INDORE: Two days after Allahabad
high court fined three doctors Rs 5,000 each for bad handwriting, Indore’s
MGM Medical College announced that it will coach medical students in
handwriting skills to make life easier for patients.
“We are coming up with a training session for students and a seminar session for
doctors to improve their writing skills,” MGM dean Dr Jyoti Bindal told TOI. “Handwriting has long been a problem for doctors and it has turned into a social stigma. We want this to end,” added Dr Bindal.
An illegible prescription can lead to confusion and patients may end up with wrong medicines. Also, illegible scrawls often turn into legal disputes in medical insurance claims. Even the Ayushman Bharat Scheme has a special directive for legible handwriting. “It says that if the medical prescription is found unreadable, the beneficiary will not be able to claim insurance,” said Dr Bindal.
“Although it will be an extra burden for us, but it is important and will be a stress-buster activity,” said Manisha Goyal, a student of MGM Medical College.
In 2015, the health ministry had made it mandatory to write prescriptions in capital letters to make it easier for chemists and patients. At least 100 doctors in Indore have switched to digital prescriptions, buying specially designed software to write medical reports and prescribe medicines.
“Last year, we directed Indian Medical Association members to either improve their handwriting skills or start writing in block letters so that the prescription is readable. However, many doctors have found an alternative by switching to digital software,” said Dr Sanjay Londhe, member of IMA.
Though it takes longer to ‘write’ a digital prescription, it’s for the best, say doctors. “I realised my handwriting isn’t good. So, I switched to a software that has medicines and prescription formats ready,” said Dr Shrikant Reddy, a neurologist. Orthopaedist Sandeep Sharma said, “I had decent handwriting, but it kept getting worse to the point that I had to hire someone to read my prescription to patients. I decided to switch to digitally-typed format.”