Reading the doctor's handwriting?

[rivatnt]

I just went to get my physical and shots for pharmacy school. He gave me 2 prescriptions too.

I think I am prepared for pharmacy school but one thing that I think is difficult is reading those prescriptions!

Do any of you current pharmacists have trouble sometimes? Do you have to call the doctor to double check? Man, sometimes the doctor just scribbles stuff.

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[dgroulx]

I just went to get my physical and shots for pharmacy school. He gave me 2 prescriptions too.

I think I am prepared for pharmacy school but one thing that I think is difficult is reading those prescriptions!

Do any of you current pharmacists have trouble sometimes? Do you have to call the doctor to double check? Man, sometimes the doctor just scribbles stuff.

It's not too bad once you've learned all the abbreviations & drug names. You still occasionally need to phone and have it deciphered. Also, you get to know the doctor's handwriting.

 

[spacecowgirl]

When you work in one location, you get to know all the doctors who's patients patronize your pharmacy. It's always hard when you fill in somewhere else though! Eventually you can figure out nearly anything, but occassionally you have to call and clarify. It's kinda fun to challenge each other with the really sloppy ones.

 

[bananaface]

It's an acquired skill. It'll get easier.

 

[ultracet]

it really come with knowing the drug names and usual doses...

and we usually ask the pt what its for too...

that helps out some

 

[rivatnt]

it really come with knowing the drug names and usual doses...

and we usually ask the pt what its for too...

that helps out some

Cool, thanks for making me feel more confident. Also, wasn't there some problem with drugs sounding so similar? Like a lot of drugs that start with a Z. I think sometimes they made mistakes due to that.

 

[Requiem]

Cool, thanks for making me feel more confident. Also, wasn't there some problem with drugs sounding so similar? Like a lot of drugs that start with a Z. I think sometimes they made mistakes due to that.

There is a huge problem with medication errors due to physicians handwriting, as well as fax machines.

There are many, many drugs which are spelt near identically, and some prescriptions which are impossible to decipher the difference. As well, fax machines have lines running through them, whereby a 12.5 mg may look like 125 mg because the decimal had been erased due to "fax noise".

We had a class or two on all these errors, it gets a bit insane.

 

[sdn1977]

Yeah...as other posters said...it gets easier with time. You get to know what falls out of the range of "normal". If something is prescribed which doesn't fit the speciality or the normal dosage range...you call. You also get used to asking what the patient feels he/she is being treated for which gives you clues to rule out the obvious "look alike" which doesn't fit the diagnosis. The risk of just "guessing" is far greater than double checking, IMO.

 

[PharmEm]

I've been working in retail for about 5 days now and it's good to hear that others are having a hard time figuring out the doctor's handwriting. I don't know about you, but it takes me 5mins and sometimes even longer to figure out what the heck they wrote, which means verification by the pharmacist takes longer, which means the filling section starts adding up, which means long lines at the register, which means angry and rude patients. I don't understand why they just don't have a check box section such as Medication (check the Clindamycin box), Quantity (check the 30 box), Sig (Check the 1 tab (box) po (box) qd (box) ) and etc. I'm sure there's a reason why they don't do it this way but there's just got to be a better way to do it.

 

[Moxxie]

I don't understand why they just don't have a check box section such as Medication (check the Clindamycin box), Quantity (check the 30 box), Sig (Check the 1 tab (box) po (box) qd (box) ) and etc. I'm sure there's a reason why they don't do it this way but there's just got to be a better way to do it.

The scripts I get from my dermatologist are like this, but that's probably because she prescribes a lot of the same drugs over and over (I think that she uses her "zit" rx pad for me ). There are so many drugs, strengths, and formulations out there that the average PCP couldn't have one or two script pads that would cover the majority of their patients. Plus, the first time I saw a script from my dermo my first thought was "Wow. It would be easy for someone to steal this pad. Too bad all it has on it are retinoids and antibiotics!"

 

[rxlynn]

I've been working in retail for about 5 days now and it's good to hear that others are having a hard time figuring out the doctor's handwriting. I don't know about you, but it takes me 5mins and sometimes even longer to figure out what the heck they wrote, which means verification by the pharmacist takes longer, which means the filling section starts adding up, which means long lines at the register, which means angry and rude patients. I don't understand why they just don't have a check box section such as Medication (check the Clindamycin box), Quantity (check the 30 box), Sig (Check the 1 tab (box) po (box) qd (box) ) and etc. I'm sure there's a reason why they don't do it this way but there's just got to be a better way to do it.

Yeah, sometimes they will have a pre-printed form. We have an allergist in our area whose Rxs are an entire 81/2 x 11 sheet of paper and it has a lot of things on it for them to pick from! Eventually, I think that a lot more physicians will go to a computer generated Rx or even completely on-line where they can send it electronically to the pharmacy. We are starting to see a little of that in our area - not that it totally eliminates errors and calling, but at least you don't have to guess about the handwriting. I really think some of the worst offenders are older doctors. I can just imagine them sitting in the office thinking "I'm never going to use a computer to do my prescriptions!"

 

[sdn1977]

I have a clinic in the area with 200+ physicians who use electronic prescribing. Most of the errors of transcription I encounter come from this clinic. Why???? Because it is not the physician who usually inputs the Rx - it is the medical asst/nurse/???? who reads the MD chart & chooses from the data base. For example, a psychiatrist...they are very, very careful that Serzone & Seroquel look different for us - they know the risk. But, when the system requires someone else to choose, who perhaps doesn't know all the choices...the cursor gets put on the wrong drug .... then click - it goes to me looking all the while like a valid & correct Rx. No one knows unless & until me or the pt questions it. I would very much rather there be passwords for qualified individuals or only certain choices made available to individuals to choose from (ie - a physician specifies his/her asst can choose from a certain group of drugs - not the whole data base). However, it is very difficult to convice the administrators of these large clinics to limit access or require approval by prescriber.

I rarely these days have an rx I cannot read. Usually, in my recent (last 5 years or so) experience, the questions I have are with dosing - out of the ordinary dosing - either for an off label use or unusual physical (very low or high weight person) circumstance. I know prescribers are aware of the heightened risk of look alike/sound alike drugs since that is usually covered on their malpractice CE meetings, which is a nice change!

 

[DownonthePharm]

Is there some logical reason that doctors write like chickenscratch? Like to reduce the possibility of counterfitting or altering? Or do they enjoy getting friendly phone calls from the pharmacist who cant read their handwriting? They dont even have to have a preprinted form. Just print the stuff, then sign their name, it really doesnt take any longer.

 

[ultracet]

Is there some logical reason that doctors write like chickenscratch? Like to reduce the possibility of counterfitting or altering? Or do they enjoy getting friendly phone calls from the pharmacist who cant read their handwriting? They dont even have to have a preprinted form. Just print the stuff, then sign their name, it really doesnt take any longer.

well for me...
its bascially a being in a hurry thing coupled with already horrible handwriting...

not that i'm a MD but i can have illegible chicken scratch on occasion

and that is me printing it... cursive is so much worse

 

[ussdfiant]

Over the last 4 years I have noticed a steady decline in the quality of my handwriting! I expect that by May it will be sufficiently illegible!

 

[cheer_up]

Is there some logical reason that doctors write like chickenscratch? Like to reduce the possibility of counterfitting or altering? Or do they enjoy getting friendly phone calls from the pharmacist who cant read their handwriting? They dont even have to have a preprinted form. Just print the stuff, then sign their name, it really doesnt take any longer.

"Like chicken scratch"?.....that's an understatement....a lot of them are actually chicken scratch. I've been working as a pharmacy assistant/technician (part time job) for a very long time now. The reading of most chicken scratch is a lot better now but some of them are still just unreadable. I do feel sorry for you, pharmacists. Honestly, I think doctors (thank God not all of them) have the worst handwriting. Generally, the female doctors have better handwriting, though. Sometimes, I wonder how the hell these people got thru medical schools having a handwriting like that What's more frustrating is that they're required to print their name at the bottom of the script in addition to their signature because sometimes there are more than one doctors' names printed on it, some of them don't even bother to do that. Instead they just sign. Now, can you imagine how illegible their signature must be when their handwriting looks like chicken scratch to start with? This is one (although minor) of the reasons that put me off pharmacy when I was considering a career in it.
I consider it a real treat when we get a script that is clearly and nicely written and that I don't have to sit there and decipher.

 

[pharmis4me]

[ Sometimes, I wonder how the hell these people got thru medical schools having a handwriting like that
LOl ME too. My horrific handwriting ( and I print!) has cost me grades on written exams thru undergrad and grad school( and hopefully in a way lol pharm school).I am nervous on standardized tests too. And I try to write neatly I really do! So I wonder about dr handwriting too . In undergrad I actually had a prof refuse to grade my mid term cuz of my handwriting. I guess I should apply to med school if pharm doesnt work out eh?