Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsPreventing Medical ErrorWhat Your Prescription Looks LikeMedical AbbreviationsPrescription Examples
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Preventing Medical Error
What Your Prescription Looks Like
Medical Abbreviations
Prescription Examples
Healthcare providers useprescription abbreviationsbased on Latin words. These abbreviations tell your pharmacist two things:
Knowing how to read medical shorthand will help youunderstand your prescriptions. When you know what medication you will be receiving, you will be able to ask informed questions.
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This article will help you learn to read your prescriptions. It will also discuss how understanding your prescriptions can help prevent medical errors.
Prevent a Prescription Medical Error
It is important to understand your prescriptions. This can make a medical error less likely.
It is possible, for example, that your pharmacist could make a mistake. If your healthcare provider’s handwriting is not easy to read, you may have to wait longer for your medication. Worse, you could be given the wrong dose or the wrong directions.
Pharmacies can receive prescriptions in a few different ways. Your healthcare provider might give you a handwritten or printed prescription to take to the pharmacy yourself. Your prescription may also be faxed or electronically submitted.
Many healthcare providers' offices now use electronic prescribing. This is where your healthcare provider submits your prescription directly to the pharmacy electronically. Some states require electronic prescribing.This is particularly true if the prescription is for acontrolled substance.
Ask to see a printout of your prescription before leaving your healthcare provider’s office. Check your prescription first to make sure it is filled correctly. If you think there is an error, you can tell the pharmacist or call your healthcare provider.
If you do not understand what your prescription says, ask for help. Your healthcare provider or another healthcare provider in the office can answer your questions. This could help you detect and prevent an error.
When you pick up your prescription at the pharmacy, make sure that the instructions that come with the medication match what your healthcare provider told you. For example, if your provider told you that you’ll need to take an antibiotic for 10 days but the instructions you receive at the pharmacy say seven days, you’ll want to discuss the specifics with the pharmacist and your doctor to determine which instructions are correct.
This can also apply to how frequently to take the medication, whether you need to take it with food, whether you can take it at the same time as other medications, etc.
Your pharmacist and doctor are both well-versed in making sure that the drugs you’re taking are appropriate for your medical needs and won’t conflict with each other if you need more than one drug. But the more you understand about all of this, the better off you’ll be. If you have any questions at all about your prescription, including an abbreviation you don’t understand, be sure to clarify the details with your doctor of pharmacist.
Quick TipAsk your healthcare provider to include your condition on the prescription—for example, not just “take once a day,” but “take once a day for high cholesterol.” This can help you keep track of your medications and what each one is for.
Quick Tip
Ask your healthcare provider to include your condition on the prescription—for example, not just “take once a day,” but “take once a day for high cholesterol.” This can help you keep track of your medications and what each one is for.
So it’s common for patients to not see an actual paper prescription at all anymore, as the information is transmitted directly from the doctor’s office to the pharmacy. But you can still ask for a printout of your prescriptions. Note that if it’s a controlled substance, a printed copy of an electronic prescription will need to clearly state that it’s for information purposes only, to avoid the possibility that the prescription could be filled twice.
Handwritten prescriptions are usually written on a pre-printed paper. The paper will show your healthcare provider’s name, address, and phone number.
You may also see numbers such as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) number, which allows your healthcare provider to prescribe controlled substances. These numbers may appear on the top or bottom of the paper. It’s rare for states to allow controlled substances to be prescribed via paper prescriptions; in most cases, these prescriptions now have to be transmitted to the pharmacy electronically.
There will also be space for your name and address, your age, the date, and the healthcare provider’s signature. In the blank area, your healthcare provider will write the following directions:
The prescription will also indicate how much medicine the pharmacist should give you. It will also include the number of times you can refill the prescription.
Common Medical Abbreviations
Your healthcare provider may use different abbreviations or symbols. If you do not understand them, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for help.
The table below includes some commonly used prescription abbreviations.
DAW—Dispense As Written
Medications have brand names and generic names. Your healthcare provider may use either on your prescription. For example, sertraline is the generic name for the brand Zoloft. Zoloft is a medication often prescribed to treatdepression.
In many states, pharmacists can give you ageneric medicationeven if your healthcare provider writes a prescription for the brand name version.In some cases, though, your healthcare provider may write “DAW” on your prescription. DAW stands for “dispense as written.”
DAW-1 means the doctor is saying that the pharmacist must dispense the brand-name drug. DAW-2 means the patient requested the brand name drug.
Generic drugs are typically less expensive than brand name drugs. Because of this, some insurance plans will penalize you for a DAW prescription. For example, you may have to pay the cost difference between the generic and the brand name drug.
Some health plans utilize step therapy, which means they will require the patient to try the generic or lower-cost alternative first, before they’ll pay for a brand-name or higher-cost medication. It’s important to understand your health plan’s rules for prescription coverage, in order to keep your pharmacy costs as low as possible.
Recap"DAW" means your pharmacist can not substitute the generic drug for the brand name. Some insurance plans may require you to pay the cost difference for a brand name drug. Talk with your healthcare provider if you have questions about a DAW on your prescription.
Recap
“DAW” means your pharmacist can not substitute the generic drug for the brand name. Some insurance plans may require you to pay the cost difference for a brand name drug. Talk with your healthcare provider if you have questions about a DAW on your prescription.
Sig—Instructions That Go On the Prescription Label
“Sig” is short for the Latin “signetur.” This means “let it be labeled.” You may see this on your prescription just before the directions.
“Sig” tells the pharmacy what they should include on the drug’s label. This ensures you will know how and when to take the medication.
For a diagnosis of high cholesterol:
For a diagnosis oftype 2 diabetes:
For a diagnosis ofhigh blood pressure:
Summary
There are a wide range of abbreviations that are used for drug prescriptions. And although doctors and pharmacists understand these abbreviations, they aren’t always clear to patients. Understanding your prescription can help you prevent a medical error. Always ask your healthcare provider for a copy of your prescription, and ask them to clarify any abbreviations that you don’t understand.
In most cases, prescriptions are now transmitted to the pharmacy electronically, which means that illegible handwriting is no longer an obstacle. But that’s not always the case, so it’s important to make sure that if the prescription is given to you on paper (to take to the pharmacy yourself), you can clearly read what’s written. And once the prescription is dispensed, make sure the label matches your healthcare provider’s instructions.
Understanding your prescriptions is a crucial part of managing your health care. You need to know what you’re taking, and why you’re taking it, and and special instructions that go along with the medications.
7 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pharmacy Times.A technician’s guide to pharmacy abbreviations.Fallaize R, Dovey G, Woolf S.Prescription legibility: bigger might actually be better.Postgrad Med J. 2018;94(1117):617-620. doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2018-136010.Achar S, Sinha N, Norcross W.The adoption and increased use of electronic prescribing of controlled substances.J Med Regul. 2021;107(2):8–16. doi:10.30770/2572-1852-107.2.8MD Toolbox.E-Prescribing Mandate State Laws.Gabriel, Meghan, et. al. Health IT Buzz.A Decade of Data Examined: The Evolution of Electronic Prescribing. July 15, 2024.Code of Federal Regulations.§ 1311.120 Electronic prescription application requirements.Shrank W, Liberman JN, Fischer MA, et al.The consequences of requesting “dispense as written.”Am J Med. 2011;124(4):309-317. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2010.11.020Additional ReadingSamaranayake NR, Bandara WG, Manchanayake CM.A narrative review on do’s and don’ts in prescription label writing - lessons for pharmacists.Integr Pharm Res Pract. 2018;7:53-66. doi:10.2147/IPRP.S163968
7 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pharmacy Times.A technician’s guide to pharmacy abbreviations.Fallaize R, Dovey G, Woolf S.Prescription legibility: bigger might actually be better.Postgrad Med J. 2018;94(1117):617-620. doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2018-136010.Achar S, Sinha N, Norcross W.The adoption and increased use of electronic prescribing of controlled substances.J Med Regul. 2021;107(2):8–16. doi:10.30770/2572-1852-107.2.8MD Toolbox.E-Prescribing Mandate State Laws.Gabriel, Meghan, et. al. Health IT Buzz.A Decade of Data Examined: The Evolution of Electronic Prescribing. July 15, 2024.Code of Federal Regulations.§ 1311.120 Electronic prescription application requirements.Shrank W, Liberman JN, Fischer MA, et al.The consequences of requesting “dispense as written.”Am J Med. 2011;124(4):309-317. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2010.11.020Additional ReadingSamaranayake NR, Bandara WG, Manchanayake CM.A narrative review on do’s and don’ts in prescription label writing - lessons for pharmacists.Integr Pharm Res Pract. 2018;7:53-66. doi:10.2147/IPRP.S163968
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Pharmacy Times.A technician’s guide to pharmacy abbreviations.Fallaize R, Dovey G, Woolf S.Prescription legibility: bigger might actually be better.Postgrad Med J. 2018;94(1117):617-620. doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2018-136010.Achar S, Sinha N, Norcross W.The adoption and increased use of electronic prescribing of controlled substances.J Med Regul. 2021;107(2):8–16. doi:10.30770/2572-1852-107.2.8MD Toolbox.E-Prescribing Mandate State Laws.Gabriel, Meghan, et. al. Health IT Buzz.A Decade of Data Examined: The Evolution of Electronic Prescribing. July 15, 2024.Code of Federal Regulations.§ 1311.120 Electronic prescription application requirements.Shrank W, Liberman JN, Fischer MA, et al.The consequences of requesting “dispense as written.”Am J Med. 2011;124(4):309-317. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2010.11.020
Pharmacy Times.A technician’s guide to pharmacy abbreviations.
Fallaize R, Dovey G, Woolf S.Prescription legibility: bigger might actually be better.Postgrad Med J. 2018;94(1117):617-620. doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2018-136010.
Achar S, Sinha N, Norcross W.The adoption and increased use of electronic prescribing of controlled substances.J Med Regul. 2021;107(2):8–16. doi:10.30770/2572-1852-107.2.8
MD Toolbox.E-Prescribing Mandate State Laws.
Gabriel, Meghan, et. al. Health IT Buzz.A Decade of Data Examined: The Evolution of Electronic Prescribing. July 15, 2024.
Code of Federal Regulations.§ 1311.120 Electronic prescription application requirements.
Shrank W, Liberman JN, Fischer MA, et al.The consequences of requesting “dispense as written.”Am J Med. 2011;124(4):309-317. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2010.11.020
Samaranayake NR, Bandara WG, Manchanayake CM.A narrative review on do’s and don’ts in prescription label writing - lessons for pharmacists.Integr Pharm Res Pract. 2018;7:53-66. doi:10.2147/IPRP.S163968
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