Medication Safety and Management
I attended a presentation today by a hospital pharmacist. Most of the people in the audience of about
50 professionals were representing nursing homes, home care agencies and people
who work with older adults. The
presentation was very informative about understanding some of the complications
and interactions that older adults experience with their medications.
The audience questions and comments focused primarily on
who is responsible for monitoring the medication and reviewing medication. The “responsibility” seemed to fall on the
pharmacist or nurses in the nursing homes, rehabs, assisted living etc. Then
the question about the home care agency in the patient’s home – who is checking
on the medications?
The Food and DrugAdministration estimates that 1.3 million people are injured
by medication errors annually in
the U.S.
With numbers this high,
there needs to be some responsibility of the patient and their family in this
discussion. When I brought up
that this presentation should be offered to the public, others seemed confused. When
things go wrong, the public has no clue of the complexities in medication
management or other areas of medical care.
We only know that if something goes wrong, someone will be held accountable. These silos have to stop and the public must
be more involved in not just their health, but their healthcare and that means
opportunities to hear a pharmacist present on medication safety and management.
