Prescriptions
How prescriptions are issued from the doctor's form, the medicine and test fields, the PDF, statuses, and how dispensing works through the pharmacy bill.
A prescription in LeapHealthOS lists the medicines and tests a doctor advises at a consultation. It is created and issued in the same moment the doctor submits the consultation form, gets a PDF, and is later marked dispensed when the pharmacy bill for it is paid. This page is for doctors, pharmacists and administrators.
How a prescription is created
Doctors do not open a separate prescription screen. The prescription is one section of the consultation form on the Consultation Notes tab (see Consultations). When the doctor submits the form:
- The prescription is issued with an Rx number, for example RX-261110-00042 (the middle part is the date of issue).
- The appointment's doctor is shown as the prescriber.
- Each advised test is ordered, ready to be booked.
- The prescription PDF is created and saved to the patient's documents.
- The patient can be notified, depending on your notification rules.
A prescription must have at least one medicine or one test to be issued. If both are empty, the submit fails with Prescription must have at least one medication before issuing.
Issued means final
There is no draft stage in the app. Once the form is submitted, the prescription is issued, the PDF exists and the patient can be notified. No screen lets you edit or cancel an issued prescription. Check drug, strength, dosage form, frequency, timing, duration and quantity for every medicine before you submit.
Medicine fields
Each medicine is one row in the prescription section. The first five fields are required in every row.
Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Drug name | Yes | Brand or trade name, for example Crocin 500 mg |
Dosage | Yes | Amount per dose, for example 1 tablet |
Dosage form | Yes | For example TABLET, SYRUP, CAPSULE, INJECTION |
Frequency | Yes | For example OD, BD, TDS |
Duration (days) | Yes | Number of days |
Pharmacy item | No | Links the medicine to an item in your pharmacy stock. Only linked medicines can be billed and dispensed from the Pharmacy. |
Drug code, Generic name | No | Shown on the record |
Frequency description | No | Plain-language instruction, for example one tablet three times a day after food |
Route | No | Oral, topical, IV and so on |
Duration (free text) | No | For example 2 weeks |
Quantity | No | Total to dispense. If left empty it is recorded as 1. |
Instructions | No | For example take after food |
Dose timing (M, A, N) | No | Morning, Afternoon and Night. Can be printed on the PDF. |
Substitutable | No | Whether the pharmacist may substitute an equivalent. Recorded as yes unless the form sets it to no. |
SOS | No | Take only when needed, not on a schedule |
Check pre-filled values
If your form uses a medicine search, choosing a medicine can fill in dosage, route and timing from the pharmacy catalog. These are defaults, not a clinical decision. Check them against the patient before you submit.
Tests advised
Tests are rows in the same prescription section. Each row becomes a test request with the status Ordered as soon as the form is submitted.
Field | Notes |
|---|---|
Test / service | The test, chosen from your service catalog |
Why advised | Clinical notes for the lab, printed on the report as the referral |
Priority | The urgency of the test. A priority other than normal can show as a badge on the prescription PDF. |
Due date | When the report is due. The lab's Test worklist counts down to it and shows Overdue once it passes. |
Fasting required | Can show as a fasting badge on the PDF |
Preferred centre | The centre that should do the test |
Special instructions | Preparation for the patient |
What happens to tests after they are ordered is covered in Tests worklist and reports.
Other prescription fields
Field | Notes |
|---|---|
Diagnosis summary | Printed on the PDF |
Advice | Printed on the PDF |
Notes | Kept with the prescription |
Valid until | Stored with the prescription. See the limitation below. |
The prescription PDF
The PDF is produced from your hospital's prescription template, Prescription Standard. Administrators edit it in SettingsPlatform ConfigurationPDF Templates; see PDF template editor. If the template has not been set up, issuing fails with PDF template not found.
Exactly what is printed depends on your template. The details available to it are:
- Rx number, issue date and time, and the centre's address
- The doctor's name, qualifications, specialty and registration number
- The patient's name, UHID, date of birth, age and gender
- Diagnosis summary and advice
- Each medicine with its dosage, frequency, duration, dose timing and instructions
- Each advised test with its priority, fasting and special instructions
You can open the PDF from View Prescription on the patient's Case Record, and it is stored in the patient's documents as a prescription.
Statuses
Prescription statuses
| From → To | Trigger | Actor | Condition | Side effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PendingDispensed | Pharmacy bill paid | Pharmacist or front desk | Bill is for this prescription | A dispensing entry is added to the patient's record |
- Pendinginitial
- Issued when the doctor submits the consultation form, with its PDF. Waiting to be dispensed. Shown as Pending in Pharmacy.
- Dispensedterminal
- The pharmacy bill for the prescription was paid and the medicines were dispensed.
Dispensing through the pharmacy
Pharmacists work from Pharmacy. The list shows issued and dispensed prescriptions; the Pending tab shows prescriptions waiting to be dispensed. Opening a pending prescription builds a pharmacy bill from the selected pharmacy store, with each linked medicine priced from its batch. When the bill is paid, the prescription becomes Dispensed and the Prescription tab disappears from it.
The full pharmacist workflow, including batches, stock warnings and the prerequisites (a Pharmacy bill type and a pharmacy store), is in Pharmacy queue, billing and dispensing.
The front desk can also bill an issued prescription from a task: the task details show Bill medicines with the Rx number. See Working a task.
If the Auto-Complete on Prescription setting is on, issuing a prescription also completes the appointment, but only while it is still Checked in. An appointment where the doctor clicked Begin Consultation is In progress and is not completed by this setting. It is off by default. See Appointment and slot settings.
Known limitations
What prescriptions cannot do today
- Valid until has no effect yet. The date is stored with the prescription but is not shown in the app.
- Medicines not linked to pharmacy stock cannot be dispensed in the app. They are not added to the pharmacy bill, so a prescription with only unlinked medicines stays Pending.
- No edit or cancel. There is no screen to change or cancel an issued prescription.
- No prescription templates. Doctors cannot apply saved medicine sets or test panels from the consultation form yet.
What the patient receives
Whether the patient gets a WhatsApp message or email when a prescription is issued, and what it says, is decided by your notification rules (prescription events are in the Medical group). See Notification rules.
Last updated on
Vitals and clinical notes
Rules for recording vitals and consultation notes - open visits, required values, BMI, diagnosis types, follow-up, and where the records appear.
Tests worklist and reports
How tests are ordered, booked and worked in the Test worklist, how one lab submit verifies and delivers the report, and the test statuses.