Printing Labels
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Printing extra labels
Some items require more than one label, perhaps to stick
on the packaging as well as on the tube or inhaler for example. Extra
labels produced will not affect stock control, or be recorded in a patient's
record.
To produce extra labels for an item:
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Wait till you see the item displayed on the dispensary screen;
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Press &
This will bring up a dialog box prompting for the number of extra labels to print. It defaults to 1, but you can amend it to any number up to 99.
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Click OK and then to issue the label. This will print the initial label and the specified number of extra labels.
If you enter the quantity to dispense as 2P, 28x2, 30,30 or 60/3, which would produce multiple labels for an item, selecting & would produce extra labels for EACH pack. Example: quantity entered as 2P, number of 'extra' labels entered as 1, will produce four labels in total.
When you are dispensing a multiple item prescription where you want an extra label for more than one item, but not all, simply use & each time the required item for which you want extra labels is on the Dispensary tab.
Once the dispensing details are correct, print the label -
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Press on the keyboard; or click on the Issue or Finish button with the mouse.
Your system may be set to print labels either after each item, or when the form is complete.
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To check this, go into
Menu > Tools > User Details > Preferences tab > Print Labels section
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Select either 'When item complete' or 'When form complete', whichever you prefer.
When operating at the Dispensary tab, by clicking the Abandon button you will abort the prescription in progress whichever preference setting has been made. However, the outcome varies in terms of what is recorded.
When item complete
When operating in this mode, the current label in progress is immediately abandoned. However, if it is a multi-item prescription and other items have already been labelled, those items are saved in the patient record and the quantities dispensed will still deplete any stock records.
Labels will only have been printed for those items that were completed before you clicked Abandon.
When form complete
When operating in this mode, this alert will appear when you click Abandon.
If you subsequently confirm Yes, no information is updated in any records:
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no items are included in the patient history
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no stock levels are reduced
This applies if you are dispensing a single item prescription and click Abandon part way through. It also applies if you click Abandon when you are dispensing the first or any subsequent item on a multiple item prescription.
At the point you click Abandon, no labels will have been printed.
If you click No, you revert to the prescription in progress and no information will have been lost.
If you have entered too high a number in the Number of items box and want to finish the prescription, you should reduce the Number of items to the current number and, rather than click Abandon, you can then click the Finish button.
Multiple item labels
In the event that more than one make of tablets or capsules has been selected to fulfil a prescription, the process allows you to produce one or more labels.
If you are applying the labels to two separate original packs, you would not want to combine to one label. However, if you were putting all the tablets or capsules into a single bottle, or all blister strips into a single carton, you would want to combine the two quantities to a single label.
If you are dispensing multiple flavours of an item, you may also only want one label reflecting e.g. 48 packs of Fortisip. When you choose one label, the item name for the first chosen flavour will be used for the description.
If Combine to one label is checked and the prescription is for 48 packs of four different flavours with a 200ml pack size, then one label is produced for 9600ml with an item description reflecting the first selected flavour. Similarly, if the prescription was fulfilled by two types of Ibuprofen 400mg (different manufacturers), the single label would reflect the combined total.
If Combine to one label is unchecked and the prescription is for 48 packs of four different flavours with a 200ml pack size, then 48 labels are produced (one for each pack). The description will be valid for the first named item, but all subsequent items/flavours will also carry the name of the first item/flavour but followed by a @.
When the scenario covers two or more makes of a generic, the same description appears on both labels. No @ is appended to any label/description.
In all instances where multiple labels are printed, the container count is included on the label e.g. Container 1 of 3, Container 2 of 3 etc.
See also Multiple items.
You can print bag labels - either automatically for each patient after each prescription form, or you can print them on demand.
Two differing formats of bag label exist - standard and custom.
The standard bag label can be enhanced with a patient unique barcode.
The custom bag label cannot be printed when the option for bag labels with barcodes is activated.
To make them print automatically:
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Go into
Menu > Tools > Pharmacy Details > Dispensary tab > Printing section
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Check the Print bag labels option.
If you prefer to choose which patients to print bag labels for:
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Do not check the Print bag labels option.
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When dispensing, just press & when the form is finished.
You can print Bag labels on demand for owed items when they are prepared, by pressing 'Bag Label' at the bottom of the Owings screen. This will produce a bag label for the highlighted patient.
Click on Bag Label before using Collect or Prepare, or the patient will disappear!
These labels are useful for many purposes. Usefully, blank labels could be used for any pre-packing you may want to identify. However, there is no limit to what you could produce within the physical constraints of the label dimensions.
It is possible to configure the label output for patients with visual impairment.
This is achieved by the production of a second set or series of labels replicating the content of the standard label(s), but in large print.
Typically, the second "label" will actually be several labels depending on the overall length of the text.
In normal circumstances, the labels would not be satisfactory, but the first large print label will typically show the medication name, possibly printed over two or more lines, which will identify the medication for the recipient.
The first standard size print label should still be attached to the packaging as normal and, packaging surface area permitting, when affixed the second label with the medication name in large print could be a valuable identifier for a patient with visual difficulties.
Large print labels are outside the scope of the caution overspill labels.
See also Overspill label format.
Updated 6th June 2014