# Ordering Simple Clinic Medications

To write a simple Clinic Medication order, use these steps:

1. Select the Orders tab.
2. From the Write Orders pane, select Clinic Medications.

   Note: Depending on how menus are set up at your particular site, you may need to select a different option from the Write Orders pane. Many sites have customized the items in the Write Orders pane. Check with your Clinical Application Coordinator (CAC) (or the person who manages information resources at your site) if you have trouble locating the Clinic Medications item.

   Note: The following prompts will be slightly different based on the patient’s location. You will be asked to verify that you want to write Clinic Medications and to ensure that the encounter location is a clinic location.

3. If prompted, enter the appropriate clinic for the encounter information. This will generally happen with an outpatient.

   You can use an existing appointment if one exists or create a new one. To use Clinic Medications, you must enter a location that was previously defined clinic. If you chose a clinic location, you will see this dialog.

   This dialog is to ensure that the user knows they are about to enter Clinic Medications.

4. To continue ordering Clinic Medications, select Yes and continue to the next step. To stop the Clinic Medications process, choose No.
5. (Conditional) If the patient’s current location is not a clinic, you will be asked if you want to change the patient’s location.
6. In the Clinic Medications dialog, locate the medication name or quick order name in the list box by typing characters in the Medication field.

   Note: CPRS now only auto-selects (highlights in blue and places that entry in the field) a medication, dosage, route, or schedule if the user types enough characters to uniquely identify an item in the list. If the user does not enter enough characters to uniquely identify an item, CPRS waits until the user manually selects an item using the mouse or the keyboard.

7. Select the quick order or medication name using the mouse or keyboard.

   Note: If the selected medication is a controlled substance that requires the signature of a provider with a DEA number, the Order not completed dialog appears. CPRS allows orders for controlled substances only when selected providers are able to sign the orders. You may need to exit the Medication Order dialog, change the provider selection, and then reenter the dialog.

   You must have a DEA# to order certain medications

   Note: CPRS requires a patient have a valid address if the selected outpatient medication is a controlled substance that requires the signature of a provider with a DEA number. For outpatient controlled substances, CPRS displays a message – “Controlled substance prescriptions require a patient address. Please contact administrative support to update patient address information.” if the patient does not have a valid address. The contact information in the display may be customized using the Enter/Edit Missing ZIP Code Message option in the GUI Parameters menu.

   Controlled substance prescriptions require a patient address

8. Select the Complex tab.

   Note: After you begin a complex dose medication order, you must remain on the Complex tab until you finish the order. If you switch to the Dosage tab, CPRS clears all complex dosages and you will be forced to start again.

9. Select the Dosage field and select the appropriate dosage.

   The dosage may not begin with a decimal, for example .5; it must begin with a numerical value, 0.5 for example. Also, the character “^” may not be entered in the Dosage field. (The associated cost is displayed to the right of the dosage.)

   Note: CPRS now only auto-selects (highlights in blue and places that entry in the field) a medication, dosage, route, or schedule if the user types enough characters to uniquely identify an item in the list. If the user does not enter enough characters to uniquely identify an item, CPRS waits until the user manually selects an item using the mouse or the keyboard.

10. Enter a Route by either selecting one from the list or typing in a valid route.

    When the user selects a regular schedule that does not have PRN, the administration times may display in the Schedule column. The administration times will display if they have been defined for the ward or if there is a default.

11. If you selected an existing schedule, skip to step 13. If you selected OTHER, CPRS displays the Order with Schedule ‘OTHER’ dialog. Take the following steps:
    1. Select one or more checkboxes by the appropriate days of the week.
    2. If the schedule requires specific administration times skip to steps c and d. To select a schedule from the list, highlight the schedule and select Add.

       Note: Users can assign either a schedule from the list or specific administration times, but not both. If launched from the Complex tab, the Day-of-Week Schedule builder does not display one-time schedules in the schedule list. Also, because the user is specifying days of the week and a schedule, the list will contain only schedules less than 24 hours (for example, Q36H will not be in the list).

    3. To use a specific administration time, select the hour and minutes (if the user only selects the hour, the minutes will default to zero) and select Add.

    4. Repeat step c until you have entered all required administration times

       Warning: The administration times in the Schedule field apply to each day of the week that is listed, such as TU-TH-SA@0800-2000, for example. To create a schedule such as TU@0800 TH@2000, users would have to enter two separate orders using the complex medication order dialog. Also, users may not enter a schedule that only has administration times and PRN but no days.

    5. If you make a mistake while selecting an administration time or schedule, do one of the following to remove it:

       - For a single administration time, highlight the hour and minutes in the Set Administration Time fields and select Remove (so to remove 08:00, you would have to select that time in the Set Administration Time fields not in the Schedule text box.)
       - To remove the schedule, highlight the schedule and select Remove.
       - To remove the entire schedule and begin again with step a, select Reset.

    6. Review the Schedule field.

    7. When you have the correct schedule, select OK.

       The Order with Schedule ‘OTHER’ dialog allows you to enter a customized day-of-week and/or administration-time schedule. The user can enter specific administration times or select a schedule from the available list.

12. Select PRN if necessary.

    PRN will display in the schedule field if the PRN checkbox is checked or if the schedule is defined in the Pharmacy files as a PRN schedule.

    Note: When selecting the PRN checkbox, the quantity and say supply are zeroed out and will need to be adjusted manually. If the checkbox was accidentally selected, de-selecting it corrects the quantity and day supply.

13. Enter an Indication. If indications are defined, you can choose one from the drop-down list. If none are defined or the correct indication is not in the list, type in the appropriate indication.

14. (Optional) Enter a Comment if desire by moving the cursor to the field and typing the comment.

15. The date and time that the patient is scheduled to receive the first dose of the medication appears under the Comments field. (For example, CPRS cannot show an expected first dose for “on call” or schedules with PRN. On the complex tab, it will not try to determine an expected first dose after a THEN because the first item must be completed).
16. If you want the patient to receive an additional dose now, check the Give additional dose now check box. When you click the check box, CPRS creates two new orders. Depending on your version of CPRS, the order priority and dosing schedule may be set automatically or may require manual adjustments. The pop-up messages displayed will also vary.

17. The dosing schedule and priority are set automatically for each order. The first order is scheduled for immediate administration (NOW) and is assigned the priority ASAP. The second order is given the priority ROUTINE and will be administered following the dosing schedule that you defined. A warning displays that is similar to the following example.

    Note: If your site does not use the priority ASAP, then an alternative priority (for example, STAT) will display in place of ASAP.

    Warning displayed when “Give additional dose now” is selected

18. Check the warning message to ensure that the orders you created are what you expected. If the orders are acceptable, click OK. If not, click Cancel to clear the Give additional dose now check box.
19. Select a value for the Priority field.

20. When Give additional dose now is selected, the Priority field is automatically set to ASAP

    (or a site-specific alternative). If you select a value for the Priority field before you select the Give additional dose now checkbox, a message notifies you that the selected priority will be changed to the “Give additional dose now” priority settings.

    CPRS displays a notification that “Give additional dose now” overrides any previously selected priority

    The default value of ASAP can be changed by selecting a different value from the Priority field before submitting the order. If the Priority field is empty when the order is submitted, it will revert to the default values for “Give additional dose now.” Select Accept Order.

    Note: If you do not complete the mandatory items or if the information is incorrect, CPRS sends a message telling you that the information is incorrect and showing you the correct type of response.

21. (Conditional) If the medication ordered may be contraindicated because of allergies, drug interactions, or duplicate orders, CPRS will display the Order Check window. Carefully review all order checks and decide if the medication should be ordered. Do one of the following:
22. To proceed, select Accept Order.
23. To stop the ordering process and return to the dialog, Cancel Order.
24. Enter another medication order

25. select Quit

    When you select Quit, if the patient is in inpatient, CPRS changes the patient’s location back to where the patient was before changing to the clinic.

    Note: You must sign the order before CPRS sends it to Pharmacy. You can either sign the order now or wait until later. When using Give additional dose now, it is recommended that you sign the order immediately to send the order to the inpatient pharmacy. You only need to sign once for both orders created when Give additional dose now is selected.

    -or-

Related topics

Clinic Medications (Overview)

Ordering Complex Clinic Medications

Sorting the Medications View

Changing or Copying Clinic Orders