RT Book, Section A1 Lofholm, Paul W. A1 Katzung, Bertram G. A2 Katzung, Bertram G. A2 Vanderah, Todd W. SR Print(0) ID 1176980148 T1 Rational Prescribing & Prescription Writing T2 Basic & Clinical Pharmacology, 15e YR 2021 FD 2021 PB McGraw-Hill PP New York, NY SN 9781260452310 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1176980148 RD 2024/04/18 AB Once a patient with a clinical problem has been evaluated and a diagnosis has been reached, the practitioner can often select from a variety of therapeutic approaches. Medication, surgery, psychiatric treatment, radiation, physical therapy, health education, counseling, further consultation (second opinions), and no therapy are some of the options available. Of these options, drug therapy is by far the one most frequently chosen. In most cases, this requires the writing of a prescription. A written prescription is the prescriber’s order to prepare or dispense a specific treatment—usually medication—for a specific patient. When a patient comes for an office visit, the physician or other authorized health professional prescribes medications 67% of the time, and an average of one prescription is written per office visit because more than one prescription may be written at a single visit. On average, patients receive 12.7 prescriptions per year.