and I don't care. I can't hold their hand.

3. The font is rather large. If they can't read it, they need an eye doctor and not you. lol

4. If you want to add things, then you would have to go to the letter writer, tick only the medication box on the left, which will give you a list of medications. You can then write whatever you want at the bottom or even make a template. The font on that one is considerably smaller.

Bert you are so wonderful in trying to help, but you are soooooo obviously a pediatrician. In my world of the over 18? 50,60, 70 ,80 crowd with many folks on more than 5 medicines in addition to insulin, I am uncomfortable sending them out the door without a list that tells them when to take them and why they are taking them. The default font is not necessarily easy to read and there is no flexibility with font or font size.

I have given up on new crap except to send the scripts. As folks already know new crap is horrible-way too many steps, not user friendly, etc.

Since I have been on ac I have pretty much had to do double entry for all my scripts. I am currently using my own little program to generate med lists for the patients that they can read and understand. I am hoping for a V5 miracle.

I tried doing the medication list on the letter writer but I get an inaccurate med list.

It prints the meds from the beginning of the previous visit but does not include the changes I made at the last visit even though the note was already saved.

We have been printing the med list for patients to review in the waiting room but now we look stupid because it looks like we don't know about our own changes!

Any ideas?

In version 5 - letter writer has 2 buttons for meds. 1 is from the last office visit and updated med list is from the ones current in the prescription writer. The only caveat is that now the meds are not capitalized correctly if you have codified medications since they use a method of upper / lower case that is designed to accentuate and differentiate from other meds --

eg Trazodone may now be trazODOne - using a particular method of this...(I did not look in my program to see how this word is done I just made it up).

Ohhhh, so that is why it is like that. I thought those were typos.