Building Formulas

Estimated reading: 11 minutes

The Formula Builders are dynamic, which means depending on the settings of the formula builder, there may be different options you see. Building a custom formula for Raw/Bulk Herbs compared to tinctures may be different. The important thing to understand is the different dosing methods or ways of calculating how much of each ingredient (herb) is in the formula.

Dosage Modes Overview

Dispensaries can rename these dosage modes to something different, but they cannot change how they calculate the total quantity received for each ingredient.

There are 3 different types of dosages modes

Total Quantity / Percentage
Per Day or Daily Dose
Per Container / Per Bag

To Learn More About Dosage Modes & Watch a short video, click here

Create New Formula

To create a new formula, you will go to the left navigation and choose the type of formula you want to build. It will be in a drop down menu called “Formulas” or something similar.

You can also edit an existing formula, these are located under your saved formula list, or you can edit any prescribed formula from the following locations.

Patient Profile > Order History > Formulas
Order History (Open up any order, and you can view the items ordered, and edit any formula previously ordered.
On the dashboard there are recent formulas listed, you can edit these formulas.

Section of Formula Builder

The Formula Builder is split between <<#>> Sections. Your dispensary may have turned certain sections OFF, and they could even appear in a different order than this list and any screenshot or video in this help section.

General Details
Formula Options
Dosage Information
Ingredients
Preparation Details
Add On Services
Refill Options
Your Markup
Formula Pricing
Instructions for Dispensary

General Details

The first section of the formula builder is the General Section. The following fields/options will be shown in the general section. The fields can be reordered and renamed by the dispensary admin.

Patient Name
Choose an existing patient from the drop down. If the list is too long, you can search for the patient by typing their name.

Add Patient
Add a new patient by clicking on this button. It will open up the add patient screen in a new page.

Formula Name
Enter a Formula Name. Every formula requires a name. There may be restrictions on how long the formula name can be.

Dosage Mode
Your default dosage mode will be selected but you can change it to a different dosage mode if another one is enabled. To set a default dosage mode, go to Formula Settings and configure the formula builder.

Formula Type
The formula type is the name of the formula builder, such as Granule, Tincture, Concentrate. If you select a different formula type, it will convert your existing formula to a different formula builder. The system will attempt to find ingredients that match ingredient names you have already selected.

Share Formula
You can set the formula as private or shared. If shared, the formula will be available to other practitioners who are members of the dispensary. Patient information will not be shared, only formula information.

Formula Options

This section lets you specify important information about your formula. The following fields may be shown on the formula builder, but please remember than not every formula builder is going to have ALL of these options.

Ingredients and Measurements

This field specifies which ingredient types are available to choose when adding ingredients to your formula. If you untick an option, it will not be available for you to select in the formula ingredient section. For example if you add granule ingredients to your formula and then uncheck “granules” these items will be removed from your formula. Some formula builders allow you to choose which measurement type you want to use. For example, you could build a tincture formula in either ml or fluid ounces. You can use the drop down to select the measurement type.

Capsules / Tablets / Softgels

If you want your formula to be put into Capsules, Tablets and Softgels, you can select “YES” in the drop down. Another drop down will appear to let you select an available option. These options will differ from each dispensary, but typically specify the number of capsules and a weight or volume range that the formula must be so the ingredients (herbs) properly fit into the capsules. If you select an option and there is a range of 95g to 105g, and you create a formula outside this range, the system will not allow you to complete or save the formula. You could change the total quantity of the formula or select a different option from the dropdown if one is available.

If the formula builder allows more than one option of Capsules, Tablets or Softgels, you will only be allowed to choose one option. You cannot put part of your formula in capsules and part of the formula in softgels.

Number of Days

Enter the number of days for the formula. On the daily dose mode, this value will be mandatory. There is also a day value in the dosage inputs ( see below). Entering a day value here or in the dosage inputs does not matter, they will always match each other.

Quantity Received

This field is only available on the Total Quantity / Percentage Dosage Mode. It allows the herbalist to enter the exact final quantity they want for the formula. The number of decimal places allowed is dependent on the Admins settings for the formula builder. If you enter more decimals than what is permitted, the system will automatically round the number. This field could be a drop down where it will let you choose a specific quantity (volume or weight). The formula builder may force you to choose a predefined weight or volume and not allow you to enter any value.

If a formula has both weight and volume in the same formula, the total quantity received box will not appear.

Container Quantity

Enter the number of containers for the formula. This field is mandatory on the “Per Container” dosage mode. This field could be a drop down where you can choose a predefined container quantity, and it can also be a forced selection, which means you would not be able to enter any value you want, but instead would have to choose a container quantity from the drop down.

Dosage Information

The dosage information pertains to how much of the formula you want the end user (patient or client) to consume each day and how frequently. There are 3 sections in the dosage information section which may be seen when creating or editing a formula.

1. Dosage Inputs

2. Dosage Calculation

3. Write your Own Dosage Instructions

Dosage Inputs

The dosage inputs allow you to specify the dosage amount, dosage frequency and number of days for the end user of the formula. The dispensary admin can alter the dosage inputs and add additional fields and static text. The dosage inputs will be printed on the label and infosheet. If you do not want the dosage inputs to appear, uncheck the box and they will disappear. The Dispensary Admin can make these mandatory, and there will be no check box if its mandatory.

Dosage Calculation

To ensure your dosage inputs are correct, it will display it as the end user will see it.

After you enter your dosage input selections, the system will calculate the total quantity as a weight or volume. The total quantity can automatically sync with the Quantity received box in Formula Settings. You can set it to sync or not sync if you go to the Formula settings for the specific formula builder and set the amount to match the quantity received to ‘yes’. You can always override the sync, and change the quantity received in formula options, but if you change the dosage inputs, it will sync again even if you made a change.

Formula Settings Option

Write Your Own Instructions

You can write your own dosage instructions in the box provided. The dosage instructions will be printed on both the label and infosheet based on the Admin Settings. There may be a character limit set by the dispensary admin, and it will show you maximum number of characters allowed and how many characters remain as you enter text. The dosage inputs may not be sufficient and this text area lets you write additional data about dosages for the end user. If you do not want to use this section, you can uncheck it, or leave it blank.

Ingredients

The Ingredient Section is where you add your herbal ingredients to the formula. There are many ways of adding ingredients to your formula.

Manually Add Ingredients

You can manually add ingredients one by one by searching for them in one of the columns based on the ingredient name type ( pinyin, english, latin, chinese, sanskrit, japanese, chinese, korean etc)

My Saved Formulas

You can choose a previously saved formula by selecting it, and the ingredients and dosage amounts for each ingredient will automatically populate into the ingredient section. You can select more than one formula at a time or remove formulas already selected. It will not add duplicate ingredients if you select multiple formulas.

Template Formulas

The dispensary admin may provide template formulas, which are generally common base formulas you can add easily to your formula.

Patient Formulas

If you select or tag a patient to the formula in the general details section, their previously prescribed formulas will be available for you to select and add easily to the formula

Favorite Formulas

You can mark formulas as Favorites in your formula list (my formulas) by clicking on the heart icon. Any formula marked as a favorite will appear in the list, and can be populated into the formula ingredient section.

Advanced Search

You can click on the search button and use the advanced search to filter ingredients based on ingredient type, category, flavor, taste and other filters to easily add them to your formula.

Preparation Details

The Preparation Details section allows practitioners to enter important instructions about how the formula should be prepared and taken. This information appears only on the infosheet, not the label, as the label typically lacks space for detailed guidance.

Preparation Details Templates

To save time you can create preparation templates, especially with long form preparation details. Instead of typing everything out over and over again, you can select a premade template. To create a template of your own, go to Settings > Formulas and edit the formula builder options and choose Preparation templates.

Add on Services

Add On Services are additional options for your formula and will be different for each dispensary. Typical add on services include

Add Spoon
Grind Herbs
Decoct Formula

The add on service may be free or it may include a fixed fee and/or percentage of ingredient additional cost. You can select an add on service by ticking the empty box in top left hand corner. The additional charges will display in the pricing section below.

Refill Options

Refills allow patient to order the formula again in the future in the patient account. Practitioners can set the total number of refills, how often the patient can order the refills (in days) and when it expires. If you do not want to enable refills, you can leave all fields blank.

Default Refill Settings
You can set default refill settings if you go to the settings options for the formula builder.

Markup

Practitioner can mark up an order to make a profit. You can choose between “Fixed Amount” and “Percentage”. The formula price will increase based on the option.

Formula Pricing

The formula pricing section outlines the entire cost of the formula. It will include the following

Ingredients Price
Add On Service Pricing
Formula Fees
Markup
Total Price

Please note that patients will not see the markup amount, and will only be able to view the entire cost of the formula including the markup.

Dispensary Instructions

Use this section to leave notes for the dispensary admin or the person preparing your formula. Patients will not see these notes unless the dispensary specifically chooses to include them on the infosheet. By default, assume this information is not shared with patients.

Next Steps

You can choose to Review and Add the Formula to your Cart, or you may just want to save the formula. Choose an option at the bottom of the page. Once the item has been added to your cart (from the review page) you can then checkout your order and submit it to be prepared.

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Dosage Modes Explained