How to Read a Prescription

Brilliant Communication or Chicken Scratch? How to Read a Doctor's Prescription.

Q. What does all that doctor's scribble on my prescription mean? Is there a trick to help me read prescriptions?

A. Just like the English speak English, French speak French and the Vietnamese speak Vietnamese, doctors, nurses and pharmacists speak the language of medicine. It takes years of training to understand what might be spoken amongst health care professionals in your local hospital or the dense pages of information written in your own medical chart. Your prescription is an extension of this medical terminology. It contains key information and directions regarding your medication including the name, the dose, how to take it, when to take it, how frequently it should be ingested, and when the medication should be stopped, if it is to be taken for a definite duration. The scribble commonly seen on prescriptions has been a point of conention for pharmacists for decades. Illegible physician's writing not only results in a delay to the patient while the presciption is clarified, but has also been shown to result in serious, sometimes fatal, medication errors. With new technology, such as computer order entry by phyisicans, this problem should eventually decline.

But in the meantime, you are probably curious to what all that scribble on your prescription actually means. Here are a few tips to help you out:

Dose: mg= milligrams, g= grams, mL= millilitres, cc=cubic centimetres (usually is the same as mL), gtts= drops, ss= half
Directions: M or Mitte= "give" or "dispense", od= once daily (can also mean right eye), bid= twice daily, tid= three times daily. qid= four times daily, q6h = every 6 hours, AM= every morning, qHS= at bedtime, AC= before meals, PC=after meals, prn= when needed
Route: PO= by mouth, IV= intravenously, IM=intramuscularly, SC or SQ=subcutaneously, PR=by rectum, PV=in the vagina, AAA= apply to affected area (usually on skin), ou= each eye, au= each ear
Duration: x/52 (x is number of weeks), x/12 (x is number of months)

Because these abbreviations and short-forms can often be confused with each other or have multiple meanings, this is another source for error, aside from the chicken scratch scenario. This is why you should always leave it up to your pharmacist to interpret your prescription. But if you have a question, by all means, ask! This is often how errors are detected and prevented.

For more information on how to read your prescription... Ask Your Pharmacist!

Question about a Medication? Ask Your Pharmacist!

Brilliant Communication or Chicken Scratch? How to Read a Doctor's Prescription.