A medical assistant reviews a prescription that reads metoprolol 25 mg PO BID AC. The patient asks when to take the second dose of the day. What is the BEST instruction the medical assistant can reinforce, consistent with the order as written?
- ATake one tablet by mouth twice a day, with both doses taken shortly after the morning and evening meals.
- BTake one tablet by mouth twice a day, with each dose taken about thirty minutes before a meal as written. Correct
- CTake one tablet by mouth three times a day, spacing each dose evenly across waking hours.
- DTake one tablet by mouth at bedtime each night for two consecutive nights and then stop.
Why A is wrong: This describes PC (post cibum, after meals) rather than AC, so it is tempting only if the abbreviations are confused but it contradicts the written order.
Why B is correct: BID means twice daily and AC (ante cibum) means before meals, so the dose is taken by mouth before two meals each day, which matches the written order exactly.
Why C is wrong: Three times daily corresponds to TID, not BID, so this misreads the frequency abbreviation and would result in an extra daily dose.
Why D is wrong: Bedtime dosing corresponds to HS (hora somni), and the order has no stop date, so this confuses BID with HS and misrepresents the duration of therapy.