Medical prescription

A prescription in the medical context, often abbreviated as ℞ or Rx in North America, is a formal communication from physicians or other registered healthcare professionals to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient. Historically, it was a physician's instruction to an apothecary listing the materials to be compounded into a treatment—the symbol ℞ (a capital letter R, crossed to indicate abbreviation) comes from the first word of a medieval prescription, Latin recipe (lit. 'you take'), that gave the list of the materials to be compounded. Requirements for content, who may prescribe, and how prescriptions are transmitted vary by country; many jurisdictions use electronic prescribing systems.

Definition and symbol

In law, a prescription in the medical context is a written or electronic order for a medicinal product or medical device issued by a health professional—such as a physician, physician assistant, dentist, or veterinarian—who is legally entitled to prescribe within the jurisdiction where it is issued. In pharmacy usage, the term prescription generally refers to instructions for medicines that patients obtain from a pharmacy or doctor's office and take themselves outside the hospital. This contrasts with medication orders, which are recorded in hospital or institutional charts to guide nurses and other staff in administering medicines directly to inpatients.

Prescriptions may be issued on paper, electronically, or, where it is permitted, verbally (e.g., by telephone). Paper prescriptions normally require the prescriber's handwritten signature and the date of issue. In some jurisdictions, a digital signature may be accepted, while prescriptions for controlled drugs often carry additional legal requirements, such as a handwritten signature, specified wording, or security features. Electronic prescriptions are accepted in many jurisdictions, and verbal prescriptions, when accepted, are subject to restrictions and read-back procedures to reduce error.