Medication Line

Medication Line
- Quick Implementation Guide

Quick Implementation Guide

Edition 1 20 [th] May 2010

This document was prepared for NHS Connecting for Health which ceased to exist on 31 March 2013. It may contain references to organisations, projects and other initiatives which also no longer exist. If you have any questions relating to any such references, or to any other aspect of the content, please contact cuistakeholder.mailbox@hscic.gov.uk Copyright: You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-governmentlicence or email psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

1 Introduction Introduction

Medications may be represented electronically in varying degrees of detail as well as in different areas of a user interface. For example:

§ A prescription summary displayed as part of a patient summary

§ A subset of prescription detail displayed in a list of a patient’s current

medications

§ A different subset of prescription detail displayed in an electronic drug

administration schedule

A text description of a medication appearing in such views is referred to in this guidance as a ‘medication line’. The guidance in this document details the content, formatting and layout of medication lines. The guidance applies to all views intended to support medications management for a single patient in a hospital ward

Important

Although it contains all of the guidance points, this document omits supporting information and is therefore not intended as a substitute for the full NHS CUI documents Medication Line [1] . Refer to that document for the definitive statement of the design guidance in this area.

The visual representations used to display the guidance are illustrative only. Stylistic choices (for example, display font used), unless otherwise specified, are not part of the guidance and are therefore not mandatory requirements.

1 Medications Management – Medication Line – User Interface Design Guidance (v2.0.0.0)

2 Introduction

The following examples show how the guidance can be applied to four different styles of medication line in four notional views:

Medication Line 1

diltiazem - CALCICARD CR – modified-release tablet – DOSE 120 mg - oral – three times a day

Medication Line 2

diltiazem - CALCICARD CR – modified-release tablet DOSE 120 mg ROUTE oral – three times a day

Medication Line 3

diltiazem - CALCICARD CR – modified-release tablet DOSE 120 mg - oral – three times a day

Medication Line 4

diltiazem - CALCICARD CR FORM modified-release tablet DOSE 120 mg ROUTE oral FREQUENCY three times a day

3 Guidance

Formatting Drug Names

MEDi-001

Display generic drug names in bold

bold

Mandatory

MEDi-002

diltiazem – CALCICARD CR	Col2

lowercase

Display generic drug names in lowercase (capital letters may still be used for acronyms and abbreviations in some drug names such as amphotericin B, factor VIII, carbomer 974P)

Mandatory

MEDi-003

Display drug brand names in uppercase

uppercase

Mandatory

MEDi-013

generic name

(first)

brand name

Where both the generic name and the brand name appear in a medication line, list the generic name first

Mandatory

4 Guidance

Displaying Numbers

paracetamol - tablet DOSE 1 g - oral – every 6 hours

paracetamol - tablet DOSE 500 mg - oral – every 6 hours

INFANRIX-IPV Vaccine – suspension for injection DOSE 0.5 mL - oral – every 6 hours

MEDi-014

Where possible, avoid the need for decimal points by changing the units without breaking convention

Recommended

MEDi-015

Do not put a trailing zero after a sub-decimal value (that is, ‘0.5’ is correct but ‘0.50’ is incorrect)

Mandatory

MEDi-016

Put a leading zero before a decimal point for values of less than one

Mandatory

MEDi-017

DOSE 5,000 units	Col2

comma

Use a comma to break up numeric values of one thousand and above

Mandatory

5 Guidance

Separators

MEDi-018 paracetamol - 120 mg in 5 mL –

When combining attributes in a

suspension – DOSE 80 mg - oral –

every 6 hours text string, use a long dash (em dash) surrounded by spaces between the attributes

Mandatory

double spaces

MEDi-019

Use a double space instead of a long dash or separator between a drug name and strength when there are multiple drug names in one medication line

Recommended

MEDi-020

Use a double space instead of a long dash or separator between a drug name and strength when the strength is expressed as a percentage

Recommended

Col1	Col2	Col3
paracetamol 500 mg + metoclopramide 5 mg – sachet – `DOSE` 2 sachets – oral – every 4 hours as required – maximum 6 doses in 24 hours	paracetamol 500 mg + metoclopramide 5 mg – sachet – `DOSE` 2 sachets – oral – every 4 hours as required – maximum 6 doses in 24 hours	paracetamol 500 mg + metoclopramide 5 mg – sachet – `DOSE` 2 sachets – oral – every 4 hours as required – maximum 6 doses in 24 hours

double	space

sodium chloride 0.9% – infusion – `VOLUME` 1,000 mL – 40 mL per hour – over 12 hours – intravenous – once only	sodium chloride 0.9% – infusion – `VOLUME` 1,000 mL – 40 mL per hour – over 12 hours – intravenous – once only

6 Guidance

Wrapping

MEDi-010

When wrapping the text of a medication line, do so without breaking up the contents of a attribute will not fit on one line

Mandatory

MEDi-008

Do not allow wrapping to separate a label from a value

Mandatory

MEDi-011

insulin soluble human	Col2	Col3
ACTRAPID	–	100 units per mL
solution for injection	solution for injection	solution for injection
`DOSE`12 units	`DOSE`12 units	`DOSE`12 units
twice a day	twice a day	twice a day

trailing delimiter

haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine solution for injection – DOSE 0.5 mL intramuscular – once only

When wrapping the text of a medication line, keep trailing delimiters with the preceding attribute

Mandatory

MEDi-021

If a long drug name exceeds the available screen space and has to be wrapped, ensure that the drug name is wrapped between words

Mandatory

7

Abbreviation

paracetamol 500 mg + metoclopramide 5 mg – sachet – oral – DOSE 2 sachets every 4 hours as required – maximum 6 doses in 24 hours

sodium chloride 0.9% – infusion – VOLUME 1,000 mL 40 mL per hour – over 8 hours – intravenous – once only

Guidance

MEDi-022

Do not abbreviate drug names

Mandatory

MEDi-023

Use long form names rather than abbreviations or symbols where possible

Recommended

MEDi-024

Do not put a full stop after abbreviations for units (for example mg and mL)

Mandatory

8 Guidance

Truncation

cefotaxime powder for solution for injection – intravenous – DOSE 400 mg every 8 hours

9

MEDi-025

Do not truncate drug names

Mandatory

MEDi-012

If necessary, wrap but do not truncate medication line information

Mandatory

MEDi-054

Do not display a part of the medication line alone if its meaning relies on other parts that are not displayed

Mandatory

Guidance

Symbols

@	At sign

>	Greater than bracket
<	Less than bracket
/	Forward slash
\|Backslash
&	Ampersand
°	Degree

spaces

Col1	Col2	Col3
paracetamol500 mg + metoclopramide5 mg – sachet – oral –`DOSE` 2 sachets – every 4 hours as required – maximum 6 doses in 24 hours	paracetamol500 mg + metoclopramide5 mg – sachet – oral –`DOSE` 2 sachets – every 4 hours as required – maximum 6 doses in 24 hours	paracetamol500 mg + metoclopramide5 mg – sachet – oral –`DOSE` 2 sachets – every 4 hours as required – maximum 6 doses in 24 hours

paracetamol – tablet DOSE 1 g – oral – every 6 hours	Col2

dash

Do not use symbols that may be confused with numbers or otherwise misinterpreted, including those illustrated

Mandatory

MEDi-027

Use the ‘+’ (plus symbol) only for multiple drug name medications and surround it with spaces. When a ‘+’ is displayed adjacent to a ‘4’, separate the two with a double space

Mandatory

MEDi-028

Use alternatives such as a dash or a black dot (�) instead of brackets and separators such as those illustrated that look like the number one

Mandatory

( )	Parentheses
[ ]	Brackets
{ }	Braces

10 Guidance

Text Labels

space

MEDi-009

Use a different font and colour to differentiate labels from values

Mandatory

MEDi-031

Use a space to separate a label from a value

Mandatory

MEDi-032

Do not use a colon after a label

Mandatory

MEDi-033

Display labels in uppercase

Recommended

label value

uppercase

11 Guidance

Text Labels

MEDi-034

Keep the number of text labels in a medication represented as a single-text sentence to a minimum

Recommended

MEDi-029

When a medication is represented as a single-text sentence, use a label for dose only

Mandatory

MEDi-030

When a medication is represented as a series of lines with hard line breaks, labels should appear at the beginning of a new line after a hard line break

Mandatory

12 Guidance

Line Breaks

MEDi-035

When using hard line breaks at set points (such as before a dose), do not use a long dash at the end of the previous line

Recommended

13

Line Spacing

Guidance

line height from 120% to 140%

MEDi-036

When displaying a medication as one or many lines of text, preserve white space between the lines by ensuring that the line height is no less than 120% (120% leading) and no greater than 140% (140% leading)

Recommended

at least 100% of line height

MEDi-037

When displaying a list of medications, ensure that there is a space equivalent to at least one line height of 100% between the last line of one medication line and the first line of the medication line below

Recommended

Col1	Col2
paracetamol – tablet
`DOSE` 1 g– oral – every 6 hours	`DOSE` 1 g– oral – every 6 hours

paracetamol – tablet DOSE 1 g – oral – every 6 hours	Col2


oxycodone– OXYCONTIN – modified-release tablet `DOSE`10 mg – oral – once only	oxycodone– OXYCONTIN – modified-release tablet `DOSE`10 mg – oral – once only

14 Guidance

Displaying Dose

morphine - 2 mg in 10 mL – solution for injection – DOSE 2 mg intravenous – once only

sodium chloride 0.9% – infusion – VOLUME 1,000 mL 40 mL per hour – over 12 hours – intravenous – once only

15

MEDi-007

Provide a text label that reads ‘DOSE’ before a dose

Mandatory

MEDi-038

Display the dose amount and units in bold

Mandatory

MEDi-039

When a dose is expressed as a volume, display the volume amount in bold

Mandatory

MEDi-040

When there is no dose or volume, display a dose equivalent in place of the dose and subject to the same guidance points as a dose. Precede with an appropriate text label

Mandatory

Displaying Dose

DOSE 500 mg	Col2

space

INFANRIX-IPV Vaccine – suspension for injection DOSE 0.5 mL - oral – every 6 hours

Guidance

MEDi-041

Separate the dose amount from the dose units with a space

Mandatory

MEDi-042

Do not put a trailing zero after a sub-decimal value when displaying a dose amount (that is, ‘0.5’ is correct but ‘0.50’ is incorrect)

Mandatory

MEDi-043

Put a leading zero before a decimal point for values of less than one when displaying a dose value

Mandatory

leading zero

MEDi-044

DOSE 5,000 units	Col2

comma

Use a comma to break up numeric values of one thousand and above when displaying a dose value

Mandatory

16 Guidance

Displaying Strength

co-amoxiclav 400 and 57 mg in 5 mL – suspension – oral – DOSE 1.2 mL every 12 hours

heparin - 5,000 units per mL – solution for injection – DOSE 5,000 units - subcutaneous injection – once only

co-codamol - 8 and 500 mg – tablet – oral – DOSE 1 tablet every 4 to 6 hours as required

17

MEDi-045

When describing strengths with an active ingredient in a fluid, use ‘in’ rather than a forward slash ( ‘/’ ) before the fluid quantity

Mandatory

MEDi-046

When describing strengths of an ingredient in a single unit of fluid, use the word ‘per’ to describe the unit of fluid

Mandatory

MEDi-047

When describing a strength for a combination drug whose two strength values use the same unit (such as mg), use the word ‘and’ in a smaller font to join the two strength values and display the units after the second strength value

Mandatory

Displaying Strength

Guidance

MEDi-048

Do not put a trailing zero after a decimal point when displaying numbers in a strength value

Recommended

MEDi-049

Put a leading zero before a decimal point for values of less than one when displaying numbers in a strength value

Recommended

strength

MEDi-050

heparin – 5,000 units per mL – Use a comma to break up

solution for injection –

numeric values of one thousand

DOSE 5,000 units - subcutaneous

and above when displaying

injection – once only

numbers in a strength value

Recommended

18 Guidance

Attribute Order

MEDi-051

1	Drug name
2	Brand name
3	Strength
4	Form
5	Dose or volume
6	Rate
7	Dose duration
8	Route
9	Frequency

morphine - 10 mg in 2 mL – solution for injection – DOSE 2 mg intravenous – once only

oxycodone - OXYCONTIN – modified-release tablet – DOSE 10 mg - oral – once only

When describing a medication as a line of text, adhere to the order illustrated for the display of the medication attributes (as applicable)

Recommended

19

Attribute Order

salbutamol - metered dose inhaler STRENGTH 100 micrograms per dose DOSE 2 puffs ROUTE inhaled every 4 hours as required – maximum 8 puffs in 24 hours

Guidance

MEDi-052

When designing for specific contexts, especially those that need additional text labels and line breaks, display drug name first and display other attributes (in a different order if necessary) from the one defined above

Recommended

MEDi-053

When a medication is not displayed as a single line of text and the attributes of a medication are listed in a different order, use text labels for as many of the illustrated attributes as possible

Recommended