Open Dental drug interaction alerts occur when you write new paper Paper Prescriptions using a template that has interaction alerts set up. Interaction alerts can be based on a medication, allergy, and/or problem. They are always enabled and you cannot turn them off. Set the behavior of alerts by adding or removing alert rules in a prescription template.

EHR users: In EHR Measure Reports, paper prescriptions for permissible drugs count towards the denominator, but not towards the numerator. Thus, only rely on paper prescriptions and its drug interaction checks if you qualify for the e-prescribing exclusion (write less than 100 prescriptions).

Triggering Alerts

For alerts to be triggered, two conditions must be met:

1. The patient must have the problem, medication, or allergy.
2. You must create a paper prescription using the template that contains the alert.

When you select the template, the check will occur and the alert message will show.

High significance alerts are always triggered. To also show low significance alerts, uncheck Only show high significance Rx alerts in EHR Settings.

Set Up Alert Rules

Alert rules are created in a prescription template. To ensure alerts work correctly, make sure the Problem List, Medications List, and Allergy List do not contain duplicates.

1. In the Main Menu, click Lists, Prescriptions.
2. Click Add to create a new prescription template, or select an existing one.
3. Enter or verify the prescription information.
4. Create the alert. Click Problem, Medication, or Allergy, then double click an item to select it from the master list.
   

   To set up alerts for a category of drugs, add an alert for each medication in the category that you might prescribe. For example, if you add an allergy to NSAIDs, you might add alerts for Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and Naproxen. Each item you select will list in the Alert box.

5. To review the conditions that will generate the alert, or to customize the alert message, double click on the alert.
   

   To customize the message, enter it as the alternate. If this is a High Significance alert, check the box. Click OK to save.

6. Click OK to save the prescription template.