Typed or handwritten prescriptions?

"What did the doctor write?" Every pharmacist in India has asked it. Doctors write fast because the queue is long, and the medical council regulations and several High Court orders have asked for prescriptions that can be read. Here is an honest comparison of the two ways of writing one.

#Handwritten

Good: no equipment, no electricity, no learning, and it is how you were trained. Nothing is faster for a one-line prescription.

Not so good:

• Legibility. Look-alike drug names are a known source of dispensing mistakes, and a hurried hand makes them worse.
• No copy. Unless you use a duplicate pad, the only record leaves with the patient.
• Repetition. The hundredth prescription for the same follow-up is written out in full.

#Typed and printed

Good:

• Anyone can read it: patient, pharmacist, the next doctor.
• A copy is kept automatically, and searching a patient's history takes seconds.
• Repeat visits are faster. "Repeat last" or a template turns a routine follow-up into a few taps.
• It looks professional, which patients notice.

Not so good:

• You need a computer or tablet and a printer. A basic laser printer is enough.
• The first week is slower while the software learns your medicines.
• Power cuts. Keep a stack of blank pads for those days.

#What it really costs in time

A good system should take under a minute for a new prescription and a few seconds for a repeat. The test is simple: time yourself for a week. If it is slower than your hand after the first few days, the software is the problem, not you.

#Switching without changing your pad

You do not have to reprint your stationery. Software that knows the height of your printed header and footer can print only inside the blank space of the pad you already use, so the prescription looks like your pad, just legible.

#Try it

• Keep writing by hand, but on a clean pad: make one free.
• Or print on it: RxKite prints on your own pre-printed pad or letterhead, remembers how you prescribe, and keeps every visit. It starts with 14 days of the full plan, no card needed.