Guidelines for Prescribing Outpatient Treatment Medications Applicable in 2018

1. Principles for Prescription Writing

- Prescription is allowed only after medical examination and diagnosis results are available;

- Prescriptions must achieve safety, rationality, and effectiveness. Priority should be given to prescribing single-substance drugs or generic medicines;

- The prescription and the quantity prescribed must comply with one of the following documents: Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment, Guidelines for Treatment and Care of HIV/AIDS, and Article 6 of Circular 21/2013/TT-BYT;

- The quantity of medicine must be sufficient for use but not exceed 30 days, except for the prescription of addictive drugs, psychoactive drugs, and precursors;

- Prescriptions must not include drugs or substances not intended for disease prevention or treatment, unapproved drugs in Vietnam, dietary supplements, or cosmetics.

2. Mandatory Content in Prescriptions

- Fill in clearly, completely, and accurately all the items printed on the Prescription or in the patient's medical record;

- Record the patient's permanent or temporary residence address: house number, street, residential group or hamlet/village, commune/ward/commune-level town, district/district-level town/provincial city, province/city;

- For children under 72 months old, record the number of months old, and the name and identity card number or citizen identification number of the father, mother, or guardian;

- Prescribe medication according to the following regulations:

a) Drugs with a single active ingredient:

- By International Nonproprietary Name (INN, generic); For example: for a drug with the active ingredient Paracetamol 500mg, write the drug name as follows: Paracetamol 500mg;- By International Nonproprietary Name + (trade name); For example: for a drug with the active ingredient Paracetamol 500mg with the trade name A, write the drug name as follows: Paracetamol (A) 500mg.

b) Drugs with multiple active ingredients or medical biologics should be written by trade name.

- Record the drug name, concentration/dosage, quantity/volume, dosage, route of administration, and timing for each type of medication. If the prescription includes a poison drug, the poison drug must be recorded first before other medications;

- The quantity of addictive drugs must be written in words with the first letter capitalized;

- The quantity of drugs having a single-digit (less than 10) must have a leading zero;

- In case of amendments to the prescription, the prescriber must sign next to the modification;

- Cross out the remaining blank space from below the prescription content to above the prescriber’s signature from top to bottom, left to right; sign, and write (or stamp) the full name of the prescriber.

Additionally, Circular 52/2017/TT-BYT provides guidelines on prescribing addictive drugs; addictive drugs for pain relief in cancer patients or AIDS patients; psychoactive drugs, and precursors.

More details can be found in Circular 52/2017/TT-BYT issued by the Ministry of Health, effective from March 1, 2018.

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