Every day, at the doctor’s office, in the hospital, or in your own home, mistakes are made with medicines you are taking. Many of those mistakes can be avoided if you work together with your doctor, nurse, pharmacist, and other health care workers to help prevent them.

These mistakes include getting too much or not enough of a certain medicine, taking medicine that doesn’t mix well with other medicine, or getting medicine you don’t need. In the health care field, this work is known as “medication reconciliation,” and it can’t happen without your help.

Many of us are used to listening to our doctors and pharmacists and doing what they say. But healthcare is changing, and doctors and pharmacists are learning that the people they help have an important role to play in their own healthcare. If you are more involved in your healthcare, you can be safer and healthier.

What can I do?

A simple and important thing you can do is keep an up-to-date list of all the medicines you take. The list should include prescriptions, medicines you buy at the drug store (called “over-the-counter” drugs, like aspirin), vitamins, herbal supplements like garlic or echinacea, and any other substances you take to maintain your health.

Many hospitals, clinics, home care agencies, and health plans offer a form you can use to start this medicine list. You can also find one provided by the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety, called My Medicine Form, at MNPatientSafety.org. You can also use a blank piece of paper. However you keep track, be sure to include these three things in your list: the name of your medicine, how much medicine you take (dose), and when and how often you take your medicine (frequency).

Also, be sure to update your list whenever you finish a round of medicine or start taking something new.

Other things you can do to avoid medication mistakes:

• Whenever you get a new medicine, remind the doctor or nurse about allergies and other medications you are taking. Bring your medicine list and share it.
• Ask the doctor or nurse how a medicine will help you. More medicine may not always be better for you.
• Keep all of your medicines in a place where children or pets cannot reach them. Do not keep them in the car, by the stove, or in the bathroom, since heat and dampness can change how they work.
• Always read your prescription, any instructions for taking it, and the label on the medicine bottle. If you have questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
• Carefully follow instructions for taking medicine. Do not stop taking medicine, or skip doses, without asking your doctor.
• If you feel that any medicine is making you sick or causing you pain, call your doctor right away.
• In the hospital or clinic, make sure the doctor or nurse checks that you are getting the right kind and amount of medicine before you take it.
• Ask a relative or friend to help you do any of the above things if you are not well enough to do them.

Remember, you can help in getting the best healthcare possible.

Jane Pederson, M.D., M.S., is Chief Quality Medical Officer for Stratis Health, an independent, nonprofit, quality-improvement organization that collaborates with providers and consumers to improve health care. Stratis Health holds a contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to serve as the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Minnesota. This article first appeared in the July 2006 issue of Minnesota Good Age.