Funny, but also not. Just Googled because I couldn’t remember:
“According to the Institute of Medicine, physician’s illegible notes lead to approximately 7,000 deaths annually.”
Seems unreal. Even if it was half that…that’s a lot of people. If I was getting prescribed drugs, I want it LEGIBLE. Typed up would be great. I just don’t trust that shit, and neither should any of you.
some said i was destined to be a doctor with my handwriting and family. i decided to break the cycle and become a videographer that barely scrapes by. my family is… they like the videos i make of our get togethers…
at least i haven’t accidentally killed anyone.
This is likely why I haven’t seen my doctor write anything for over a decade. Literally everything is done on the computer now. There’s a rolling computer in each room. The only handwriting I saw was by the nurses on a big whiteboard when my wife was giving birth. Just to pass notes and write times.
Watching my doctor fill out my digital chart to avoid these spelling mistakes….
me: I take guanfacine
Doctor: oh ok cool you take mucinex?
me: no, not guanfanesin, guanfacine.
Doctor: oh, ok. Got it
Doctor: ….
Me: ….
Doctor: and what milligram mucinex do you take?
This literally just happened to me at the doctor’s office. I brought up that I’m interested in trying guanfacine to help with my ADHD and blood pressure and my new doctor tried to correct me… I should probably look for a new doctor.
Back in the day I used to work at one of the largest hospitals in the US. In my last year there they had started having doctors record their notes, issues order, and prescriptions, on an audio file, using and issued microphone. Then that stuff was sent to a group of people transcribing everything in text. these scribes would also fill out forms for the orders and prescriptions. they did this in response to a series of lawsuits they lost badly.
Here in the UK and (if I’m remembering correctly) back home in Canada, I have always been handed a print out of my prescription with a signature.
