Florida Coalition Combats Illegible Prescriptions

The Florida Health Care Coalition is working to prevent potentially serious, costly health care problems by urging doctors to write their prescriptions more legibly. The coalition has printed 1 million stickers to be worn or attached to prescription cards, which say, "I won't accept a prescription if I can't read the writing." It may seem a little silly to chide doctors for their penmanship, but poor handwriting can lead to medication errors, and medication errors are costly - both to the health of the patient, and financially. Still, many experts believe that electronic prescribing may be more effective than launching a campaign to improve doctors' handwriting.