FAQs

The configuration setting for auto clinical check is in Tools - System Setting - Pharmacy Details - Automated Clinical Check:

See Pharmacy Details - Automated Clinical Check for details.

The auto clinical check takes place when a prescription is downloaded. The Pharmacy Manager business intelligence engine analyses the contents of the prescription message to determine whether it can be auto checked or not.

The clinical check status displays on the New Prescriptions screen. This can be accessed either from the dashboard Dispensing Evolution has Begun tile, or from the eMessages screen, select New Dispensing - Take me there. Prescriptions that have been auto checked display with a status of Checked - Auto, which means that they may be handed to the dispenser to begin labelling straight away, allowing the pharmacist to focus on prescriptions with a status of Requires Check. You can quickly filter for auto checked prescriptions on the New Prescriptions screen.

See Searching for, Sorting and Filtering New Prescriptions (England), Searching for, Sorting and Filtering New Prescriptions (Scotland) or Searching for, Sorting and Filtering New Prescriptions (Wales) for details.

If you have the standalone Clinical Check module restricted to pharmacist access, when tokens are printed, any prescriptions that have been auto clinical checked print with Checked - Auto on them. These may be separated from those that require a clinical check in order to begin labelling.

See Restricting Clinical Check to Pharmacists only for details.

If a prescription has been manually checked within the past six months and there has been no change to the patient record (new conditions, sensitivities, allergies), the item, quantity or directions prescribed, then Pharmacy Manager marks the prescription as auto clinical checked.

Note - You can change the time frame from the default six months in Pharmacy Details - Automated Clinical Check. See Pharmacy Details - Automated Clinical Check for details.

Yes, if an auto check has taken place and you feel that a prescription needs manually checking, then on the New Prescriptions screen, select Actions next to the relevant prescription and then select Reset Clinical Check. The prescription reverts back to a status of Requires Check and you can perform a manual clinical check.

See Resetting a Clinically Checked Prescription (England), Resetting a Clinically Checked Prescription (Scotland) or Resetting a Clinically Checked Prescription (Wales) for details.

Prescriptions that contain schedule 2 or 3 controlled drugs or high-risk medication are never automatically clinically checked. Manual checks must always be performed for these items.

Yes, absolutely. The auto clinical check feature has been designed to work with the recent dispensing innovations such as Fast Labelling. When a prescription has been auto checked, then on the dispensing page all the warnings and interactions are pre-confirmed, Fast Labelling pre-populates the items, directions and quantity, meaning that all the dispenser needs to do is select Finish to print the labels if they are happy to proceed.

Yes, if you want to increase the frequency of manual checks for eligible auto check prescriptions from once every six months, then go to Tools - System Settings - Pharmacy Details - Automated Clinical Check, and change Auto clinical check based on last n months where n is the necessary frequency. The frequency can be set between one and six months.

See Pharmacy Details - Automated Clinical Check for details.

See Clinical Check - Automated (England), Clinical Check - Automated (Scotland) or Clinical Check - Automated (Wales) for details.

The Fast Labelling logic is:

  • The Patient, Prescriber and Institution on a prescription must all be fully matched to a local record.

  • The prescription cannot contain items that are virtual generics.

If both of the criteria above are met, then the system automatically selects an item based on the following logic:

  • Has the patient had the items before in the last 6 months? If so auto populate them with last dispensed.

  • If not, has ANY patient had the items in the last 6 months? If so populate the last dispensed for ANY patient.

  • If not select the first matching DM+D item.

The rate at which prescriptions are fast labelled depends mostly on whether prescriptions are matched to a local record. Pharmacies with lots of regular patients can see up to 80-85% of prescriptions fast labelled. Pharmacies who add extra details in the address fields, which can affect the matching process, or those with a high patient turnover, may see lower numbers.

The Patient Medication History screen no longer displays when a prescription is fast labelled because the item and directions are populated as part of the fast labelling functionality. Fast Labelling eliminates the need for repeating from history.

In Tools - System Settings - Pharmacy Details - Electronic Messaging, turn on Quantity Matching.

Also select Print one label per pack for both Labelling for multiple packs and Labelling for single pack size.

See Pharmacy Details - Electronic Messaging for details.

If the directions are completed in shorthand by the GP, they are auto populated in shorthand. This isn't ideal, however Trusted Directions addresses this. You can link the shorthand directions to whatever it is you'd like to display instead, and from then on, any time those particular shorthand directions are received on a prescription the trusted directions automatically apply. Although this means a short setup, this provides longer term benefits. Alternatively, you can clinically check prescriptions up front and set the directions during that process. If you require specific directions for specific patients, these need to be updated on an as and when basis.

If you need special container assistance prompts, these currently do not display with Fast Labelling enabled.

See Fast Labelling for details.

Select the item on the Stock & Order Management - Ordering screen and then press Ctrl + PgUp on your keyboard to increase the order or press Ctrl + PgDn on your keyboard to decrease the order.

When you set up a wholesaler make sure to set the transmission type to Print a report that can be faxed.

See Setting up a Wholesaler for details.

How do I Add a Batch Number and Expiry Date? (1:23)

How do I Add a Patient Note or Custom Label? (3:09)

See Adding Patient Notes or Print Custom Label for details.

How do I Change the Stock Control Profile for an Item? (3:07)

See Setting the Stock Control Method for an Individual Product for details.

This is maintained by the BSA & Community Pharmacy England (CPE), see https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/dispensing-contractors-information/new-medicine-service-nms-drug-lists for details.

Claim Deferred status is indicated when a non- tariff special item prescription has been collected but the invoice information is missing.

How do I Endorse a Prescription with a Status of Claim Deferred (3:03)

See Defer entering the invoice information for details.

How do I Create a Dispensing Policy? (3:40)

See Dispensing Policies for details.

How do I Create an Audit Grid on Dispensing Tokens - England only (3:22)

See Audit Grid for details.

Regular items (as opposed to one-off items) are those that the patient will receive each month/ prescription period. Highlight an item, right click and select either Normal, Regular or Generate Repeat:

Note - Regular medication is indicated by a calendar icon on the Patient Details screen.

When you choose to dispense from the patient's history, all items marked as regular will be highlighted and when you select Repeat these items will automatically be added for dispensing.

If the regular medication is not selected, you can use Regular to select all items that have been marked as regular items and then simply select Repeat to populate the Dispensary screen with those items.

The calendar icon will also display under the px name on the Dispensary screen, if you have used dose codes to populate the directions, hovering over this icon will indicate when the next prescription date is anticipated.

See Repeating an Item from a Patient's History for details.

From the Dispensary screen, select the Ordering menu and switch on Enable Order Summary:

How do I Enable the Personal List When I am Dispensing (5:11)

See Entering the Product Description for details.

How do I Import MDS Patients to the New MDS Module (4:14)

See Importing Care Home and Care Home Patient Data and Importing Community Patient Data for details.

If the Clinical Check Module has the User Restrictions in place, that is that only a User Account with the role of Pharmacist recorded against it, then if the token is printed after the check, the following displays on the token:

Manual Check Automated Clinical Check
The pharmacist's initials, registration number and the date of the check display on the dispensing token Checked - Auto and the date of the check display on the dispensing token

Where do I restrict Clinical Check access?

In Clinical Check Module place a tick next to Only allow pharmacist role access?:

Where do I set the Pharmacist's role?

Training Tip - An audit grid can be printed below the clinical check details, see Audit Grid for more information.

How do I Merge Duplicate Patient Records (1:43)

  1. Select Tools - Bulk Operations.

  2. Double click on Merge Patients.

  3. Enter the names of the patients to be merged in the two boxes and select Next .

Note - You cannot merge a patient's record if the record contains incomplete electronic prescriptions.
See Bulk Operation - Merge Patients for details.

From the Patient Details screen select Address Label or press Alt + Z on your keyboard:

How do I Reset My Password (2:38)

See Resetting Your Password for details.

Searching for a Patient (0:49)

See Searching for a Patient for details.

How do I Set the Private Prescription Fee (3:19)

See Private Prescription Charges for details.

How do I Set up Trusted Directions (4:47)

See Setting Up Trusted Directions for details.

  1. From the Pharmacy Manager Toolbar, select Quick Actions - Quick Interaction Check or select Ctrl + Alt + Q on your keyboard.

  2. If you would like to check products against a patient’s PMR, place a tick in Check for patient and enter the patient’s name, if not, leave this blank.

  3. To add products to the list select Add .

  4. Any interactions and sensitivities display in the bottom half of the window. To see the full details of the interaction, highlight the message and select Explain.

See Quick interaction check for details.
See also Keyboard Shortcuts.
Note - To print this topic select Print in the top right corner and follow the on-screen prompts.