Pharmacy Practice for Final Year B.Pharmacy Sem-VII, As per PCI Syllabus Community Pharmacy - Dispensing Of Proprietary Products

1. Prepared By:- Miss.Mali S.M.
Asst.Professor
Subject:- Pharmacy Practice
Sahyadri College of Pharmacy, Methwade.
DISPENSING OF PROPRIETARY
PRODUCTS

2. DISPENSING
 Dispensing is animportant
part of the practice of
pharmacy, in which the
dispenser interprets the
physician's requirements on
the prescription and
accordingly supplies
medicines forthe treatment
of his patient (s).
 This usually involves interpreting a written prescription but may,
onoccasions, also includetaking instructions given by word of
mouth or by telephone from thephysician.

3. Activities involved in Dispensing
The various activities involved inDispensing are:

4. Dispensing modules
 Dispensing environment
 Prescription Counter
 Waiting Area
 Requirements of a good
dispensingenvironment
 Barriers, noise anddistractions
that can affectdispensing
 Handling of Prescriptions
 Receiving the prescription
 Reading the prescription and checkingfor
 Legality
 Legibility
 Completeness and correctness

5.  Processing aprescription
 Filling aprescription
 Removal of medicines from shelves.
 Assembling of medicines.
 Billing.
 Packing.
 Refilling aprescription
 Other aspects ofdispensing
 Dispensing errors
 Role of dispensers in promoting correctdispensing
 Refusal to dispenseprescriptions
 Alternatives to conventionalprescriptions.

6. Dispensing Environment
Prescription counter
 Ideally Prescription countershould:
 Be accessible to theclient.
 Preferably be separate and in a quite location. If there
areotherseparate section (e.g., cosmetics, general items,
OTC section), it should be slightlyaway from them.
 Be clean, orderly attractive, and with an identifying sign
or symbol, which can easily be identified and seen from
other parts of thepharmacy

7. Cntd...
 A different color, appearance, demarcation etc. maybe
given to the prescription section to provide added
emphasis.
 Have a waiting area for clients who wait for their
prescriptions to bedispensed/filled.

8. Dispensing Environment
Waiting area
 An ideal waiting areaprovide:
 Comfortablechair/places to sit (at least for the
elderly/disabled/sick patient torest)
 Current popular health magazines, and carefully
selected material related to good health to keepthe
client busy/occupied, and prevent boredom while
waiting to receivemedicines
 Pamphlets, and posters related to public, family and
other individual health problems prominentlydisplayed
(as thewaiting areacould be used as a health education
centre.)

9. Requirements of a Good
Dispensing Environment
 Be clean: Togive a professional impressionand
outlook to thepharmacy.
 Be organized: Toprovide for a safe and efficient
working area. (Such that thingsare found in the right
place at the right times and there are minimum
obstructions and hurdles).
 Havesufficient space Foreasy movementof personnel
in the pharmacy, and to prevent congestion and
physical contact among staff whileworking.

10. Contd…
 Temperature and humidity controlled as appropriate
temperatureand humidityare necessary forstabilityof
medicines till the expirydate.
 No loud music playing, gossiping, talking, or
television (e.g. a cricket match or a movie) :Toavoid
distractions duringdispensing.
 Have medicines stored in an organized way on shelves in
alphabetical orderor using the method normally employed
in that particular pharmacy: Toensure quick, but safe
selection of the correct medicines from the shelves to
minimize dispensingerrors.
BE CLEAN, GET ORGANISED!! GIVE THE PHARMACY
A PROFESSIONAL LOOK

11. Maintaining a clean environment
requires
 A regular routine of cleaning shelves,
medicines/products, and a daily cleaningof
floors.
 A regularschedule forchecking, cleaning
and defrosting therefrigerator.
 Immediate wiping of accidental spillsdue to
breakage, etc, duringdispensing.

12. Why Good Dispensing
Environment
 Working in a clean and an organized environment in a
pharmacy, aids in accuracy while dispensing, and also
gives a professional look to the pharmacy.
 Presence of a separate prescription counter and
waiting area can further Highlight professionalismand
competence of thedispenser.
 Dispensers handle medicines, and a slight dispensing
errorcould result in seriousconsequences i.e. health -
wise for the patient, and for the pharmacy – a loss of
reputation.
 Thus a good dispensing environment is recommended
for everypharmacy.

13. Handling Prescription
 Receiving the Prescription As clients come into the
pharmacy, they must be made to feel attended toand
comfortable by :
 Friendlygestures.
 A smile.
 Eye-to-eyecontact.
 A friendlywelcome.
 A cozyambience.
 Courtesy.
 Feeling of caring .
 Communication should be initiated in such a manner that
it encourages the client to convey his/her needs by
producing a prescriptionor byasking forother products or
advice .

14. Upon receiving the prescription,
the pharmacist should confirm
( i) Whether theclient is the patient himself or has come
on the patient'sbehalf.
(i) The relationof theclientwith the patient.
The client maypolitely be requested towait, while the
pharmacist reviews the prescriptionfor:
1. Legality and completeness ofprescription.
2. Therapeuticaspects
3. Appropriateness for the individual.

15. Reading the Prescription and Checking for
Completeness and Correctness
 While reading and checking the prescription,the
dispenser Should:
 Bealert, and concentrate on the prescription.
 Not bedistracted.
 Not engage in talking orchatting.
 Engage/ use his professional/ experiencein
assessing the prescription.

16. After receiving the prescription, it is
important for the dispenser to read the
prescription to verify whether :
 It is legal and completewith respect to thevarious
parts of theprescription,
 Itcan be dispensed as such, or not.
 A prescription is legalwhen
 It iswritten (can also be typed) bya R.M.P.
 Signed by the R.M.P.
 Has all the information required to becontained with
respect to parts ofprescription.

17. Parts of the Prescription
Superscription :
 The 'Rx' symbol is called thesuperscription.
 It is used as an abbreviation of the Latin word recipe, which
means, “Take thou” or “youtake”.
Inscription:
 Inscription is the partof the prescription thatcomprises of a
list of medicines and their strengths.E.g.
Daonil 5 mg, Novamox 250 mg.
Subscription :
 This partof the prescription consists of directions given to the
dispenser with respect to the dosage form and the number of
dosage units/quantity to be supplied.E.g.
 Tab. Calcium ---- (50) [Means dispense 50 tablets of calcium]
 Liq Digene--------1 bottle

18. Cntd...
Signatura :
 Signaturarefers to thedirectionsgiven by thedoctor to
the patient.
 In this portion, the physician indicates to the patient,
how he/she should take the prescribedmedicine/s.
 Thedirections are usuallywritten using abbreviated
forms of English and Latin. E.g.,
 1 tds meanstakeone tabletthriceaday.
Signature of the doctor:
 The signatureof thedoctor in his own handwriting is
essential to mark the legality of theprescription.

19. Cntd...
Refill information:
 In certain cases, a single course of therapy may
not be sufficient for effective treatment of the
patient.
 Under such circumstances, the physicianmay
decide to repeat the course of therapy, and
indicate the sameon the prescription.
 This information is called refillinformation.

20. Legibility
 Handwritten names of patients and medicinesare
often difficult toread.
 In case of illegibility of name, age, etc, askthe
patient for the correct spellingtactfully.
 Legibility is a problem requiring alertness and
critical judgment on the part of thepharmacist.
 Careless handwriting and similarity in spellingof
names of differentdrugs add to the difficulty.

21. Example of a Reading error
Metriz and Metrix
 Due to illegible handwriting of doctors, Metriz could
be read as Metrix. Metriz is a brand containing
Metronidazole whereas Metrix containsGlucosamide
twodifferent drugs used for twodifferent conditions.
 When handwriting is illegible, the best thing todo is
tocontact the physician overthe phoneand confirm.
 Remember, you aredealing with medicinesand thus,
the lives of patients so be sure of what you are
dispensing.
 Imagine thedisastrousconsequencesof dispensing the
wrong medicine ‘NEVER DISPENSE GUESS WORK’ .

22. Examples of confusing names
 AZT (Azithromycin) Vs AGT (Tinidazole)
 Alspan (Hyoscine Butylbromide) VsAlpan
(Loratidine)
 Metlong (Metforming) Vs Metlog (Metoprolol)
 Itop (Itopride HCl) Vs Metop (Metoprolol)
 Aceclo (Aceclofen) Vs Seclo (Omeprazole)
 T-zine (Cetrizine HCl) VsTizan(Tizanidin)

23. Completeness and correctness
 The prescription serves asavehicle forcommunication
from the licensed practitioner to the dispenser about
the pharmaceutical care of thepatient.
 Details to be checkedfor
 i) Physician's details.
 ii) Patient'sdetails.
 iii) Check the product details Checking theproduct
details will include checking :
 Name of theproduct.
 Dosage form.
 Strength/ potency of themedicine.
 Total amount to bedispensed and its availability.
 Dosage and directions foruse.
 Frequency of administration.

24. REFERENCES:-
1. A Text book of Pharmacy Practice by the author
Sourabh Kosey Nirali Prakashan.
Page No.4.1-4.19
2. A Text book of Pharmacy Practice by the author Dr.
Sachin V. Tembhurne, Dr. Ashwini R. Madgulkar,
Dr. Virendra S. Ligade Nirali Prakashan.
Page No. 4.1-4.6
3. www.Google.com