Handwriting proscription?

Question

How pharmacist or pharmacy technicians translate RX handwriting by doctors?
Or how are there practice such translation?

Answer 1

Excellent question. Sometimes they can't and that's when I get a phone call.

Other times, they may make a best guess based on the the dose and frequency prescribed correlated with what they can make out from the name. If they ever have any doubt, they should call the prescribing physician.

I end up playing this game with the charts of the patients about whom I get consulted at certain hospitals. If I see Dravix 75 mg PO QD, I usually interpret this as Plavix and know that I can't operate for a few days until the patient's platelets have recovered otherwise I run the risk of poorly controllable bleeding in the OR.

This is one of the reasons that they are pushing for physician order entry computer systems (inpatient) and prescription printers(outpatient). Hard to mis-interpret a computer print-out. Also runs quick checks for patient allergies and incompatable or duplicate medications.

Answer 2

Handwriting can be a problem, and any uncertainty should be clarified before the prescription is filled.
If you're asking about the arcane language, it's largely abbreviations of the Latin, tempered by some errors that come from many medical professionals' not having a knowledge of Latin.
A typical prescription is a three-line form. On the first line is the name of the medication and strength. On the second is the amount to be prescribed. On the third is the labelling for directions on how to take it. An example:
Amoxicillin 250 mg the medication
#30 the number of capsules to be dispensed
Sig: i tid the bottle is to be labelled "take one capsule three times a day" the tid stands for "ter in diem" with ter being the adverbial form, as thrice.
You'll see a common error (and won't have to search far) that's insinuated itself into medical jargon since Latin has all but disappeared from the American public schools: most medical professionals think "q.d." or "q day" means "daily," but in fact it's not Latin or medical at all. The Latin term that was traditionally used is "o.d." or "omni diem," but that abbreviation is now frowned upon as it causes too much confusion. Now preferred is simply to write, in English, "daily."

Answer 3

You mean prescription RX, here is the definition of it:
Definition of Rx

Rx: A medical prescription. The symbol "Rx" is usually said to stand for the Latin word "recipe" meaning "to take." It is customarily part of the superscription (heading) of a prescription.

Another explanation for the origin of Rx is that it was derived from the astrological sign for Jupiter which was once placed on prescriptions to invoke that god's blessing on the drug to help the patient recover.
I don't write it on my prescription due to above reason as God is the Healer not Jupiter.
There are many other concepts but the historical fact is as above.

Answer 4

We look at the name of the drug, the strength, and the dosing interval. If you're not sure of the drug, then look at the strength and how it's taken. Most drugs with similar names have different strengths. We can also look at the patient's record and see what they have been taking.

Answer 5

If the pharmacist has a question, she calls the prescribing physician.