Medication Safety: A Team Effort

Modern patients have begun to take a different approach to their health care. Rather than leaving everything in the hands of capable doctors, patients are starting to do their own research and ask questions about their conditions and treatment options.

Thanks to the advent of the Internet, a wealth of health care knowledge is readily accessible to anyone wishing to find it. While patients should not rely on the information they find online to self-diagnose and treat, they can use it to shape conversations with their doctors and gain a better understanding of their options.

This new informed breed of patient recognizes not only the authority but also the humanity of doctors. Years of intense education and highly specialized training make doctors the most qualified individuals to identify and solve our various health problems. Yet as humans, they are not incapable of error.

Mistakes are a possibility at all stages of the treatment process. A misdiagnosis or the administration of an incorrect medication or dosage can have dire consequences.

Today, informed patients, their physicians and technology can work together to ensure medication safety. Patients can research their conditions and the medication options available to them. They can then bring this information to their physician and ask questions to understand why they are being prescribed a particular medication in a particular dosage.

Doctors can aid in medication safety by being open to their patient’s questions and taking the time to involve a patient in the decision-making process. If a patient feels knowledgeable about and confident in their medication, they will be more likely to take it as prescribed.

Lastly, medication safety software programs can help further ensure that a patient receives the exact type of medication and dosage prescribed. Health care IT provider McKesson works with health care practices to implement its Medication Safety Advantage Solution, a software suite designed to help health care providers offer patients the highest level of care.

This software integrates automation, packaging, distribution and consulting processes into a single solution designed to be a complete medication safety strategy. Using tactics such as bar-code scanning, robotic drug dispensing, and computer-generated medication administration records, the McKesson Medication Safety Advantage sees that the correct medication reaches the right patient.

Medication safety requires a tri-part effort on the parts of patients, doctors, and health care IT solutions. These three forces combined can improve health care overall.