Question about Doctor's Handwriting

[Cdiddy]

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This may seem silly, but when you are up procrastinating when you need to be studying for a quiz in the morning, your mind starts to wonder. Anyway, I was wondering how hard is it for pharmacists to read some doctor's handwriting. The prescriptions I have seen I could't decifer.

 

[GravyRPH]

It gets easier.

 

[bananaface]

I agree. It's like seeing animal shapes in the clouds. Once you know your animals they just appear.

 

[dgroulx]

Once you know the drug names and the standard abbreviations, it isn't difficult to figure out. The hardest part is trying to figure out which doctor signed it. I'll just look at a patients profile and see if there is a previously used doctor. If not, I'll just use the first one on the list.

 

[npp71681]

Hi!
Cdiddy,

If you can't read something on prescription, you can call the Doctor's office to makesure what that is. But, do not guess and give a patient wrong medication.

ALWAYS CLERIFY!!!

 

[jdpharmd?]

Hi!
ALWAYS CLERIFY!!!

Be careful of misspellings too. 😉

 

[bananaface]

One office in my area has a preprinted pad that reads "Vicodan" and "Tylox tablets". 🙄

 

[Spyris]

I agree with the rest. If you worked at a pharmacy before, you'll notice that at the beginning it's jibberish, but you start making out what the chicken scratch means.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Actually, there is this secret class in the second year taught jointly with the second year medical school class where we learn how to write to each other in this mysterious ancient symbolic language called "physicianwrite."

 

[baggywrinkle]

Actually, there is this secret class in the second year taught jointly with the second year medical school class where we learn how to write to each other in this mysterious ancient symbolic language called "physicianwrite."

Don't laugh

There was a physician in Atlanta who was famous for his handwritting.
While vacationing in Europe he sent letters home to his family. They had
to visit the corner druggist to read the letters. No joke.

With time you get to know your local physicians and how they write.
While floating, when a rough one crosses your counter, seek out the technician who has worked there forever. Chances are she will know.

With even more time you develop an eye that will allow you to read
prescriptions most anywhere you go. You will still be stumped, but it
will happen less. I amaze my techs who have two decades of experience
between them with my ability to read scripts that stump them. I have
only been practicing in this local area since March. Funny thing is I cannot
read names at all, but I can read the heck out of scripts. Call it a sixth sense.
You develop this by giving it your best shot, then calling to clarify and seeing how close you were. That is how it is done. It makes a fine game to pass the time. Pass it around, give everyone a shot before you call.

It helps if you work in more than one practice setting. I have worked both hospital and retail. This increases my chances of recognizing an SMA7 as a blood test rather than a script to be filled, or perilite prn as medical equipment. It will also cause problems. When I came to Washington, TAC 0.1% gave me fits. I was seeing (T)etracaine (A)drenaline (C)ocaine solution
while the technicians laughed at me and filled it for triamcinolone cream. The devil is in the details


When you are stumped, lie the prescription down for a sec, then pick it up with fresh eyes and a blank mind. Stare at it. Take your time. Relax and give your mind time to pick out patterns. Move it closer then further away. Change the angle, yes you heard me right, change the angle of view. I have even looked at them upside down. Your techs will think you strange then they will come to you as the reader of last resort when you astound them. Play the game outlined above and your ability to read the unreadable will amaze your co-workers

It works

For you hospital people. The order sheet has everything on it. Lab tests, diet,
drugs, differential diagnosis. ***READ EVERYTHING*** even the scribbles in the margins. Chances are you are reading a faxed copy or a carbon of the original. READ FROM THE BOTTOM UP and place stars along any pharmacy order for processing later. Then and only then read from the top down looking for stuff that you missed ( like bowel prep Sunday night or magic mouthwash)
Then read it again. Three passes minimum. Don't forget the sliding scales. Then and only then process each order you have found....

 

[bananaface]

... seek out the technician who has worked there forever. Chances are she will know.

*loud cough*

 

[bananaface]

When in doubt I always like to ask someone else what they think, and see if they independently come up with the same answer that I did.

Did we mention in here that sometimes things are just plain illegible? The other day a physician wrote something like `~ instead of "30 mg". 🙄 Sometimes what is in their mind simply does not make it onto the prescription pad.

 

[off2skl]

I had one today that you couldn't decipher 3 of the digits in their DEA. Now that's bad. They're just numbers you only have 10 to choose from. Sheesh! And I was a first grade teacher before. I thought if I could read a 6 year old's phonetic writing with no capitalization, punctuation, or spacing, how bad could an educated doctor's be right? 🙄

 

[SMW83]

who in here agrees that ALL doctors should be REQUIRED to take a PENNMANSHIP course... ?

Sure would mean a whole lot LESS pharmacy mistakes. (i.e. filling the wrong prescription for the wrong person)

 

[MNnaloxone]

A nice bennie from working at the VA: Computerized Physician Order Entry.

No charts. No order sheets. No scribbled labs. Everything at you fingertips in a Windows base from any THIN client in the hospital.

 

[GravyRPH]

Ya, I think CPOE is going to be the only realisitic way to avoid handwriting problems. Improvement from classes would last as long as the class was in session.

 

[Leah27]

Ya, I think CPOE is going to be the only realisitic way to avoid handwriting problems. Improvement from classes would last as long as the class was in session.

as a tech, once I saw an RX written by a doctor and all it said was "lipitor #" no count, no strenth 🙂.... then one said " ii gtt in bilateral eyes bid" as opposed to your non bilateral eyes i suppose...

sometimes you have to call the doctor, other times you can just laugh

 

[RPhToBe]

A patient once submitted a type prescription to me. It was all relatively clear (drug name, strength, etc.). But for Nifedipine, it read "Nifedipine Emergency Room", instead of Nifedipine ER. After a couple days of that silliness, I called the doctor. His response: the nurse transcribes the RX from the chart and she must have misunderstood.

Sometimes, CPOE's malfunction. For instance, our local ER bombarded us with RX's that read: "Proventil Inhaler Solution, 20 ml." At first glance, one would assume the PT has a nebulizer and the like. In reality, the MD's were prescribing the actual PROVENTIL INH, but the CPOE was printing for the solution.

 

[meister]

I always take bilateral to mean both sides...

I had a script today that read "B/L feet," which I took to mean both feet.