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.
Strauss/Curtis / Getty Images
Strauss/Curtis / Getty Images
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.
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.
Controlled substances are drugs that are restricted by the government because of their potential for abuse.
This includesopioids, powerful pain relievers that can be addictive.
Electronic prescriptions help prevent medical errors that can be brought on by hard-to-read handwriting.
Ask to see a printout of your prescription before leaving your healthcare provider’s office.
Check your prescription first to ensure it is filled correctly.
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.
But the more you understand about all of this, the better off you’ll be.
This can help you keep track of your medications and what each one is for.
But you’ve got the option to still ask for a printout of your prescriptions.
Handwritten prescriptions are usually written on a pre-printed paper.
The paper will show your healthcare provider’s name, address, and phone number.
These numbers may appear on the top or bottom of the paper.
It will also include the number of times you might 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.
DAWDispense 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And once the prescription is dispensed, see to it the label matches your healthcare provider’s instructions.
Understanding your prescriptions is a crucial part of managing your health care.
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