About the MAR, or drug chart

What is the MAR?

MAR stands for Medicines Administration Record, which is also known as the drug chart.

You can use the MAR to view all medication prescribed and administered in both the current and previous episode.

Viewing the MAR on a mobile

What you see on a mobile is a medications list. For a view more like the MAR of a desktop, select a medication.

  1. To open the MAR, from Patient list, select a patient, and select Chart.

  2. For more information about a medication, select the medication.

View any attached policies.

Patient’s name, date of birth, and hospital number.

Allergies, VTE assessment, enteral routes, height, and weight.

Select a medication filter to view medications associated with the filter. The filters you see depend on your organisation.

The list is split into sections: Stat and Once Only, Regular, PRN, Continuous Infusions, Fluids, and Stopped.

Fluids, continuous infusions, and Stat and once only prescriptions remain on the chart for 48 hours after administration. Then they are then moved to Stopped.

The administration status of a medication appears next to the prescription.

Filters are at the top of the list. Select a filter to filter by type.

The full name of the medication filter appears below the filters. You can only see one filter at a time.

To remove the filter, select the filter title.

From Patient list > (select a patient) > Chart, select a prescription. A chart opens. This is more like the MAR of a desktop.

  • Swipe left and right to see future and past doses. You can see today, the previous five days, and the next five days.

    Medications with start dates more than five days in the future do not show any due dose information.

  • Select any cell that is not crossed out to see a list of actions.

  • Select cells marked * to view comments.

Viewing the MAR on a desktop

  • From > Clinical pages > Patient list > (select a patient) > Patient detail, select Meds.

    To view the MAR, select .

  • The MAR shows a view of nine days. The past five days, the current day, and the upcoming three days are all on one screen. The current day is highlighted.

  • The MAR is grouped into five sections: Stat and Once Only, Regular Medicines, PRN, Continuous Infusions, and Fluids.

  • Fluids, continuous infusions, and Stat and once only prescriptions remain on the MAR for 48 hours after administration. Then they are then moved to Stopped.

  • Prescriptions with only parenteral routes are highlighted with a teal bar on the left.

  • If a prescription contains an enteral route, no bar is shown. If a prescription includes both enteral and parenteral routes, no teal bar is shown.

  • All administration events are visible on the MAR. If a medication has been given, the time it was administered is displayed.

  • You can change the display in three ways.

    Medication summaries (filters) only appear if the patient has been prescribed a medication from that group. To filter medications, select one or more medication abbreviations. Selected filters are underlined. To return to the standard view, select all underlined filters.

    Compact creates a more concise view of the MAR. To return to the standard view, select Detailed.

    Use the timeline buttons to scroll backwards or forwards to view past and future doses. Select or to move by one day. Select or to move by one week. Select T to return to today.

ARR refers to the arrival status. This is a four-stage process:

ARR⚪⚪⚪

Recording arrival meds has not started.

ARR✔⚪⚪

Some arrival medications have been entered.

ARR✔✔⚪

The medication history has been marked as complete.

ARR✔✔✔

Reconciliation is complete, approved by pharmacist.

TTO refers to the TTO status. This is a five-stage process:

TTO⚪⚪⚪

The TTO process has not yet started.

TTO⚪⚪⚪

The TTO has been started.

TTO✔⚪⚪

The TTO has been sent to pharmacy.

TTO✔✔⚪

The TTO has been approved by pharmacy.

TTO✔✔✔

Pharmacy have dispensed the TTO.

 

Symbols on the MAR
Detailed view Compact view Description

The medication is due in this time period.

The drug ‘due’ period has expired. It is still possible give the medication late, or mark as given retrospectively.

The drug 'due' period has expired, and the next dose is now due. It is still possible to sign the medication retrospectively.

A soft review has been requested (permission based). The medication can be administered as if due but the review will remain until it has been resolved.

The medication was administered at the time shown. The blue corner indicates further information has been recorded. Mouseover the cell to view further details.

The medication has been checked during preparation but has not yet been administered.

The infusion started at the time shown.

A dose has not been set for this medicine. A dose must be set manually before it can be administered, for example, warfarin is permission-based.

When a prescription contains different set doses, the required dose for a specific day or time is shown.

The variable dose has been adjusted or set. Mouseover the cell to view who adjusted the dose.

The dose has been omitted. Mouseover the cell to view details.

The prescription was paused for this period.

The set dose has been administered.

You have recorded a rate change. The cell displays the change time and the current infusion rate.

The syringe has been changed. The cell displays the change time and the current infusion rate.

The infusion is on hold. No further actions can be taken until the infusion has been resumed.

The infusion resumed at the time shown.

The medication can be administered as required.

‘As required’ medication has been administered. The number of administrations is shown in the cell.

Select the cell to place an action on the dose.

The prescription is or was not active for this period. For example, the start date of the medication might not be shown on your current view.

The prescription was not given. Mouseover the cell to view details.

The dose has been delayed. Administer the dose when the reason for delay no longer exists. For example, if the delay was because the dose was not available, it should be given when it arrives from pharmacy.

The prescription is paused for this period. Mouseover the cell to view details.

A review is required before the medication can be administered.

N/A

A dose was given retrospectively and requires a witness check.
Prescription symbols on the MAR

Some information is shown by a symbol next to the prescription on the MAR.

 Schedule 2 controlled medication. The number refers to the schedule number. For example, schedule 3 controlled drugs are represented by CD3.

The next dose of this prescription needs to be reviewed.

The next dose of this prescription needs to be set. This can be used for daily dosed drugs, such as warfarin.

Cytotoxic medications. Your organisation can specify which medications are marked with the cytotoxic symbol.

 

To view details of a medication or fluid, including details and history of the prescription, the order history, administration events, and pharmacy actions, select a medication on the MAR.

  1. Select Meds > .

  2. Select a medication.

  1. To view a MAR from a previous episode, select > Show drug chart from previous episode.

  2. Select a MAR from Previous episodes listed.

  3. The MAR from a previous episode appears under Stopped Medications. The date of discharge is displayed on the top row.

  4. To return to the current MAR, select > Show current episode.

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