RSM logo
JRSM

Home Current issue Browse archive Alerts About the journal Feedback
 
J R Soc Med 2002;95:545-546
doi:10.1258/jrsm.95.11.545
© 2002 Royal Society of Medicine

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Send a Quick Comment
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Quick Comments are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rodríguez-Vera, F J.
Right arrow Articles by Pujol, E
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
J R Soc Med 2002;95:545-546
© 2002 The Royal Society of Medicine

Illegible handwriting in medical records

F Javier Rodríguez-Vera MD   Y Marín MD   A Sánchez MD   C Borrachero MD     E Pujol MD  

Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Juan Ramón Jiménez de Huelva, Huelva, Spain

Correspondence to: F Javier Rodríguez-Vera, C/Arjona No 12 Esc 2 1°A, 41001 Sevilla, Spain E-mail: frodriguezv{at}sego.es

In clinical records many items are handwritten and difficult to read. We examined clinical histories in a representative sample of case notes from a Spanish general hospital. Two independent observers assigned legibility scores, and a third adjudicated in case of disagreement. Defects of legibility such that the whole was unclear were present in 18 (15%) of 117 reports, and were particularly frequent in records from surgical departments.

Through poor handwriting, much information in medical records is inaccessible to auditors, to researchers, and to other clinicians involved in the patient's care. If clinicians cannot be persuaded to write legibly, the solution must be an accelerated switch to computer-based systems.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 JRSMHome page
D. K Sokol and S. Hettige
Poor handwriting remains a significant problem in medicine
J R Soc Med, December 1, 2006; 99(12): 645 - 646.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Qual Saf Health CareHome page
C Anton, P G Nightingale, D Adu, G Lipkin, and R E Ferner
Improving prescribing using a rule based prescribing system
Qual. Saf. Health Care, June 1, 2004; 13(3): 186 - 190.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BMJHome page
Minerva
BMJ, October 6, 2003; 327(7418): E182 - 182.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JRSMHome page
A R Panigrahi and C Cunningham
Legibility and authorship of clinical notes
J R Soc Med, April 1, 2003; 96(4): 208 - 208.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JRSMHome page
O M P Jolobe
Illegible handwriting in medical records
J R Soc Med, January 1, 2003; 96(1): 51 - 51.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JRSMHome page
A. Thompson, K. Jacob, and J. Fulton
Anonymized dysgraphia
J R Soc Med, January 1, 2003; 96(1): 51 - 51.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BMJHome page
Minerva
BMJ, November 16, 2002; 325(7373): 1182 - 1182.
[Full Text] [PDF]


History of the London Clinic

 Harley Street - A brief history Exam Doctor - The interactive revision site for trainee doctors