Stop a Medication

You can discontinue a regular or once-off medication because the patient no longer takes this medication for whatever reason.

Discontinuing a regular medication also stops the prescription. You can stop the prescription from either the Medication Summary or Detail tab.
Note: You should only delete medications if the medication was prescribed in error, not as an alternative to stopping a medication.
To discontinue regular or once-off medication from the Medication Summary:
  1. In the Clinical Record, go to the Medication Summary tab.
  2. For the medication you want to discontinue, click Stop.
  3. In the Stop Medication window, enter why the medication is being discontinued. Enter at least 5 characters for most medications except those added to the clinical record as medication history, for which a reason is not mandatory.
  4. From the Date calendar, select the date at which the medication is to be stopped. The stop date cannot be before the date the medication was prescribed.
  5. Click OK.
If the medication is once-off or short course, that medication is stopped. If the medication is regular, it is stopped and all previous prescriptions with an until date in the future are also stopped. On the Medication Summary tab, in the medication list the medication remains listed for the rest of the day, with the following updates:
  • Stopped medications are labelled <Stopped> and displayed in grey text, then removed from the Medication Summary after 24 hours.
  • Medication has been stopped iconMedication has been stopped is displayed
  • Date displayed in the Until column is changed to the stopped date
  • Prefix <Stopped> is added to the medication in the Medication column
  • If you stop an expired, regular medication, it is removed from the Medication Summary immediately.
  • If the stopped medication is included in the current medication request, the medication request is also stopped.

If the medication was prescribed using an ePrescription format, stopped medications are also stopped on the ETP service, such as eRx, as are any repeats.

Stopped medications are removed from the My Health Record.

Stopping a prescription

To stop the current prescription:
  1. In the Clinical Record, go to the Detail tab.
  2. For the current prescription that you want to stop, right-click the medication and select Stop Medication.
  3. In the Stop Medication window, enter why the prescription is being stopped. Enter at least 5 characters for most medications except those added to the clinical record as medication history, for which a reason is not mandatory.
  4. From the Date calendar, select the date at which the prescription is to be stopped. The stop date cannot be after the expiry date of the prescription, nor can it be before the date the medication was prescribed.
  5. Click OK.
On the Detail tab, the medication remains listed, with the following updates:
  • Prefix <Stopped date> is added to the medication in the Item Description column with the stopped date
On the Medication Summary tab,
  • The entry is greyed out
  • Medication has been stopped iconMedication has been stopped is displayed
  • Date displayed in the Until column is changed to the stopped date
  • Prefix <Stopped date> is added to the medication in the Medication column