Why is it so hard to read dr’s handwriting

[heartlikealion]

Just venting that may be why I was sent the wrong prescription for my new glasses. Ugh! Optometrist office confirmed. The glasses were bought online.  I sent an image with my prescription.

[gardenmom5]

Maybe something in their training. 

Architects have to take classes in handwriting.  An acquaintance with a PhD in engineering did too.

Handwriting should probably be mandatory for MDs.  (eta: I think this is a contributing factor in Rx now being typed out and fax'd to pharmacies. . . . . )

I used to tease 2dd (lefty) that her handwriting qualified her for medical school.  (fun fact - when she interviewed for her PharmD program, they asked her why she didn't apply to the medical school.)

Edited October 13, 2021 by gardenmom5

[Katy]

I’m surprised they haven’t moved to a digital, handwriting-free system 

[happi duck]

I worked at Walgreens and once asked the pharmacist about this.  They said that most people don't know the abbreviations etc. so what sometimes what a customer thought was messy was really not understanding and the pharmacist had no problem reading it.

With numbers for eyeglasses that seems just messy!

[heartlikealion]

Honestly I think the original document is legible. A 5 could look like an S but the field doesn’t accept letters, right? They said the cylinder figure was done incorrectly. The receptionist was just guessing it was dr handwriting to blame but maybe the person at the glasses website just entered a typo. Who knows. I emailed them and it will take 24-48 hrs for a response. I’m requesting they don’t charge me shipping to fix this. 

one time something similar happened. I wore glasses to a new job 2 weeks that were wrong. I reached out to the store and they were dismissive… give them time. Finally went inside and the dr said someone put the left eye prescription in the right and vice versa. Now I have trust issues anytime glasses seem off. I’m not wasting another 2 weeks wearing bad ones. 

[Tap]

Like someone up above mentioned, on prescriptions, the abbreviations are in Latin so not everyone knows what the doctor is saying without training. With training, it is clear.  “2gttsOUbid” looks like gibberish but is quite common and means “2 drops into both eyes twice daily” doctors also use lots of symbols and shorthand. 

otherwise, part of the problem is this: in a field that individual letters and numbers matter, much of the English language looks similar 2:z 1:l:I (one:ell:eye), O:0 (oh:zero) g:9:q a cursive n looks like a print m. n:m:w:v:u can easily be mixed up Etc but we can make assumptions based on experience because we know common mixups. 

In pharmacy, we take a lot if cues from the prescription itself. The type of doctor, if we know they are older or younger (older docs use more abbreviations than younger ones due to training), how the dr usually writes prescriptions ( we sometimes learn specific doctor’s habits) etc. 
 

In my experience, until the recent trend of scribes over the past 5 to 10 years, doctors took their own notes by hand and did so quickly. Their transcriptionists got good at reading the quickly sprawled notes so the doctor didn’t put a lot of effort into cleaning things up.

 

 

 

[Laura Corin]

Because they haven't entered the 21st century and computerised everything? I haven't had a handwritten prescription in at least ten years. 

[heartlikealion]

On 10/14/2021 at 11:32 PM, Tap said:

Like someone up above mentioned, on prescriptions, the abbreviations are in Latin so not everyone knows what the doctor is saying without training. With training, it is clear.  “2gttsOUbid” looks like gibberish but is quite common and means “2 drops into both eyes twice daily” doctors also use lots of symbols and shorthand. 

otherwise, part of the problem is this: in a field that individual letters and numbers matter, much of the English language looks similar 2:z 1:l:I (one:ell:eye), O:0 (oh:zero) g:9:q a cursive n looks like a print m. n:m:w:v:u can easily be mixed up Etc but we can make assumptions based on experience because we know common mixups. 

In pharmacy, we take a lot if cues from the prescription itself. The type of doctor, if we know they are older or younger (older docs use more abbreviations than younger ones due to training), how the dr usually writes prescriptions ( we sometimes learn specific doctor’s habits) etc. 
 

In my experience, until the recent trend of scribes over the past 5 to 10 years, doctors took their own notes by hand and did so quickly. Their transcriptionists got good at reading the quickly sprawled notes so the doctor didn’t put a lot of effort into cleaning things up.

In this case the only thing I could see them reading wrong is the 75 looked a little like 7S but that should have been easy to figure out. I really have no idea what happened. 

[kbutton]

On 10/13/2021 at 7:25 PM, heartlikealion said:

 Finally went inside and the dr said someone put the left eye prescription in the right and vice versa. Now I have trust issues anytime glasses seem off. I’m not wasting another 2 weeks wearing bad ones. 

My son had one of his lenses made the opposite of what is what supposed to be. With his set of developmental vision issues and age, it could’ve caused him to lose vision in that eye.

We only knew because he went for a broader screening at a different office, and that office calmly freaked out. We go there now—they are picky and careful.

[heartlikealion]

**new update**

Apparently the minus sign was written by the dr in the left column but supposed to be in front of the number on the right, so should have been inside the second column. This is what the eye lenses company said, anyway. That is, after several emails with canned responses and finally talking to someone on their facebook chat. 

 Now get this, they are out of my frames and said I cannot send my frames back to them to be filled with new lenses. The lenses come out of one location and the returns go to another. So once they are back in stock they will remake my whole order and send it and I'll return my pair. It'll probably be a few more weeks before I actually get the glasses. But I decided to wait instead of start all over with a new website. If I just kept the current frames and went to get lenses I'd have to pay out of pocket for the new lenses so I chose to wait. 

[heartlikealion]

The chart looked something like this: 

-Number- | Number

[happi duck]

I get my glasses at a small local place, not a chain.  They are less expensive and *far* more concerned with everything being perfect.  

It might be worth at least checking a privately owned place.

[heartlikealion]

1 minute ago, happi duck said:

I get my glasses at a small local place, not a chain.  They are less expensive and *far* more concerned with everything being perfect.  

It might be worth at least checking a privately owned place.

I have used a local place before but their inventory is limited. I got ds’ there and replacement there before. I used a coupon and got a frame, a snap on frame and lenses for $65 + free shipping.