What if you can't read the doctor's prescription?

[buddybud164]

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What are you supposed to do when you can't read what a doctor wrote on a patient's prescription and you're supposed to be filling it out? Do you just call the doctor and ask? Because I know that all of my physicians and doctors have TERRIBLE handwriting and half the time I can't make out what they're writing.

 

[nerv12345]

yeah...you'd have to call the doctor and verify it...

i sure hope i won't have to do that much as a pharmacist..because it pisses me off right now that our pharmacists have to call the physician's office because he/she couldn't take an extra 2-3 seconds of their "precious" time to write legibly

 

[confettiflyer]

if anything it makes the doctor look bad. we straight up tell the patient, "we can't read your doctor's handwriting, we'll have to call them and verify." and the patient usually agrees having brought in the scribble themselves.

 

[rxlynn]

What are you supposed to do when you can't read what a doctor wrote on a patient's prescription and you're supposed to be filling it out? Do you just call the doctor and ask? Because I know that all of my physicians and doctors have TERRIBLE handwriting and half the time I can't make out what they're writing.

If you generally work in the same store, after awhile you will better learn how to read the scribbles of the physicians in your area. Also, a lot of times the patient can help you decipher or you can look at the patient's profile if it's maintenance medication and that helps. But, as the other posters note - sometimes you just have to call. And, unfortunately, the new computer-generated Rx systems don't completely eliminate that. Readable Rxs yes, but sometimes Rxs that make sense - No.

 

[SGPharmD]

After working for a while you get the hang of reading a RX (I've been a Tech for 6 years) but sometimes you just have to call and verify it

 

[k0ni]

At the pharmacy I work at (Inpatient), I call the RN to see if he/she knows what the heck it says. Most times, I can figure it out by looking parts of the order (frequency, route, strength..). If myself and the other pharmacists still can't make out the order, they call the doctor.. We try to avoid that though 'cause they get cranky when we call them too much. Lol.

 

[cycloketocaine]

What are you supposed to do when you can't read what a doctor wrote on a patient's prescription and you're supposed to be filling it out? Do you just call the doctor and ask? Because I know that all of my physicians and doctors have TERRIBLE handwriting and half the time I can't make out what they're writing.

I just take a guess and hope I'm right.

 

[BacardiGirl]

I have nice handwriting but my signature and when I write checks...its a sloppy mess...maybe I should be a doctor. JK lol 🙂

 

[PharmDstudent]

The best prescriptions are stamped, because they are legible and they already have all of the info stamped onto the paper.

I've seen doctors/nurses/PAs mess up typed scripts, so that's why I like the stamped ones (perhaps they were in a hurry when they typed it up).

One time I got a script that was typed, but it didn't have a quantity. It just had "disp:" typed below the drug and strength. We definitely called to verify it 😀!

 

[rxchrissarasota]

there is legislation in the works to change all of that. It is starting with the recent medicare bill that requires tamper-proof scripts for all Part-D scripts. It will take a few years to roll out, but it won't be too long before scripts are computer generated, and therefore, legible.

 

[SPharmN]

if anything it makes the doctor look bad. we straight up tell the patient, "we can't read your doctor's handwriting, we'll have to call them and verify." and the patient usually agrees having brought in the scribble themselves.

That's for the best, but often times the patients blame the pharmacy staff for everything🙁

 

[confettiflyer]

That's for the best, but often times the patients blame the pharmacy staff for everything🙁

I've found that using the law works best for situations. Examples:

"I'm sorry but this is not a legal 'do not substitute' instruction in the state of california...we have to put in 'patient requested' not 'doctor requested' or else we risk being fined for fraud..."

"I'm sorry but no one here can read this prescription, the pharmacist can't just guess...that's his/her state license on the line."

"I'm sorry that's a federally controlled substance, we can't advance that."

keywords here are "state" "federally controlled" and "fraud"

 

[PharmDstudent]

I've found that using the law works best for situations. Examples:

"I'm sorry but this is not a legal 'do not substitute' instruction in the state of california...we have to put in 'patient requested' not 'doctor requested' or else we risk being fined for fraud..."

"I'm sorry but no one here can read this prescription, the pharmacist can't just guess...that's his/her state license on the line."

"I'm sorry that's a federally controlled substance, we can't advance that."

keywords here are "state" "federally controlled" and "fraud"

Yeah.
I had to use the "L" word today. I needed an ID for HIPPA paperwork, so I had to "by law" get the proper identification.

It went something like this:
"Blah, blah... of course it's you. I believe you, but I need your ID by law."