Assessment of legibility and completeness of handwritten and electronic prescriptions

ObjectivesTo assess the legibility and completeness of handwritten prescriptions and compare with electronic prescription system for medication errors.DesignProspective study.SettingKing Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Subjects and methodsHandwritten prescriptions were received from clinical units of Medicine Outpatient Department (MOPD), Primary Care Clinic (PCC) and Surgery Outpatient Department (SOPD) whereas electronic prescriptions were collected from the pediatric ward. The handwritten prescription was assessed for completeness by the checklist designed according to the hospital prescription and evaluated for legibility by two pharmacists. The comparison between handwritten and electronic prescription errors was evaluated based on the validated checklist adopted from previous studies.Main outcome measuresLegibility and completeness of prescriptions.Results398 prescriptions (199 handwritten and 199 e-prescriptions) were assessed. About 71 (35.7%) of handwritten and 5 (2.5%) of electronic prescription errors were identified. A significant statistical difference (P