Poor handwriting by doctors can lead to the death of patients

The expectation that a doctor has bad handwriting is often treated like a joke. But doctors with illegible handwriting unfortunately have very real and serious consequences. Poor handwriting can be misread by other doctors, medical staff and pharmacists, and mistakes can have deadly consequences.

Poor handwriting can be misread by other doctors, medical staff and pharmacists, and mistakes can have deadly consequences.
© Photo by mufidpwt on Pixabay
27.06.2022

According to a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), 1.5 million injuries occur each year in the US because pharmacists and medical staff misread sloppy handwriting. These misspellings of prescription drugs cause up to 7,000 deaths each year. Although electronic prescribing systems are already available, many doctors still use paper and pen to write prescriptions.

In a 2005 study, nurses, physiotherapists and medical assistants were asked to rate the legibility of surgery notes from an orthopaedic department. Only a quarter of the notes were rated good or excellent, 37% were rated poor.

It is therefore argued that handwritten prescriptions should be a thing of the past. Doctors and health care providers should quickly and consistently take advantage of electronic prescribing technology, which can help prevent medication errors.