Verify a medication order

Every medication order a clinician places arrives in the pharmacy worklist for your review. Check the dose, route and interactions in Forge, the order system, then confirm the order is safe to dispense or raise a query for the prescriber.

Where verification sits

A medication order moves through an operational sequence beside its status. It is ordered, submitted to pharmacy, verified, dispensed, received in the ward, and administered. Your review is the verification step, between submitted to pharmacy and dispense.

Review the order

1. 1

   Open the order from your worklist

   Select the medication order in your pharmacy worklist. Forge shows the orders routed to your pharmacy, so the list holds the ones that are yours to act on.

   The order opens with a status of Submitted and an operational step of submitted to pharmacy.

   If the order you expect is absent, widen the ward filter at the top of the list.

2. 2

   Confirm the patient

   Read the identity banner at the top of the order. It carries the patient's name, ward and a colour drawn from their record, so a mismatch stands out.

   The banner names the patient the order belongs to.

   If the banner shows a different patient, close the order and open the right one from the list.

3. 3

   Check what was ordered

   Read the ordered detail: the drug, the dose, the route and the frequency. Forge shows exactly what the prescriber placed, held as the ordered snapshot from the moment of the order.

   The dose, route and frequency read as the prescriber set them.

   If a value looks unusual for this patient, raise a query rather than adjust it yourself.

4. 4

   Review the safety flags

   Forge shows any allergy, interaction or dose flag beside the order, with a colour, an icon and words. Read each one.

   Each flag names what it concerns and how serious it is.

   A hard stop, such as a severe allergy match or a dose above the safe ceiling, holds the order until a prescriber with the right permission clears it on the record. A softer advisory, such as a moderate interaction, is acknowledged, and the order proceeds.

5. 5

   Clear the gate banners

   Two banners can sit above the action buttons. A cosign banner shows the order waits for a second clinician to cosign. A pre-authorisation banner shows an insurance approval is pending.

   With both banners clear, the Verify button is ready.

   If a banner still shows, the order stays Submitted. The banner names who resolves it, so pass it on.

6. 6

   Verify the order

   When the dose, route and flags are sound and the banners are clear, select Verify.

   The order moves from Submitted to In progress, and the operational step reads pharmacy verified. The record shows you as the verifier, with the time.

   If a question remains open, raise a query instead.

Raise a query

When the review leaves a question, hold the order for the prescriber rather than verify it.

1. 1

   Hold the order

   Select Hold and choose a reason from the list. Add a short note describing the question.

   The order shows On hold, and dispensing waits.

2. 2

   Let the prescriber respond

   The held order appears on the patient's orders for the prescriber, with your reason and note. The prescriber adjusts the order or resumes it.

   The order returns to In progress once the prescriber resumes it.

   If the ordered medication needs a change, handle a substitution.

Common questions

Dispense the medication once the order is verified. Read how at dispense a medication.