Booking In
The prescription life cycle starts with booking in.
Booking in refers to inputting the prescription's information into a dedicated booking in screen in PTS. Doing so creates a record of the prescription in the PTS database, which will make it appear in any relevant user views ready to be progressed and tracked through the prescription lifecycle in accordance with the prescription type setup.
Booking in is usually done manually as per the directions on this page, but it can automated via the optional e-prescribing module.
More often than not, booking in a prescription will simultaneously produce a barcode label for the prescription so that it can be progressed with a barcode scanner. For certain prescription types (e.g. TTO) a ticket may also be produced to hand to the patient for them to monitor the prescription on an outpatient display screen.
Once booked in the prescription can then be progressed through its sequence of pre-defined dispensing stages (activities) followed, optionally, by collection and delivery.
Accessing the booking in screen
The actions menu can be accessed using the actions menu button at the top right of the screen 
. Click Book-in to open the booking in screen.
Later versions of PTS will prompt you to choose the prescription type from a drop down list before the booking in screen opens. This is largely inconsequential but the reason for this change is discussed in the next section.
The booking in screen
The booking in screen looks like this.
The screen is designed so that it can be filled out with just the keyboard by "tabbing" to the next field, and if any particular field only has one applicable option, the field is skipped over. This will save time as you get used to how the screen works, but it can of course be used like any other web form with the mouse if you prefer.
Prescription details
- Dispensary
The dispensary that the prescription is being booked into. This will usually show the user's pre-defined default dispensary, but can be changed to another dispensary, if applicable. This is to accommodate users who work at multiple sites across the Trust. - Printer
The printer from which to produce the prescription label and ticket. Defaults to the default printer for this dispensary. - Booked-in by
Here you can override the user that is said to be booking in the prescription. Defaults to the current user. This field is sometimes used by Trusts who decide to leave the booking in screen open to save time, meaning the user booking in can just select themselves from this list rather than logging out and back in to PTS with their own account. If the user has their BOOKINUSER permission set to No, they will not be able to change this field and therefore booking in will always be assigned to the current logged in user. - Type
The prescription type being booked in. Each prescription type will have different information, demographics and target time requirements, and the screen will update the required fields once a prescription type is selected. In newer version of PTS the prescription type may have been handled already, in which case this field can just be used to make last minute changes. - Ward
The ward that the prescription belongs to. - Required Date
Each prescription type will have a target time attributed to it, and based upon this PTS will calculate the required date. - Required Time
Similarly PTS will calculate the required time. Both can be amended on this screen if the user has the BOOKINTARGET permission set to Yes. - Request Time
Prescription types can be configured to record when the prescription was requested (prescribed). This allows you to establish how much time elapsed between the prescription being requested to being started. More commonly used in conjunction with e-prescribing; this field will not be displayed if the prescription type does not have this as a required field.
Patient details
- Patient Identifier
The dispensary that the prescription is being booked into. This will usually show the user's pre-defined default dispensary, but can be changed to another dispensary, if applicable. This is to accommodate users who work at multiple sites across the Trust. - Printer
The printer from which to produce the prescription label and ticket. Defaults to the default printer for this dispensary. - Booked-in by
Here you can override the user that is said to be booking in the prescription. Defaults to the current user. This field is sometimes used by Trusts who decide to leave the booking in screen open to save time, meaning the user booking in can just select themselves from this list rather than logging out and back in to PTS with their own account. If the user has their BOOKINUSER permission set to No, they will not be able to change this field and therefore booking in will always be assigned to the current logged in user. - Type
The prescription type being booked in. Each prescription type will have different information, demographics and target time requirements, and the screen will update the required fields once a prescription type is selected. In newer version of PTS the prescription type may have been handled already, in which case this field can just be used to make last minute changes. - Ward
The ward that the prescription belongs to. - Required Date
Each prescription type will have a target time attributed to it, and based upon this PTS will calculate the required date. - Required Time
Similarly PTS will calculate the required time. Both can be amended on this screen if the user has the BOOKINTARGET permission set to Yes. - Request Time
Prescription types can be configured to record when the prescription was requested (prescribed). This allows you to establish how much time elapsed between the prescription being requested to being started. More commonly used in conjunction with e-prescribing; this field will not be displayed if the prescription type does not have this as a required field.