Bad penmanship outlawed in Montana
Case Management Weekly, November 16, 2005
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Case Management Weekly!
A new Montana state law makes it illegal for physicians to write illegible prescriptions. The aim of the law is to reduce medication errors stemming from poorly written scripts, according to the Casper, WY-based Star-Tribune.
Pharmacists in the state say they have seen egregious examples of bad penmanship over the years, and many believe they have mistakenly filled a script with the wrong medication because of it. Pharmacists can send complaints about illegible prescriptions to the state's Board of Medical Examiners. The board has the option to order a hearing about the offending document. If the physician is unhappy about the hearing's result, he or she can take the case to court. The courts can fine the physician up to $500 for an illegible script. However, most experts don't expect any case to get that far.
Source: Patient Safety Monitor, HCPro, Inc.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Case Management Weekly!
Related Products
-
Case Management Weekly
Case Management Weekly is a free e-mail newsletter that offers news, resources, and Q&As to help case managers from all...
-
Case Management Monthly
This newsletter offers case studies, best practices, and how-to analysis to help case managers move patients through the...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Q&A: Acute respiratory failure diagnosis does not require intubation
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Identify potential Medicaid RAC target areas
- Q/A: Coding infusions to correct low potassium levels
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- CMS has reformulated payments for some bilateral procedures
- Q&A: Acute respiratory failure diagnosis does not require intubation
- Oxygen Cylinder Storage Requirements
- Q&A: Follow CMS' coding guidelines when using modifier -25
- Understand the spine to code back procedures correctly
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Hospitals are not bound by InterQual criteria for determining patient status
- Searched