1

1
 2

3 major components of a Prescription:

1. Superscription – includes the symbol Rx & Prescriber’s & patient’s details
2. Inscription – includes the ingredients & quantity of the ingredients
3. Subscription - direction to the dispenser & patient, signature, Name & license # of the
prescriber

Parts of A Prescription
A prescription should consist of the following seven parts:
1. Date.
2. Name of the patient and information as to age.
3. Superscription, or heading.
4. Inscription, or main body of the prescription.
5. Subscription, or directions to the compounder.
6. Signatura, or directions for the patient.
7. Prescriber's name.
A prescription is frequently divided into the superscription, including all above the list of ingredients;
the inscription, including the ingredients and their amounts; the subscription, including all below this,
as directions to compounder, directions for patient, and prescriber's name.
A desirable but not essential part of a prescription is a printed heading, giving the prescriber's name,
address, registry number, and other data of interest to the patient and pharmacist.

2
 3

6 Parts of a Prescription
When talking about prescriptions –whether it be with your doctor or if you are analyzing
prescription data—it is important to understand that all prescriptions have 6 parts:

1. Name of the Drug

2. Dosage
3. Route Taken
4. Frequency
5. Amount Dispensed
6. Number of Refills

While this blog is in no way an exhaustive discussion of prescriptions, let’s take a look at each
part:

Part 1—Name of the Drug

Obviously, the name of the drug is important, but did you know that all drugs have two names:
The brand name and the generic name? The brand name is the name assigned by the drug
manufacturer and the generic name is the ‘standard name.’ Now just because a drug has a
generic name, does not mean that it is available in generic form. For example, the commonly
prescribed cholesterol medication, Crestor, has the generic name—Rosuvastatin—but you
cannot purchase generic Rosuvastatin in the U.S. as it is not available in generic form yet.

Another important thing to know about the name of the drug is if the physician writes for the
brand name on the prescription pad and the generic is available, often you can ask for the
generic at the pharmacy. For example, a very common antibiotic is a Z-Pak. Most physicians
write ‘Z-Pak’ on the prescription pad because it is short and easy to write. However, the
antibiotic’s generic name is ‘Azithromycin’ (longer and harder to write). You can often ask for the
generic form instead of the brand name at the pharmacy.

Part 2—Prescription Dosage

The dosage is the strength of the medication. Typically it is expressed in milligrams (mg). Most
medications come in multiple dosages—say 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg. Interestingly, often the
higher dosages do not cost much more or they may even all cost the same. One would think
that the more ‘medicine’ that is in the prescription, the more it would cost, but that is not the
case. So do not necessarily conclude that an 80 mg pill is going to cost 4X more than a 20 mg
pill.

Also, do not let the number scare you as being ‘too high’. It is all relative. For example, 500 mg
of Metformin (common diabetes medication) is a low dose of Metformin, whereas 1 mg of Folate
(commonly prescribed vitamin) is actually a very high dose of Folate. Lower dosages of Folate
actually don’t require a prescription.

Part 3—Route Taken

Most medications are taken orally as pills. The abbreviation for oral is PO (per oral). Some
medications are creams, lotions or gels. Others are drops that are put in the eyes. There are
additional routes as well.

It is important to know/indicate the route taken because sometimes the same medication name
can be taken different routes—say as a pill or as a cream. That different route may completely
change the condition it treats AND the price. For example, Metronidazole is an antibiotic that
can be taken as a pill to treat intestinal infections or it can be applied to the face as a gel to treat
acne or rosacea. Those two forms of Metronidazole can also be a very different price.

Part 4—Frequency
The frequency is how often the prescription medication is taken. There are several common
abbreviations for frequency that you may see on your written prescription from the doctor and
this is what they mean:
qD, qDay or Daily—these all mean once daily. qD is not a good abbreviation because it can be
misinterpreted, so it is actually forbidden in many physician practices and hospitals.

3
 4

BiD—twice daily
TiD—three times daily
QiD—four times daily

Also, when medications are only taken as needed, often the frequency is followed by the letters
‘PRN’—which means as needed. There are many additional frequencies and abbreviations, but
these are the most common.

Part 5—Amount Dispensed

The amount dispensed is the number of pills or the size of the tube of lotion or cream. If a pill is
to be taken once daily for a month, typically the amount dispensed will be 30. Alternatively, the
amount dispensed can be a specified duration of time—for example, ‘dispense 1 month supply.’
If a lotion or cream is prescribed, then typically the amount dispensed is a certain ‘gram tube’
(15 gram tube).

The important thing to note here is that if you take a medication chronically—for months or
years—and you would like to have it filled by mail order (which is often more convenient and
less expensive), then the prescription typically needs to be written for a 90 day or 3 month
supply. You may need to specifically ask the physician to do this and see if it is appropriate for
you.

Part 6—Number of Refills

You and your physician may want to have the medication refilled meaning the number of refills
must also be indicated on the prescription. If the physician does not want the medication to be
refilled, he or she must still indicate ‘Zero Refills’. Keeping track of your refills is very important
and is essentially your responsibility. Most physicians will not proactively keep track of refills or
contact you to let you know you are running out. If you are running low on a chronic medication,
you can look at the bottle or call the pharmacy to find out how many remaining refills you have.
This is vitally important with medications such as Plavix/Clopidogrel (platelet, heart medication)
and Coumadin/Warfarin (blood thinner), where missing a dose could have serious
consequences.

4
 5

Samples of prescriptions:

5
6

6
 7

Sample Labels: