Medication Schedule & Pill Chart Maker

About the Medication Schedule & Pill Chart Maker

Turns a prescription into a timetable a patient or a carer can follow: each medicine’s name and strength and its dose as written, when to take it — morning, afternoon, evening, bedtime or at exact times — before or after food, from when and until when, with a tick box for every dose on every day of the chart. Headings can be printed in English with Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu or Gujarati under them, so someone who reads that language better can follow it.

It makes an A4 chart for the fridge door, a wallet card the size of a bank card for doctor visits, and calendar reminders (.ics) that add a daily alarm for every dose to a phone. It never works out, checks or changes a dose: it copies what the prescription says, and every chart reminds you to check the medicines with your doctor or pharmacist. Without a pass the chart and the card are a free preview — page images marked “not for use” — and their PDFs, printing and the reminders unlock with a Pro pass.

Common uses

• A family making a chart for a grandparent who takes six medicines at four times of the day.
• A carer or a nurse at home keeping track of which doses were given.
• A pharmacist handing a patient a printed timetable and wallet card with a new prescription.
• A course of antibiotics that must be finished, with reminders that stop on the last day.

Why a chart helps

WHO’s global patient-safety challenge Medication Without Harm works to reduce severe, avoidable medication-related harm, and its patient tool, 5 Moments for Medication Safety, asks patients and carers to take an active part in using medicines safely. A clear timetable is one of the simplest aids: one line per dose, the same order every day, and a tick that shows whether a dose was taken — useful when several medicines are taken at different times, when a carer or a family member helps, or when a course must be finished.

What it never does

It does not choose, work out, check or change a dose, and it knows nothing about the medicines: the name, strength and dose are text you copy from the prescription or the label. It does not check interactions or whether a medicine suits the patient. If something on the prescription is unclear — the strength, how many times a day, before or after food, for how long — ask the doctor or the pharmacist before you make the chart, and show them the chart if you are unsure.

The calendar reminders

The reminders file follows the iCalendar standard (RFC 5545): one event for every dose, repeating every day from the medicine’s first day to its last (or with no end), with an alarm at its time. Open it on the phone or computer and the calendar adds them; Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook read it. Each dose keeps the same event identifier when you make the file again, so a calendar that matches events by it updates them; others add the events again, so delete the old reminders before you import a changed chart. A reminder is not a guarantee: phones may silence alarms, so keep the chart too.

Languages

The headings and the chart’s own words — the parts of the day, before and after food, “tick each dose” and the reminder to check with the pharmacist — are printed in English with Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu or Gujarati under them. Medicine names and doses are printed exactly as you type them, in any script; type them in the language the patient reads, if the prescription allows. Weekday names come from the browser’s own calendar data.

Limitations

• It copies the prescription and does no medical checking of any kind; it is not a substitute for the doctor’s or pharmacist’s instructions.
• Doses that change from day to day (a tapering course), doses on alternate days or weekly doses need one line for each pattern, or a note.
• The chart covers up to 31 days; make a new one for the next month.
• The wallet card holds a few medicines on each card; a long list continues on more cards.

Privacy

The medicines, doses and the patient’s name stay in this browser on your device (kept as a draft until you start a new chart). The chart, the card and the reminders are made on the device; nothing is uploaded.