Since then I have dedicated myself to creating a system that would allow me to accurately verify a prescription time and time again. What got me through that first day though (and many others following) was a thought process that I still use today, almost a decade later… I verify prescriptions using the same order that I would use to enter the information from the script into the computer. All the other details were a matter of trial and error that all stem off of this central thought process.

I continued with only this method for a few years with success, but still, occasionally, I would miss something. It was not until I thought about the sequence of comparing the script to the vial that I really turned the corner – this was my first big breakthrough. I discovered you must look at the script, then interpret it, then think about what you would type into the computer, and then, and only then, look at the labeled vial. This system brought my dispensing errors to a fraction of where they were (to where they should be).

This sequence concept later carried over into another area as well. The very first step in checking any prescription is choosing which prescription to check. I always look at the label on the script first, and then find the corresponding vial by looking at the drug name printed on the vial, and not by looking at the contents of the vial (that’s the second step).