Instructions [Text] Medication Narrative

Instructions Medication

Definition

Sig's are the provider's instructions on how to take a medication. They usually follow immediately after the drug name and strength on a written prescription. "Sig" is a shortened version of the Latin word Signetur, meaning "let it be labeled." The following prescriptions contain two examples of Sigs, starting with "take...": Thyroxin 150 ug, take one tab by mouth every morning or Azitrhrommcyin 5 day pack, take 500 mg (2 tabs) on day one and 1 tab (250 mg) on day 2 through 5. May take with food but not antacids This term was created for HL7's Consolidated CDA (C-CDA) to explicitly identify the free text Sig within each medication. The C-CDA is a library of clinical CDA templates named in Meaningful Use regulation to support transition of care. The availability of the free text Sig makes it easier for providers to write prescriptions and get a compact and readable list of their patients' active medications in a grid format with one column for the drug name and strength, another column for the sig, and (usually) fitting one active medication per row.