How to setup Contraindications

Article: How to setup Contraindications


A contraindication is a condition or factor that will create a caution message or prevent the administering of a medication within the Reach system, based on the potential harm that it may cause to a patient. 

Indications are the reasons why a patient is prescribed or is taking a particular medication.
Contraindication is the opposite, it is a reason why a patient should not take a particular medication.

Contraindications can be added to any medication item within your Reach system as required, and can be setup during the creation of a medication item. These items can also be added, edited, or deleted at any time.

Please Note
Contraindications are part of the Medications Module, this extension module must be added to your schools Reach portal and enabled to access all functions and features.

Quick examples

Contraindications are generally a relationship between two medications, however you can also use contraindications to manage minimum time intervals between dosages of a single medication

Example 1     Panadol 500mg tablets will contraindicate with itself if attempting to be administered < 4hrs apart
Example 2     Paracetamol tablets may contraindicate with Codral cold & Flu medicine, which has Paracetamol as an ingredient



In medicines -  there are two types of contraindications:
Relative contraindications means that caution should be used when two drugs or procedures are used together. This is acceptable to do so if the benefits outweigh the risk.
Absolute contraindication means that event or substance could cause a life-threatening situation. A medicine that falls under this category must be avoided. Many medicines should not be used together by the same person.

How to Add Contraindications

Go To: System Configurations >> Medications

The Medication Management page displays all existing medication items available in your reach portal.
In the 'contra count' column, you will see the number of active contraindications per medication item.
This list of medications and the connected contraindications can be added, edited, or deleted at any time.

Note: 
  1. Contraindications can only be added to an existing medication item
  2. If adding a contraindication when creating a new medication item
    1. First click the Add Medication button, create your new item, then click save and save changes
    2. Then open the new item, now you can add a contraindication 
Once your new/selected item is open, scroll down to the contraindications section, and click Add.
  1. Select the medication item required to set a contraindication
  2. Set the Rule Time for the contraindication.  This rule works with the logic "if < x hours then" implement the restriction set in (3)
  3. Set the Restriction method (Hard or Soft)
    • a Hard restriction will prevent the intended dosage from occurring
    • a Soft restriction will provide a caution or warning alert only and will not prevent the intended dosage from occurring
  4. Set the Description. Describe why the contraindication exists or a description of the required Rule
  5. Set the Message. This is the message that will be provided to the user that is attempting to administer the medication to the student
Please remember to save all changes when creating or editing items and be sure to test new/updated contraindication alerts to ensure they trigger according to purpose, they can be edited at any time as required.



Additional information regarding the dispensary is provided with this tutorial guide; Configuring the Medication Dispensary
Comprehensive information regarding the medications module can be found with this article: Medication Module

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