Order and give medicines
Order a medicine for the stay and record each dose as given, held or refused.
How medication works
Medicines in the Hospital module are typed in as free text on the patient's chart. They are not linked to pharmacy stock. If you sell a medicine to the patient, add it to the bill as a catalogue item (see Charge the bill).
Open the patient's chart and choose the Medication section. The tab shows how many orders are active. You need the Hospital Edit permission to order and record doses, and the patient must still be admitted.
Order a medicine
- In Medication, fill in the Medicine name (required).
- Enter the Dose, for example "500 mg".
- Choose the Route: Oral, IV, IM, SC, Topical, Inhaled or Other.
- Enter How often, for example "Three times a day".
- Optionally set Until (the last day) and Instructions.
- Click Order medicine.
The order starts today. Each order shows the medicine, dose, route, frequency, the dates and whether it is Active or Stopped.
Record a dose
Every active order that is due today has these buttons:
- Give dose - records that the dose was given now, with your name.
- Held - the dose was deliberately not given.
- Refused - the patient refused the dose.
For Held and Refused, type the reason first in the box "Reason, if held or refused". A held or refused dose without a reason is refused by the system.
Each dose appears in the order's list with its time, its result (Given, Held or Refused), the note and who recorded it. This list is the medication administration record.
Stop an order
Click Stop order when the medicine is no longer needed. A stopped order cannot be given again. When the patient is discharged, or the admission is cancelled, all active orders are stopped automatically.
Good to know
- The give, held and refused buttons are disabled when an order is not due today, for example before its start date or after its "Until" date.
- Doses cannot be recorded in the future.
- Check the Allergies at the top of the chart before ordering.