How to Understand What Your Healthcare Provider's Written (2024)

DAW—Dispense As Written

Medications have brand names and generic names. Your healthcare provider may use either on your prescription. For example, sertraline is the generic name for the brand Zoloft. Zoloft is a medication often prescribed to treat depression.

In many states, pharmacists can give you a generic medication even if your healthcare provider writes a prescription for the brand name version. In some cases, though, your healthcare provider may write "DAW" on your prescription. DAW stands for "dispense as written."

DAW-1 means the doctor is saying that the pharmacist must dispense the brand-name drug. DAW-2 means the patient requested the brand name drug.

Generic drugs are typically less expensive than brand name drugs. Because of this, some insurance plans will penalize you for a DAW prescription. For example, you may have to pay the cost difference between the generic and the brand name drug.

Some health plans utilize step therapy, which means they will require the patient to try the generic or lower-cost alternative first, before they'll pay for a brand-name or higher-cost medication. It's important to understand your health plan's rules for prescription coverage, in order to keep your pharmacy costs as low as possible.

Sig—Instructions That Go On the Prescription Label

"Sig" is short for the Latin "signetur." This means "let it be labeled." You may see this on your prescription just before the directions.

"Sig" tells the pharmacy what they should include on the drug's label. This ensures you will know how and when to take the medication.

Prescription Examples

For a diagnosis of high cholesterol:

• Zocor 10 mg: This is the name of the medication and the dose.
• Sig: i po qhs: Your instructions are to take one pill, by mouth, at bedtime.
• Dispense #90: You will be given 90 pills, enough for about three months.
• Refill 0 times: Your healthcare provider has indicated no refills. This is usually because you will need to see your healthcare provider before continuing the medication. Tests will help determine if the medication is working or you need a different dose.
• DAW left blank: Your pharmacist will most likely give you simvastatin. This is the generic version of Zocor.

For a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes:

• Metformin 500 mg: This is the generic name of the medication and the dose.
• Sig: i po bid pc: Your instructions are to take one pill, by mouth, twice each day, after meals. This means you should take this medication right after breakfast and right after dinner.
• Dispense #180: You will be given 180 pills, enough for three months.
• Refill 3 times: Your healthcare provider has indicated three refills. This is enough medication for one year. This may mean your diabetes is "stable" and well-controlled on this medication.
• DAW left blank: Your pharmacist will most likely give you metformin.

For a diagnosis of high blood pressure:

• Diovan 40 mg: This is the name of the medication and the dose.
• Sig: i po qd: Your instructions are to take one pill, by mouth, once each day. You most likely can take this medication either before or after a meal since your healthcare provider did not say otherwise.
• Dispense #90: You will be given 90 pills, enough for about three months.
• Refill 0 times: Your healthcare provider has indicated no refills. This is usually because you will need to see your healthcare provider before continuing the medication. Tests will help determine if the medication is working or you need a different dose.
• DAW left blank: Your pharmacist will likely give you valsartan. This is the generic version of Diovan.

Summary

There are a wide range of abbreviations that are used for drug prescriptions. And although doctors and pharmacists understand these abbreviations, they aren't always clear to patients. Understanding your prescription can help you prevent a medical error. Always ask your healthcare provider for a copy of your prescription, and ask them to clarify any abbreviations that you don't understand.

In most cases, prescriptions are now transmitted to the pharmacy electronically, which means that illegible handwriting is no longer an obstacle. But that's not always the case, so it's important to make sure that if the prescription is given to you on paper (to take to the pharmacy yourself), you can clearly read what's written. And once the prescription is dispensed, make sure the label matches your healthcare provider's instructions.

A Word From Verywell

Understanding your prescriptions is a crucial part of managing your health care. You need to know what you're taking, and why you're taking it, and and special instructions that go along with the medications (eg, how often you need to take it, whether it should be taken with food, etc.).

Your pharmacist and doctor are both well-versed on making sure that the drugs you're taking are appropriate for your medical needs and won't conflict with each other if you need more than one drug. But the more you understand about all of this, the better off you'll be. If you have any questions at all about your prescription, including an abbreviation you don't understand, be sure to clarify the details with your doctor of pharmacist.

By Michael Bihari, MD
Michael Bihari, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician, health educator, and medical writer, and president emeritus of the Community Health Center of Cape Cod.