Administration of the vial medications with SmartFlow may be slightly different than for the other drugs. On the one hand, you need to keep medical records indicating the actual dose given to the patient, on the other hand, you need to bill only for each new vial opened. In this case, we recommend following the steps below.


For example, we want to dispense a bottle of Cefazolin 1g/ml (10 ml vial) to a patient, charging not for the medication administered in ml but for each new vial opened during the patient's treatment. To do this, your manager will need to create two separate parameters in SmartFlow: one is not billable to capture dosing on the patient's Flowsheet, and the other for billing.


1. Create a new unmapped (PIMS Name should remain blank) parameter in the Medication section (find more information on how to create a new parameter in THIS article). Please name the parameter accordingly, indicating medication dosage & name (learn how to name drugs correctly) and make sure that PIMS/EMR Events is switched to OFF. When ready, click Save:


2. Create another billable parameter under the Procedure section and map it as follows:


3. See how these items will appear on the Parameters settings page:


NOTE: Please make sure that you have all vial medication parameters created and mapped before using them on the patient's Flowsheet.


4. Then you can add both parameters to the patient's Flowsheet and execute as usual:


In our example, the parameter - 1 Cefazolin (in the Medication section) is used to prescribe the dosing and frequency of injections, but no billing occurs when you execute it. The second parameter - 1 Cefazolin vial (under Procedure section) initiates invoicing of a full vial as soon as you insert your initials into the cell (find more on how how to distinguish between billable and non-billable items on the Flowsheet HERE). Thus, you can dose the patient as many times as needed in the Medication section, and charge only when a new vial is opened in the Procedure section.


NOTE: Sometimes it's helpful to create a picker-list that lists all vials in one place:
 

So you can simply choose which vial is open without adding multiple parameters to the Procedure section:


Please keep in mind that you cannot choose two different medications at the same time.


For the correct billing, all the picker-list options should be billable and mapped correctly with your PIMS/EMR as described in step 2 above.


We hope you found this information useful!