VMT Icon  Prescription and related data Maintenance - Tab One

New Users Start Here

Before adding any prescriptions, the ancillary databases ( Patient, Pharmacy, Prescriber, Drug ) must each have at least one entry. This means there must be at least one patient, one pharmacy, one prescriber and one drug already in those databases before a prescription can be added.

Note: Patient, Pharmacy, Drug and Prescribers can be selected and reused from a drop down menu; they only need to be entered ONCE.

  1. So, first thing, open PPT and on tab one and enter at least one patient. Perhaps that is yourself and maybe your spouse. Only the patient name is required but the other patient fields maybe included now or later.
  2. Do the same thing( using the other popup menus ) to enter your doctor's name, your pharmacy name and drug name. Again, only the name is required.
  3. If you know your drug names enter them too on the drug popup menu.
  4. All the ancillary database popups work the same way. The bottom of the popup has an option labeled "Maintain xxxxx" where "xxxxx" is either Patients, Pharmacies, Prescribers or Drugs. Select that option and a window will drop down allowing you to enter data and add it.
  5. The popup menus contents are saved in the ancillary databases and are available for use the next time a prescription is added.

Adding a New Prescription
  1. Review the "New Users Start Here" section above to make sure all the ancillary databases have at least one entry.
  2. Enter data or select from the popup menus for all the fields in the area labeled "Add/Delete maintenance item to/from list at bottom of window" and press the "+" ( Add ) button. A step-by-step follows:
    1. Select a patient, drug, pharmacy and prescriber name from each of the popup menus( there should be at least one of each based on your "New Users Start Here" instructions above)
    2. Fill out the remainder of the data fields ( or use the popup menus ) for the data fields grouped by "Add/Delete maintenance item to/from list at bottom of window". For details on what each data field should contain, see the second section of the Introduction. All the data fields in this grouped box comprise what will become a prescription when the add ( + ) button is pressed
    3. For a new prescription the Fill Type is always 'Initial'. Fill type 'refill' can only be used after an 'Initial' prescription has been added.
    4. Prescription dispense and expiration dates should be entered. The expiration date must be chronologically after the dispense date.
    5. Enter prescription/Rx number (required). This is assigned by the pharmacy and is usually on the label attached to the dispensed drug
    6. Enter Days supply (required)
    7. An optional cost may be entered. Defaults to zero
    8. A scan of the receipt( saved as an image file such as a jpeg, png or pdf ) or printed prescription may be associated with the prescription by dragging it to the box labeled "Drag Rx/Receipt Here"
      1. Before including a scanned image in the prescription, save the image in a safe location. In a separate folder within the PPT data files folder is a good location
      2. The PPT data files may be found by using PPT's help menu option "Show Data Files in Finder"
      3. PPT does not copy the image file but uses the image file the user provides. The image file should remain in this location so PPT can find it the next time the prescription is shown.
    9. When all the data is ready press the add button ( + ) to add the prescription to the list
Adding a Refill to an existing prescription

Adding a refill for an existing prescription is quick and easy. Essentially, the existing prescription is used to populate most of the data fields for you. Here are the steps:

  1. Find the prescription for which you want to create a refill in the list on the bottom of tab one
  2. Double click on prescription and its data will populate to the data entry fields on the top of window
  3. Usually only the dispensing date and/or cost changes and the other data fields have the same values as the existing prescription
  4. Change the prescription type to "Refill" instead of "Initial" using the popup menu
  5. Press the "+" ( Add ) button to add the refill to the prescription list
Viewing Existing Prescriptions

Entered/completed prescriptions items are shown on the lower section of the tab one's window in tabular format when the application launches. Prescriptions items may be sorted by the column headers ( patient, Prescription, Date etc. ). A subset of the prescriptions may be displayed at the bottom of the screen by selecting a date range using the "View By Date Range, patient and Prescription" box and pressing the Show Prescriptions Based on Criteria button. Note: Popups on tab one and other tabs are smart and adjust their content based on selection. For example, when a patient is selected from that popup menu, the Prescription popup has to be repopulated with only the Prescriptions for that patient. After repopulation the Prescription popup is reset to "All". Since PPT can track multiple patients, each patient will have different Prescriptions.

Deleting Existing Prescriptions ( N.B. see notea. )

Deleting prescriptions involves the same mechanical steps used by Prescribers, Patients, Pharmacies and Drugs( but heed cautiona. below):

  1. Double click one of the Prescriptions items in the tabular list at the bottom of tab one's window to activate the "-" ( delete ) button.
  2. Press the "-" ( delete ) button b.. There is no warning, so be sure before pressing the delete button.
  3. Deletion should only be used when a prescription was added inadvertently ( mouse slip ) or when deleting test data during a trial.
  4. See "Important Note Regarding Prescription Deletion" below too.

Important Note Regarding Prescription Deletion:

  1. Because a prescription is comprised of all of its 'fills' ( i.e. both initial fills and any subsequent refills ) and is logically one unit, deleting any specific prescription fill ( either initial fill or refill ) will delete all the fills for that prescription. That is, the entire prescription( all fills and all refills ) will be deleted.
  2. Only one item at a time may be deleted.

Changing Existing Prescriptions

Changing prescriptionsa. involves the same mechanical steps used by Prescribers, Patients, Pharmacies and Drugs:

  1. Double click one of the Prescriptions items in the tabular list at the bottom of tab one's window to activate the "Change" button.
  2. Change the items as needed. Note: Some fields ( as noted below ) cannot be changed. This is to preserve data integrity.
  3. Press the "Change" ( delete ) button. The changed data should repopulate to the list at the bottom of tab one's window.
  1. Important: PPT supports changes because sometimes they are needed. However, like deletions, they should be avoided. Situations where it is inadvisable or not permitted are:

    1. If the prescription history already contains both the initial prescription and one or more refills( for the same prescription number ), changing any of the ancillary database ( Patient, Pharmacy, Prescriber, Drug ) data within either the initial prescription or its refills would disassociate it from its refills, so it's not allowed.

    2. The following data fields cannot be changed once refills have been added for an initial prescription:
      1. Ancillary database data( Patient, Pharmacy, Prescriber, Drug )
      2. Prescription Number( aka: Rx number )
      3. Initial refills and Fill Type
      4. Days Supply

  2. Only one item at a time may be changed.

The remainder of this page discusses ancillary database ( Patient, Pharmacy, Drug and Prescriber ) maintenance

Addition, Usage and Deletion of Patients

Patients are maintained on a separate drop down window that appears when the "Maintain Patients..." popup menu item is selected.

A patient consists of patient name, patient address, patient city, patient State/County and patient postal code. To add a patient, type in a patient name, and press the "+" button to add it to the list of patients.

Only a patient name is required to add a patient. Patients are saved for future use and a patient list is shown at the bottom of the same window where the patient information is entered.

Patients may be deleted but only when a patient has no prescriptions associated with it.

Addition, Usage and Deletion of Prescribers

Prescribers are maintained on a separate drop down window that appears when the "Maintain Prescribers..." popup menu item is selected.

A prescriber/doctor consists of prescriber name, prescriber address, prescriber phone number, prescriber email and prescriber speciality. To add a prescriber, type in a prescriber name, and press the "+" button to add it to the list of prescribers.

Only a prescriber name is required to add a prescriber. Prescribers are saved for future use and a prescriber list is shown at the bottom of the same window where the prescriber information is entered.

Prescribers may be deleted but only when a prescriber has no prescriptions associated with it.


Addition, Usage and Deletion of Pharmacies

Pharmacies are maintained on a separate drop down window that appears when the "Maintain Pharmacies..." popup menu item is selected.

A pharmacy consists of pharmacy name, pharmacy address, pharmacy phone number, pharmacy email pharmacy web page and pharmacy notes. To add a pharmacy, type in a pharmacy name, and press the "+" button to add it to the list of pharmacies.

Only a pharmacy name is required to add a pharmacy. Pharmacies are saved for future use and a pharmacy list is shown at the bottom of the same window where the pharmacy information is entered.

Pharmacies may be deleted but only when a pharmacy has no prescriptions associated with it.


Addition, Usage and Deletion of Drugs

Drugs are maintained on a separate drop down window that appears when the "Maintain Drugs..." popup menu item is selected.

A drug consists of drug name and the reason for taking the drug. To add a drug, type in a drug name ( optional: include its strength in the name such as '10 mg' ), and press the "+" button to add it to the list of drugs.

Only a drug name is required to add a drug. Drugs are saved for future use and a drug list is shown at the bottom of the same window where the drug information is entered.

Drugs may be deleted but only when a drug has no prescriptions associated with it.