Have you ever looked at a doctor’s prescription and thought, ‘Is that a medical term or just a scribble?’ If so, you aren’t alone. Doctors are known for having messy handwriting, making prescriptions look like secret codes instead of clear descriptions.

This phenomenon isn’t due to a lack of skill or efforts on the part of medical professionals, but rather a combination of historical practices, modern pressures, and the physical demands of their work.

Before going into the depth of resolving the mystery behind the doctor’s handwriting, let’s explore first what truly a doctor’s prescription contains:

What Truly a Doctor’s Prescription Contains?

In India, a doctor’s prescription generally includes several important components:

• Patient Information: It includes the patient’s name, age, gender, and occasionally their address.
• Date: The date on which the prescription is written
• Superscription: The symbol ‘℞,’ which means ‘recipe’ or ‘take thou’
• Inscription: Details of the medication prescribed, including both the generic and brand names, as well as the dosage.
• Subscription: Instructions for the pharmacist on how to prepare the medication, though this is less common with modern prescriptions.
• Signatura (Sig): Direction of the patient on how to make the medication, including the dosage, frequency, and route of administration.
• Refill Information: Information on whether and how many times the prescription can be refilled.
• Doctor’s Information: The prescribing doctor’s name, signature, resignation number, and contact details.

Now let’s unravel the mystery behind why a doctor’s handwriting can often be a riddle.

Why Doctors Write in Scribbled Handwriting?

Training and Traditional practices

Doctors have been trained to write quickly because their work is fast paced. This training used to focus more on speed and less on neatness. Because they needed to record a lot of information while seeing many patients, doctors were taught to prioritize speed over neat handwriting. This tradition continues, leading to notes that look like scribbles.

Focus on Patient Care and Correct Information

Doctors are more concerned with making sure their notes have the right information rather than how neat their handwriting is.

Handwriting Fatigue

Doctors often work long hours and write a lot, which can make their handwriting worse. Physical strain and tiredness from writing a lot led to harder reading.

Personal Differences

Everyone’s handwriting is different, including that of doctors. Some doctors have naturally messier handwriting, so while some notes may be clear, some can be hard to read.

Protecting Confidentiality

A more speculative theory suggests that unclear handwriting is used to protect sensitive patient information from unauthorized access.

Conspiracy Theories Behind Scribbled Doctor’s Handwriting

While the issues with doctor’s handwriting are mainly practical, some conspiracy theories suggest more interesting explanations need to be made:

Intentional Obfuscation

Some believe that doctors write poorly on purpose to obscure information and avoid being held accountable.

Covering Up Mistakes

Another theory is that scribbled handwriting is a way to cover up errors or inaccuracies in medical records.

Gatekeeping

There’s a belief that poor handwriting acts as a gatekeeper, ensuring that only those with their expertise to read it to access important medical details.

Apps for Resolving Scribbled Handwriting Among Doctors

To tackle the challenges of hard-to-read handwritten notes, many new apps have been created using technologies such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). These tools focus on improving the clarity and efficiency of medical records. Several apps are designed to make writing and printing prescriptions easier, providing features that enhance accuracy and efficiency. These apps include:

RXNT

This app offers a complete electronic prescribing system, enabling healthcare providers to create, manage, and print prescriptions right from their devices. It works well with electronic health records (EHR) systems, ensuring clarity and regulatory compliance.

Practice Fusion

Practice Fusion is an EHR system that allows doctors to easily create and print prescriptions. It also helps track prescription history and manage medications effectively.

DrChrono

DrChrono is known for its strong EHR platform, which helps healthcare professionals easily write and print prescriptions. It includes features for drug interaction checks and patient-specific medication lists.

Medisafe

Medisafe is mainly a medication management app, but it also allows users to print prescriptions. It helps people monitor their medications and provides options for printing prescription details, which is useful for managing multiple prescriptions.

Zocdoc

This app primarily focused on scheduling medical appointments and included electronic prescribing features. It allows healthcare providers to create and print prescriptions easily, enabling patients to get the care they need.