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Re: [Gnumed-devel] Prescription printing in arbitrary countries


From: J Busser
Subject: Re: [Gnumed-devel] Prescription printing in arbitrary countries
Date: Sun, 29 May 2005 17:26:38 -0700

At 11:51 PM +0200 5/29/05, Karsten Hilbert wrote:
Let's be very precise here and make sure we talk about the
same things:

prescription:

 - the database equivalent of the finished (paper) form a
   patient is given to carry to a pharmacy

Can we legitimize some (possible) differences of meaning - it may be a matter of the level of breadth at which to define.

To prescribe is to advise (e.g. a medicine) especially by an authorized (written) prescription. So at an encounter and its components (encountlets) we have the possibility of a treatment plan with many elements. Some will be simple things the patient can do by themselves e.g. lifestyle change, over-the counter medicine which do not require any "authorization" by the doctor. Yet we can argue a value to being able to print the entirety of a patient's current treatment plan *including* those things that do not require the doctor's authorization. Yes?

However we *can* constrain "prescription" to mean those parts of a treatment plan that require authorization by a doctor, yes? And physiotherapy can be a good example of a treatment for which the physiotherapist (and/or financially responsible health payer) may require authorization i.e. a prescription.

So though when we talk about "prescription" we typically mean *drug* prescription we really should be specifying *drug* prescription because there are non-drug prescriptions that need to be supported.

So far we have a hierarchy of

- treatment plan elements
        - treatments that the patient can do on their own
                - can include non-prescription drugs!
                - can of course include non-drugs
        - treatments that require a "prescription" (doctor authorization)
                - non-drug items
                - drug items

I am spawning an offshoot thread
        "Treatment plans more generally".

We will be interesting to see whether we resolve the authorization (prescription) non-drug items in this "prescription" thread.




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