Medical prescription

Medical Prescription

A Medical Prescription (pronunciation: /ˈmɛdɪkəl prɪˈskrɪpʃən/) is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other qualified health care practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. The term is derived from the Latin praescriptio, which means "to write before" and signifies a directive that is written and must be followed.

History

The concept of prescriptions dates back to the beginning of history. So long as there have been medicines and pharmacists, there have been prescriptions.

Components

A prescription has several parts. They include the superscription or heading with the symbol "℞", which stands for the Latin word recipe meaning "take". The inscription, which contains the names and quantities of ingredients. The subscription, which contains directions for compounding the drug. And the signature, which is often abbreviated "Sig." and contains directions for the patient.

Types of Prescriptions

There are two types of prescriptions: written prescriptions and electronic prescriptions. Written prescriptions are those that are handwritten by a doctor and given to the patient. Electronic prescriptions are those that are electronically sent to a pharmacy from the provider's office.

Related Terms

• Pharmacy
• Medicine
• Pharmacist
• Physician
• Health Care

See Also

• Prescription Drug
• Over-the-counter Drug
• Drug Interaction
• Pharmacology

External links

• Medical encyclopedia article on Medical prescription
• Wikipedia's article - Medical prescription

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