You can manually build an SIG for a medication.
- From the Medication module, open SIG Builder.
- In Admin, select a method of administration from the list.
- In Quantity, select the number of units from the list or enter a number.
- To select a quantity range, do the following.
- Select the Quantity as Range check box.
The new list appears besides
Quantity.
- In the list, select or enter the upper or lower range of the required quantity.
- In Unit of Measure, select a unit of measure from the list.
- In Route, select the preferred route from the list.
Note: By default, the Show Route check box is selected. To hide Route, clear the Show Route check box.
- In Interval, enter or select the time interval between medication doses from the list.
- To select an interval range, do the following.
- Select the Interval as Range check box.
The new list appears besides
Interval.
- In the list, select or enter the upper range of the required interval.
- In Interval Unit, select one of the following:
- From the Interval Unit list, select an appropriate interval unit.
Note: For all the existing (active or discontinued) medications and any newly prescribed medication, system stores respective Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED®) codes for a medication's interval and interval unit. From a set of SNOMED® codes, system saves an individual code for a particular combination of SIG interval and interval unit.
- In Reason, select a reason from the list or enter a reason for taking the medication.
Note: The reason list is maintained in the Medication Reasons master file in File Maintenance.
- To add the text "as needed" in the medication, select the PRN check box.
If you select a SIG from First Databank that already contains the text "as needed" and you select the PRN check box, the text "as needed" appears twice.
- To set a duration for the medication, do the following.
- In Duration, select an appropriate duration for the medication.
- In Duration Unit, select a duration unit for the medication.
Note: By default, Show Duration is selected. You can clear Show Duration, to hide Duration and Duration Unit.
- To set a duration range, select the Duration as Range check box.
The new list appears besides Duration.
- If required, you can select or enter any additional text in the Additional Text field.
Note: To use eRx, there is 140 character limitation for SIG. The character count appears under the Sig field.
- Select Done.
If the dosage resulting from the SIG you have manually built exceeds the daily allowance, a message appears stating that the current dose exceeds maximum daily dose.
- Select OK.
The system generates the SIG and the dosage warnings appear in red in the advanced SIG builder in the Medications module.
Note: In the advanced SIG builder, you can edit a SIG for an existing medication using the Edit Sig option and remove a SIG using the Remove Sig option.
