Goal: Prescribe safely and send the client home knowing how to give it.
Why this matters
Prescribing is one of the highest-stakes things you do in a visit. Get the dose right, catch an interaction, and hand the owner clear instructions, and the patient does well at home. Instinct EMR puts the history, the math, and Plumb’s safety information in one place, so you are never prescribing from memory.
Need a refresher on reviewing diagnostic results? Go back and review Review and Follow Up on Diagnostic Results.
Prefer to click through it first? Take the tour, then come back for the steps.
Step 1: Review prior prescriptions
Before you prescribe, see what the patient is already on.
Click the Prescription icon in the top right of any patient screen.
The panel lists every prescription, including discontinued and voided ones, so you get the full history.
Tip: To see prescriptions across all patients, click the Rx vial icon on the navy left navigation for the Prescription Dashboard. Filter by status, provider, or location, and sort by patient, product, prescribed date, or provider.
Step 2: Dispense a new prescription
Click the Prescription icon and select Dispense.
Search for and select the medication.
Use the dose calculator to set the single dose for the patient.
Enter the instructions, total quantity, and number of Refills. Confirm or adjust the Doctor and Expiration date. Add a Snippet for common instructions if your practice uses them.
Click Prescribe. Instinct EMR opens a PDF of the Rx label to print and posts the charge to the invoice.
Tip: The calculator is your safety check. It runs the dose against the patient weight and shows Plumb’s Monograph, the drug guides, and any safety warning right beside the number. Same check on every prescription, before it reaches the patient.
Heads up: Controlled substances require an estimated days’ supply in the Supply field. It is required for state compliance and feeds the Controlled Substance report. Do not skip it.
Step 3: Refill a prescription
Click the Prescription icon and find the active prescription.
Click the Refill & View Label icon.
Confirm or update the expiration date, then generate the PDF label.
The original Rx entry shows the remaining refill count and the date of last refill.
Heads up: The refill is billed automatically. If the patient is checked out, it posts to their most recent open invoice, or starts a new one if the last is closed.
Step 4: Share the Plumb’s handout with the client
When you prescribe a medication with a linked Plumb’s Drug Handout, Instinct EMR shows a notification in the bottom left. Click Open Drug Handouts to open and print the PDF.
Automatically (when your admin has set up prescription automations)
Instinct EMR emails the handout to the owner the moment you dispense a medication. No extra steps.
Manually (via the medical record)
Open the medical record and add a file block to attach the Plumb’s handout.
From the Comm Log, attach the medical record and email it to the owner.
Once it is on the medical record, the client can also see the handout in the Pet Owner Portal.
👉 Now you try
Setup: Open your practice patient’s chart in your sandbox.
Do: Review the Rx panel for prior or discontinued prescriptions. Then dispense a new medication—search for it, use the dose calculator, and select Prescribe.
Check: Confirm the new prescription appears on the patient’s record, the charge appears on the invoice, and a label PDF is generated.
Done right: The prescription is recorded, billed, and ready to dispense. If a safety warning appeared, you also saw the dose range check in action.