Sending Prescriptions

  1. Open the ExamWRITER ePrescribing interface. For more information, see Opening the ExamWRITER ePrescribing Interface.
  2. To record the patient’s last office encounter on the prescription as today’s date, click Encounter - Today .

    To view, modify, and delete previous patient office encounters, click Patient Encounter Management .

  3. If the patient transitioned from one point of care to your practice and you have enabled the Enable Transition of Care logging location setting, click TOC to Doctor - Today to record the patient’s transition of care date as today’s date. For more information about enabling Transition of Care logging, see To manage location preferences.
  4. To view medication history for the patient, select the Yes option next to Patient Consent. Patients are required to acknowledge consent prior to a provider viewing their medication history. To view patient consent activity, click View Patient Consent History . For more information about viewing medication history, see Viewing Medication History.

  5. If the patient is pregnant or breastfeeding, select the Pregnant or Breastfeeding check box.

  6. Ensure that you have selected a pharmacy where you want to send the medical prescription. Optionally, complete the following actions:
    • To view the pharmacy’s address, phone, and fax information, click View Pharmacy Details .
    • To select a different pharmacy, click Pharmacy Search . For more information, see Selecting a Default Pharmacy.
    • Select a different pharmacy from the patient's list from the Pharmacy drop-down menu. To remove the pharmacy from the patient's list, click Remove Patient Pharmacy .
  7. Begin prescribing a medication by using one of the following methods:
    • Click Create New Rx at the top of the ExamWRITER ePrescribing interface.
    • Select Prescribe from the menu in the upper-left corner.
    • Open the Favorites menu at the top of the ExamWRITER ePrescribing interface to search for and select a favorite prescription. For more information on setting up your favorites list, see Managing Favorite Prescriptions.
  8. Complete one of the following actions to search for and select a medication:
    • Enter the full or partial name of a medication and click the green Search icon to search for it.
    • Open the Favorites menu to search for and select a favorite prescription. For more information on setting up your favorites list, see Managing Favorite Prescriptions.

    If you enter the name of a medication and the medication is not recognized, you can click the Enter free text as medication link, record the drug schedule details, and then send the medication to the pharmacy through the ExamWRITER ePrescribing interface. Note that drug-drug interaction and drug-allergy warnings may not appear if you use the free text link.

    If you did not select a pharmacy but you did select formulary information, green and red alpha-numeric codes may appear next to medications, indicating formulary restrictions and preferences. Note the codes and select a medication. If the medication that you searched for and selected interacts negatively with another medication’s formulary information, a blue warning message may appear.

  9. If necessary, click Prescribe Anyway to prescribe the drug or Do Not Prescribe this Medication to cancel the prescription.
    • Drug-drug interaction and drug-allergy warnings may not appear if the medication has a red triangle to the left of its name. These triangles indicate that the medication was entered by hand rather than selected from a list, or was transferred with a code that the ExamWRITER ePrescribing interface did not recognize.
    • Clinical prescription warnings are displayed in red text. Nonclinical prescription warnings are displayed in blue text.
    • To provide a justification for prescribing the medication despite the warning, select a justification and enter text into the field.
  10. Record or verify the patient's Height and Weight.
  11. If required information is missing from the prescription, record the prescription details in the appropriate fields and click Review.
    • Ensure that all directions, including the sig, are accurate. To taper a sig, type the instructions in the Additional Directions to Patientfield. If your tapering instructions are more than 140 characters, the prescription will be faxed and not sent electronically.
    • If no provider is selected, select a provider from the Provider drop-down menu. If no provider is selected, the prescription will remain with a pending status until a provider is selected.
    • To select a different pharmacy, select one from the Pharmacy drop-down menu. If you select Browse Pharmacy to find one not available in the drop-down menu and you need help, see Selecting a Default Pharmacy.
    • Click Split to select a second pharmacy to which you want to send part of the prescription. This feature is helpful if you want to send part of the prescription to a mail order pharmacy and part of it to a retail pharmacy.
    • Click the Calculator and enter the patient’s weight and height to calculate the correct dose for the patient and apply it to the Rx.
  12. Review the prescription and click Save Pending Rx.

    To stop the medication on a specific date, select the Stop Medication on check box and select a date (if available).

  13. Begin sending the prescription by using one of the following methods:
    • Select Prescription Report from the menu in the upper-left corner.
    • View the Prescription Management section near the bottom of the ExamWRITER ePrescribing interface.
    • Click the Notification icon in the upper right corner and select Signature Required.
  14. Follow the instructions for your user status:
    • Physicians: Enter your signature password in the Signature Password field and click Send, Send & Print, Print don't Send, or Sign don't Send.
    • Agents: Click Send, Signature for follow, Send & Print, Print don't Send, or Archive don't Send. You cannot sign prescriptions.
    • Clinical staff members: Click Print don't Send or Archive don't Send. You cannot sign or send prescriptions.
    • Nonclinical staff members: Do nothing. You cannot sign, send, or print prescriptions.
    • If you are writing a prescription for a controlled substance, click Print don't Send. You cannot send prescriptions for controlled substances electronically.
    • If you are writing a prescription for sample medication, click Sign don't Send.
    • To add the prescription to your favorites list, click Favorite . To remove the prescription from your favorites list, click Unfavorite . For more information on setting up your favorites list, see Managing Favorite Prescriptions.
    • To modify the prescription details, click Modify prescription .
    • To delete the prescription for the patient and document the deletion in the Correspondence Hx tab in the Patient Information Center window in ExamWRITER, click Delete prescription .

    All prescribed prescriptions appear in the Medications section in the ExamWRITER ePrescribing interface. If you signed and sent, printed, or archived a prescription, the prescription and its strength appear with “eRX” after it in the Current Therapeutic Rx table, and the pharmacy name appears in the Special Instructions field and Medication Hx Notes column in the ExamWRITER Medication Order window.

    If a pharmacy-related fax machine failure occurs, DrFirst will contact your practice and inform you that you must call the prescription in to the pharmacy directly. If your office is closed or it is after business hours, DrFirst will notify your answering service.