Bags
Bag barcodes are used to collect and deliver multiple prescriptions at once. Using bags is not mandatory as additional scanning is required to put each prescription into the bag, however the result of this is solid safeguarding against putting the wrong prescription into a bag, meaning delivery errors can be prevented before they happen.
The alternative to using bags is to group deliveries automatically by ward or some other parameter. While this requires no additional scanning, there is more chance of random prescriptions being incorrectly marked as collected/delivered.
Bags are assigned to specific wards, and optionally specific prescription types, meaning it is trivial for the system to warn when a particular prescription does not belong in there.
The term ‘Bag’ is used to mean the generic type of container that will be used to deliver prescriptions in. This is usually a zip up courier bag with a clear window for a bag label insert, but of course it can take many physical forms.
Bag barcodes are designed to be re-used.
Use of bags requires the recording of delivery. Bags are only considered empty and ready for re-use when its prescriptions have been delivered, so trying to add additional prescriptions to it without this step will trigger its safeguarding measures. As delivery obviously takes place outside the pharmacy, for this reason bags are best suited for users of the delivery app.
Accessing the setup page
Like many of the different PTS utilities, setup is found in the left-hand side bar.
Hover over the sidebar with the mouse cursor and the side bar will expand. Select Setup to reveal a drop-down list of the various setup pages you have permission to access.
To choose a setup page click on its name in the list to be taken to the setup page.
PTS 5 is the most user configurable version of our Prescription Tracking System to date. As a result parts of this Wiki assumes that the reader has permission to access the elements of the system in question. If you don't see specific items and utilities where they are supposed to be you may not have permission to access them.
Adding new bag
To create a new bag access the actions menu by clicking on the actions menu icon at the top right of the page, then from the actions menu click the New Bag button.
Unlike most of the other setup pages you will be asked for a few details so PTS can help you create multiple bags at once:
- Wards
Select the wards whose prescriptions can be added to the bag. If a prescription does not belong to one of the selected wards, PTS will not allow you to add it to the bag. - Prescription Types
Optional. Select the prescription types that can be added to the bag. If a prescription does not belong to one of the selected types, PTS will not allow you to add it to the bag. Alternatively leave this field completely blank to allow the bag to accept prescriptions of any type. - Set Bag Type
Optional. This is a free format field allowing you to group types of bag together on delivery manifests. - Number of Bags
Choose the number of bags you would like to create using these parameters. - Multiple wards / bag?
Tick this box to create bags that allow for all the selected wards to be added to them. Leave the box blank to create individual bags for each selected ward, multiplied by the "number of bags" setting.
Click OK when you're done.
Editing existing bags
To edit an existing bag, select the bag you wish to amend by clicking on its entry in the list to load the bag popup (note clicking the tickbox has another dedicated function).
Bag popup
The bag popup appears after clicking on a bag in the list to edit it.
Enter the following information and click the Save button to finish editing the bag.
Bag details tab
- Description
The name of the bag. Here you can change the name that was previously automatically generated.
Wards tab
This section allows you to define which ward's prescriptions can be added to the bag.
Click on the Plus button to select from the list of ward that have been created on the wards setup page. You can assign bags to multiple wards.
To remove a previously added ward from the list, click the Delete button (this does not delete the ward from the system, it just removes them from this list).
Prescription types tab
This section allows you to define which prescription types can be added to the bag.
Click on the Plus button to select from the list of prescription types that have been created on the prescription types setup page. You can assign bags to multiple prescription types.
To remove a previously added prescription type from the list, click the Delete button (this does not delete the prescription type from the system, it just removes them from this list).
Printing bag barcodes
To begin, select the bags for which you want to generate barcodes by ticking the tick box to the left of their entries in the list. You can select multiple bags at once. Once you've done so the Actions Menu will slide in from the right-hand side of the webpage.
Click on the Print Barcodes button and the available printers will be listed, along with the option to print a QR code for use exclusively with 2D barcode readers.
Click on the printer you want to use and the barcode label will be printed. If you chose Browser Printing then your web browser will handle the print job as opposed to PTS and a print preview will be displayed along with the option to choose an attached printer.
Available barcodes
- Bag
Used to add prescriptions to the bag, and subsequently can be used to collect and deliver the bag. - Collection barcode
For convenience you can print the standard PTS collection barcode on the bag label, to save the user from looking around for it. This is the same standard collection barcode that can be printed from the miscellaneous setup page.
It's worth reiterating that even though collection can be achieved with a barcode scanner, hence its inclusion here, the subsequent delivery all but mandates the use of the PTS 5 delivery app.