That is dangerous. Considering it is a frequent event, I would not leave that office without insisting the doctor had written everything legible enough so I could read it, never mind the lab techs and pharmacy (who have had to acquire a special skill for such deciphering).

I don't have this problem because everything is done electronically and I cannot remember the last time I received something handwritten, it was so long ago. Special instructions are entered into the computer, and printed out.

It's laziness. Be SURE to complain, to the doctor in person if possible. His staff won't relay the complaint.

You probably could have called your doctor's office and talked to a nurse who would have relayed the question to the doctor.....and then you'd have the information.

Sue, just yesterday I mailed 3 rxs to our mail order pharmacy. I know what those rxs were for, but I couldn't read them, so I don't know how the pharmacy is going to figure it out. I scanned them to my computer so I can refer to them if needed later. We don't like this doctor much, she keeps screwing up the orders for dh's 2 insulins and syringes. We are going back and forth between either her, the pharmacy or our insurance every 6 months when these rxs need renewed. Normally the rxs are faxed, but even then it is not done right. The last time, there was a refill available for syringes, but not for insulin. The insurance rules are that we have to order insulin in order to get syringes. No one will take the blame for the problems, and we are caught in the middle. A new Endocrinologist is opening a practice nearby soon. We will beating a path to the door...hope the penmanship in better.

I don't think the problem is "doctors" but rather "your doctor". Prescriptions are often called in, faxed, or transmitted electronically by the office staff to the patient's pharmacy of choice so that they're ready for pickup. That's often done with lab work too, or the patient is given a lab form where the requested work is shown by circling or checking different boxes.

I think you need a new doctor.

My handwriting is HIDEOUS so i type even personal letters. Took penmanship in school, was B kinda writer, but it got progressively worse to an F

My mother had horrible handwriting. Bear in mind that she was born in 1916, and got a Master's in a day and age when most women didn't go to college, much less get an advanced degree. When I asked her once why her handwriting was so bad, she said that she used to have great handwriting when she was young (which was true - I had seen something she'd written as a teenager), but it got progressively worse in college with all of the rapid note-taking she had to do.

Think about all of the note-taking medical students/doctors do throughout med school, internship, and residency.

I always wondered about this also. Perhaps during internship and residency they get accustomed to having to scrawl notes and orders in a hurry and that becomes a habit ever after?

It seems unlikely that everyone who goes into the medical profession has horrible handwriting from the start.

This was not our family doctor but a specialist that comes to the hospital a couple times a week. Yes, all other prescriptions we have ever gotten are faxed to wherever they have to go, no written ones. I don't know if it is because he only is there a couple times a week that they do not have a fax machine or what the reasoning was for not sending it electronically. I don't even think the doctor was working on Friday as the pharmacy kept trying and kept getting the run around, call here, call there and voice mails. Well, will start over on Monday, thankfully it was not something needed right away.

Sue

Dh had more oral surgery this week and as before, the doctor handed me prescriptions to take to Kaiser. One script was typed out but the other was in his handwriting and I didn't have a clue as to what was on there--had to ask the pharmacist. I agree that rapid note-taking, which presumable most doctors have had to do, can degrade handwriting. That is what happened to mine. I suppose notes are taken on computers now, though there's not much need to write out scripts anymore.

I've always wondered how many mistakes have been made by not being able to read correctly what is badly written by a doctor.....

I think the world is moving away from unreadable doctor scribbling. It depends on the age of the physician. I've visited medical school class lectures a few times in the last 10 years and almost everyone had an open laptop or tablet in front of them. Lectures are in the form of Powerpoint presentations that the students can download, so most take electronic notes on each slide with programs like OneNote or by writing on tablets. A small handful might print out the slides and write on them directly.

Similarly, all med school hospitals and larger hospitals have long ago moved to electronic medical records, so today's interns and residents are typing up a storm but not furiously handwriting notes. For two reasons - it's cheaper and better in the long run, and the Medicare and Medicaid rules impose fee reductions if the service provider doesn't have electronic charts. Also, there are cash awards paid to some types of practices for adopting electronic medical records. Carrot and stick.

PS - Those electronic records lead to easy to read communications to pharmacies and labs that can be printed, faxed, or electronically transmitted. Or, for the patient, accessed and printed from over the internet.

I think some of poor penmanship comes from hurrying... When I was a school secretary, I had to sign so many admit slips, etc. for students, that I got rather sloppy with my writing. Now I have a tremor, so at least I have a reason not to be able to read my writing.

marilyn, my doc sends me for blood tests every 6 months and I always have to read the list of tests off the form for them, they can never figure out what she wrote. The only reason I can even read it is within reason the tests are usually the same ones and I generally know which tests I'm getting done so I've had lots of practice in deciphering the lab form.

I'm in files all day long and see it constantly. Good legible handwriting is the exception and not the rule. Actually it's mostly just newer residents that still write clear enough that their notes can be read. This is one of the positive reasons for electronic records.

Thank goodness it's all going electronic. Typos sure, but much easier to read. I assume doctors write quickly because they're in a hurry and have to write a bunch-in the chart, on the file, prescriptions, etc.

It's arrogance, plain and simple. Why should a doctor care about anyone who struggles to read their scribble? Why should a doctor bother with putting others out?

My handwriting is awful- always has been. However, when I document, you can read it.

I spent decades reading the doodlings and prescriptions of doctors, and am quite good at figuring out what's written, but it's still wrong to not take the time and care to write legibly.

Writing all prescriptions is archaic in this day and age.

"Writing all prescriptions is archaic in this day and age."

It's definitely going by the wayside. Here where I live, some doctors have been printing prescriptions off their computer for a few years now, my specialist has only just started doing it and up until now has continued to use the handwritten prescription pads. I guess she decided to get with the times :)

Here is the latest about the prescription. I called the pharmacy about an hour ago. They had a call or two in since Friday for the doctor to call them about the prescription. I found out not only had he written it so they could not read it but also had not signed it. The pharmacist asked what it was for and I told him. He said he would put in another call to the doctor. I have my doubts if he reached the doctor by that time as he was probably out of the office by then. I do not understand why it was not sent electronically, all other doctors around here do. I shall check again tomorrow.

Sue

Are you able to go to the doctor's office to get another rx in person?

This is bordering on malfeasance.

My clinic has everything on computer. If I need a prescription it's printed out and signed by the doctor, MA or someone. Narcotic prescriptions can no longer be called in or faxed, nor can they be refilled so I have to pick up the prescription(s) in person, every time. The specialist I saw who gave me a prescription had an "old fashioned" prescription pad in his pocket and used that to write on for me, which was quite a surprise to me. And he said if I need a refill to call and he'll put one in the mail.

For lab work at the clinics, they use forms with check boxes on it and all they have to do is put a checkmark or "X" next to the procedure, test or whatever. Saves time for the doctor, the lab folks, and removes a variable.

Doctors around here are generally running, and given my own penmanship, I understand the scribblings. They also use codes on the prescriptions now which tell the pharmacies what it is rather than the written name of the drug (again, caveat of "here").

For a procedure, it would be in the computer so if they couldn't read it, they could look it up on the computer or call and talk to an assistant so it's not a complicated thing here. Again, most everything is in the computer so one place has everything in there, including allergies, meds you're on, emergency contacts if something goes wrong, history, etc. Although I despise the loss of privacy, I think the benefits are great.

I've been fortunate. My doctors have been exceptional in telling me what's going on so I know. The people doing the tests, etc almost always are asking what's being done, which (if applicable), where, etc like they do in the hospitals and I think it's to double check that they're doing what they're supposed to.

I have 24 hour pharmacies available but my new insurance has an approved group of pharmacies so I might have to pay a lot more if I go to an "outside" one. Don't like it, but that's the way it is and it's not been a problem so far.

But to answer your question, I don't think I've ever had a similar situation. My biggest problem was when the insurance didn't want to pay for a few pills and I would have had to jump through hoops to get it, there were problems because at least 3 different doctors were semi-involved, so I said forget it. I didn't need to be "weened" off from it and had other alternatives that I used in its place. (Ironic part is the actual cost would have been cheaper to have given me what was prescribed rather than using alternatives, so it was the insurance company's loss.)

Writing a LOT (often same phrases over and over) and writing FAST caused my handwriting to suffer. Electronic medical records help with readability, but I find data entry errors too often in charts when I am reviewing them.

If you get an Rx that you cannot read and you don't know what it is for, ask before you leave the office; the staff often become experts at reading the individuals writing.

mdln- great suggestion. When you read the same doctor's chicken scratch for so long, you become familiar with the idiosyncrasies of their penmanship.

When I first became a nurse, I worked at a civilian hospital, oncology floor. Could not read some of the doctor's orders. The other nurse I was working with could. I don't know how but she could. It was literally a scribble. The VA has electronic orders and thank goodness we don't have to deal with that. Only time we do is when the computers go down.

My doctor's prescriptions are electronic direct to the pharmacy, but he's been my doctor for 30 years and I remember from bygone days that he has exquisite handwriting, as did my roommate decades ago who was also a doctor. Both of them write far better than me, even though I do try to be neat.