By By bullseye Jan 16, 2007 in Health Doctors' sloppy handwriting leads to a high number of medication mistakes. “Many such errors result from unclear abbreviations and dosage indications and illegible writing on some of the 3.2 billion prescriptions written in the U.S. every year.” Thus, a drive is on for doctors to switch to electronic medical records. “The National e-prescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI) will offer doctors access to eRx Now, a Web-based tool that physicians can use to write prescriptions electronically, check for potentially harmful drug interactions and ensure that pharmacies provide appropriate medications and dosages.” The program is being offer to doctors without charge. “Automation should eliminate many of the errors that occur when pharmacists misunderstand or misrecord medication names or dosages conveyed messily on paper or hurriedly by phone." The National Academies of Science's Institute of Medicine reported in July 2006 that doctors’ poor handwriting on prescriptions lead to more 7,000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries in the U.S. each year.“Many such errors result from unclear abbreviations and dosage indications and illegible writing on some of the 3.2 billion prescriptions written in the U.S. every year.”Thus, a drive is on for doctors to switch to electronic medical records.“The National e-prescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI) will offer doctors access to eRx Now, a Web-based tool that physicians can use to write prescriptions electronically, check for potentially harmful drug interactions and ensure that pharmacies provide appropriate medications and dosages.”The program is being offer to doctors without charge.“Automation should eliminate many of the errors that occur when pharmacists misunderstand or misrecord medication names or dosages conveyed messily on paper or hurriedly by phone." More about Doctors, Handwriting, Medication, Medical records, Prescription Doctors handwriting medication medical records prescription rx