PTCB Order Entry & Processing Practice Questions
Order Entry & Processing makes up 11 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest PTCB practice test. Here are 10 of the 44 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Weighted to the PTCB PTCE content outline effective January 2026. Federal law only; state rules vary.
1. A prescription for cephalexin 500 mg reads: 1 cap po bid x10d. How should the technician interpret this sig?
- A.Take 1 capsule under the tongue twice daily for 10 days
- B.Take 1 capsule by mouth twice daily for 10 days
- C.Take 1 capsule by mouth every other day for 10 days
- D.Take 1 capsule by mouth twice daily for 10 doses
Answer: B. Po means by mouth, bid means twice daily, and x10d means for 10 days. Every other day would be written qod, an error-prone abbreviation, and 10 doses would be only 5 days of therapy.
2. A technician receives a prescription for ciprofloxacin 0.3% ophthalmic solution with the sig ii gtt os qid. What does this sig mean?
- A.Instill 2 drops in the right eye four times daily
- B.Instill 2 drops in both eyes four times daily
- C.Instill 2 drops in the left ear four times daily
- D.Instill 2 drops in the left eye four times daily
Answer: D. Ii is the Roman numeral 2, gtt means drops, os means left eye, and qid means four times daily. Od is the right eye and ou is both eyes; because these are easily confused with each other and with the ear codes, ISMP recommends writing out right eye, left eye, or both eyes.
3. A patient's prescription for ondansetron 4 mg reads: 1 tab po q8h prn nausea. Which interpretation is correct?
- A.Take 1 tablet by mouth every 8 hours as needed for nausea
- B.Take 1 tablet by mouth every 8 hours around the clock
- C.Take 1 tablet by mouth every 8 hours before meals for nausea
- D.Take 1 tablet by mouth 8 times daily for nausea
Answer: A. Q8h means every 8 hours and prn means as needed, so doses are taken only when nausea occurs, no more often than every 8 hours. Around-the-clock dosing ignores the prn, and 8 times daily misreads q8h.
4. On a prescription sig, what do the abbreviations ac and hs mean, respectively?
- A.Before meals; every hour while awake
- B.As needed; half strength
- C.Before meals; at bedtime
- D.After meals; at bedtime
Answer: C. Ac comes from the Latin ante cibum (before meals) and hs from hora somni (at bedtime). After meals is pc, and ISMP lists hs as error-prone because it can also be read as half strength.
5. A patient's prescription for a once-daily medication reads: 1 cap po qam pc. When should the patient take the capsule?
- A.Every morning before breakfast
- B.Every evening after dinner
- C.Every morning after breakfast
- D.Every morning on an empty stomach
Answer: C. Qam means every morning and pc (post cibum) means after meals, so the capsule is taken after breakfast. Before breakfast or on an empty stomach would be ac, the opposite of pc.
6. A prescriber writes 'brand medically necessary' on a prescription for Synthroid. Which DAW code should the technician enter when billing?
- A.DAW 1
- B.DAW 0
- C.DAW 2
- D.DAW 5
Answer: A. DAW 1 means substitution is not allowed by the prescriber, so the brand is dispensed and billed as brand. DAW 2 is used when the patient, not the prescriber, requests the brand, and DAW 0 means no product selection was indicated.
7. A technician receives a prescription for lisinopril 10 mg: Disp #XC, sig i tab po tid. What quantity is dispensed and what is the days supply?
- A.110 tablets; 36 days
- B.40 tablets; 13 days
- C.90 tablets; 45 days
- D.90 tablets; 30 days
Answer: D. XC is 100 minus 10, or 90 tablets, and i tab tid is 3 tablets per day, so 90 / 3 = 30 days. Reading XC as 110 adds the X instead of subtracting it, and 45 days would be the result for twice-daily dosing.
8. A prescription for a methylprednisolone 4 mg dose pack reads: take ud. What does ud mean on this prescription?
- A.Under the tongue
- B.As directed
- C.Every day
- D.Until discontinued
Answer: B. Ud stands for ut dictum, meaning as directed, which for a dose pack refers to the printed taper schedule on the package. Under the tongue is sl, and every day would be written out as daily.
9. A technician receives a prescription for amoxicillin 250 mg/5 mL, sig 500 mg po bid x10d. What total volume should be dispensed?
- A.250 mL
- B.200 mL
- C.100 mL
- D.150 mL
Answer: B. Each 500 mg dose is 500 / 250 x 5 mL = 10 mL; 10 mL x 2 doses x 10 days = 200 mL. Dispensing 100 mL treats each dose as 5 mL, which is only 250 mg.
10. An albuterol HFA inhaler contains 200 actuations. The sig is 2 puffs inhaled four times daily. What is the days supply for one inhaler?
- A.20 days
- B.100 days
- C.50 days
- D.25 days
Answer: D. The patient uses 2 puffs x 4 times = 8 actuations per day, so 200 / 8 = 25 days. The 50-day answer counts only 1 puff per dose.
Practice all 44 order entry & processing questions, and the rest of the 200-question bank, in the free PTCB training sets. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
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