Entering Prescription Data in Health-Minder

Health-Minder makes a distinction between your Medications history and your Prescriptions history.    The MEDICATIONS WINDOW is a record of all the medicines you have taken by name (for example, Penicillin, Synthroid, Diabinase,  or Prozac are medicine names). For each of these medicines, you may be given any  number of prescriptions.  Why are there two Health-Minder windows, one for medicines and one for prescriptions?  Because sometimes prescriptions for the same medicine may be given to you by different doctors for different illnesses at different times of your life.  Or a problem may recur, and a medicine found effective during a prior bout with the illness may be prescribed again.  Prescriptions may be re-filled (when you need more of the medicine, but you are still using the same prescription number); or they may be renewed (when a new prescription number is assigned, but the medicine and diagnosis and doctor remain the same).   Note, too, that each prescription has a cost and perhaps may be partially or fully covered by insurance.   Thus, when you are given a prescription for a new medicine by your doctor, you need to enter information in two windows: first, Medications and then Prescriptions, in that order.

The information you fill out to enter a new or edited prescription are: the Medicine name,  the Pharmacy where purchased,  the prescription number,  the date the prescription was filled, the prescribing doctor, and the diagnosis (the reason you were given the prescription).  Indicate with a check next to "Generic OK" if your doctor says the prescription may be filled with the generic brand of this medicine to save money.  You may also fill out the number of refills permitted for this prescription, and the dosage rate which is how much of the medicine you take and how often.

If you want Health-Minder to tell you when your next refill is due, enter the "Quantity per Refill" amount. Health-Minder will look at the date of the refill, the "Quantity Per Refill", and the frequency of dosage (how many per hour, day, week, or month); all this information is used to compute when you will next need a refill.  Health-Minder keeps track of the number of refills you have had on this prescription number, and warns you when your limit has been reached. To print a list of needed refills before you go to the pharmacy, press the button  Shopping List. 

Use the Notepad button to enter a description of the medicine.  Say if it is in liquid, tablet, or capsule form.  State the size, shape, and color of tablets or capsules.  When you must go to a hospital, or if someone else must give you your medicine, having this information available will help to prevent mistakes.  It is also a good idea to have your doctor review a list of your medications from time to time.  If you have a reaction to a medication, record it in the window Allergies & Drug Reactions.

For more information, press the HELP button on the Prescriptions Window.