What to do when a medication is missed

How "Missed" status is calculated, when to record outcome 5, and the retrospective recording path.

How "Missed" is calculated

A scheduled dose moves to Missed (red) when the administration buffer expires. The buffer is set in eMAR Settings:

  • Buffer before (default 30 min) — how long before the scheduled time the dose can be recorded as on-time.

  • Buffer after (default 120 min) — how long after the scheduled time the dose still shows as Due now (amber). When this expires the cell flips to Missed (red).

  • Missed-notification delay (default 30 min after the after-buffer ends) — when the alert fires to nominated people.

Worked example. A medication scheduled for 08:00 with a 120-minute after-buffer becomes Missed at 10:00. The missed-notification alert fires at 10:30.

If you genuinely missed the dose

  1. Click the (red) cell. The recorder opens.

  2. Outcome → Missed (code 5).

  3. Type the reason — fell asleep, was off site, forgotten, etc.

  4. Submit.

If you gave the dose but forgot to record it

Use the Retrospective recording flow — see Recording retrospectively. The recording is timestamped with both the actual administration time and the moment of entry, and the timeline shows a violet "Late" badge so the discrepancy is visible to auditors.

Heads up — Don't back-date a recording by typing the original time into the "given at" field. The Retrospective flow exists precisely to keep records honest — using a normal recording for a late entry hides the actual delay.

Last updated 21 May 2026 · by eMAR migration · Suggest a feature or change to this article
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