Rational prescribing
How to choose the right medicine for the right patient, write a clear and legal prescription in Colombia, and avoid common errors.
WHO defines rational use of medicines as patients receiving medicines suited to their clinical needs, in doses that meet their own requirements, for an adequate time and at the lowest cost to them and their community. Prescribing well is a skill with steps that can be learned, and a written prescription is a legal document with set contents.
Steps of good prescribing
- Define the patient's problem (diagnosis).
- Specify the therapeutic objective.
- Choose a treatment, drug or non-drug, by efficacy, safety, suitability for this patient and cost; essential medicines lists and guidelines help.
- Write a complete prescription.
- Give the patient information, instructions and warnings.
- Monitor, and decide when to stop.
Irrational use
WHO's examples include too many medicines per patient, antimicrobials for non-bacterial infections, injections when oral forms would do, prescribing that ignores clinical guidelines, and self-medication with prescription-only medicines. Irrational use wastes money, causes adverse reactions and drives antimicrobial resistance.
The prescription in Colombia
Under Decreto 2200 de 2005 (now compiled in Decreto 780 de 2016), only authorised health personnel prescribe, after evaluating the patient and recording the diagnosis in the clinical record. The prescription is written in Spanish, clearly and legibly, using the generic name (DCI), without erasures or unapproved abbreviations.
- Prescriber's name, contact details, signature and professional registration.
- Place and date; patient's name, identity document and clinical record number.
- Drug name in DCI, concentration and pharmaceutical form, route, dose and frequency, duration, and total quantity in numbers and words.
- Any further instructions, and the prescription's validity.
Avoiding errors
Write instructions in full rather than with abbreviations. Avoid trailing zeros and naked decimal points, which can multiply a dose tenfold. Check allergies, kidney and liver function, pregnancy and interacting drugs. Be alert to look-alike, sound-alike names. Explain to the patient what the medicine is for and how long to use it, and ask them to repeat it back.
Medication safety culture
WHO's third Global Patient Safety Challenge, Medication Without Harm, targets high-risk situations, polypharmacy and transitions of care, and asks patients to Know, Check and Ask about their medicines. Reporting errors and near misses, without blame, helps systems learn.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
According to WHO, what makes the use of a medicine rational?
The medicine suits the patient's clinical need, in a dose that meets their requirements, for an adequate time, at the lowest cost to them and their community.
Which name must be used for the drug on a Colombian prescription?
The Denominación Común Internacional (DCI), the international non-proprietary (generic) name.
Why are trailing zeros (for example, a dose written with '.0') dangerous?
If the decimal point is missed, the dose can be read as ten times larger.
What are the three priority areas of WHO's Medication Without Harm?
High-risk situations, polypharmacy and transitions of care.
Example drugs
Connections
Educational content on how drugs work; not a prescribing guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. No doses are given.
Sources: Promoting rational use of medicines (World Health Organization, 2026); Decreto 2200 de 2005 (Normograma INVIMA (Ministerio de la Protección Social, Colombia), 2005); Medication Without Harm (World Health Organization, 2026).
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.