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The Item Prescribed field is where you would enter the name of the drug as prescribed on the script. The search results display all details relevant to the drug, such as the available brands, strength, form, and price. You will need to look up the brand, name, chemical composition and dosage from the script before making your selection.

The drug search results can appear as either grouped or ungrouped. You can choose to set your system to view drugs in the manner of your choosing.

Grouped Drug Search

If you have opted to view the drug search results in the grouped manner, then the search results are grouped by the Generic Drug ID. This identifies a particular combination of active ingredients based on strength, dosage form and pack size.

The group header row shows the generic name, strength, dosage form, pack size and poisons schedule.

This will be followed by zero or more brand detail rows showing the brand name, PBS maximum quantity (if applicable), PBS maximum number of repeats (if applicable), PBS code (if applicable), brand/manufacturer code, PBS restriction code (if applicable), base price, extra price (if applicable).

NOTE

• When the generic drug matches the search terms but none of the associated brand drugs match – only a group header row is displayed.
• When a brand drug matches the search terms but its associated generic drug doesn’t – the group header row in addition to the matching brand drug’s details row is displayed.
• When both the generic drug and one or more of its associated brand drugs match the search terms – both the group header and brand drug details rows are displayed.

Ungrouped Drug Search

A structured grouped drug search attempts to conform to the prescriber centric “National Guidelines for Onscreen Display of Clinical Medicines Information”. The de-normalised ungrouped drug search works along the lines of the existing dispensing system behaviour. Here the columns appear wider with information spread across the width of the panel.

Drug Selection

Use the Item Presc drop-down list to select the drug written on the prescription or printed on the repeat authorisation form by typing the drug’s:

• Name
• Details (strength, PBS code, PDE number, brand, etc.)
• Code

NOTE

If an asterisk (*) is shown at the end of the PDE number, the item is using an alternate wholesaler.

You can choose how generic drugs (chemical names) look, to make it easier to distinguish them from brand drugs and extemporaneous preparations.

You can highlight your preferred brands or frequently used drugs so they stand out in lists.

If there are drugs that you never use, deactivate them so that there are fewer lines to look through in drug lists. You can reactivate them later in the Drug Organiser if necessary.

You can highlight, deactivate and edit drugs directly from the drug list. When the list is dropped down, press F2 or right-click on a record to display the Actions menu, then choose the required action.

Drug Name

To select a drug using the drug’s name:

1. In the Item Presc box, type part of the drug name. You can use either the brand or generic name.
2. If your system is setup for automatic searches, the drop-down list is displayed. If not, press Enter. The drug list drops down with the closest match highlighted.
3. Select the drug you want, then choose OK.

TIP

To speed up the drug list, in step 1 above type part of the drug name, then either a comma and the first letter of the dosage form, or two commas followed by part of the drug strength.

Some drug names contain punctuation (e.g. Di-gesic). If you do not see the drug you require, tick the Sounds Like check box on the drop-down list to search for the name as it sounds.

Drug Details

You can select drugs by most of the details shown in the drug drop-down list, including form, strength, PBS code, PDE number and brand. You do not need to include the drug’s name to be able to search by these details (e.g. you can search by PDE number alone).

To select a drug using its details:

1. Drop-down the drug list by pressing Alt+Down Arrow or by clicking on the with the mouse.
2. Type the details to search for into the appropriate boxes on the search row. The drug list is updated with the closest match highlighted.
3. Select the drug you want, then choose OK.

Drug Code

Each drug has a unique identifying code generated by Clear Dispense. You can change this code in the Drug Details screen. If the drug code is available (for instance, if you have assigned easy-to-remember codes to frequently dispensed drugs) it is the fastest way to select a drug.

To select a drug using its code:

1. In the Item Presc box, type a full stop followed by the code.
2. Press Enter.