It is estimated that each year up to 98,000 people lose their lives due to preventable, needless medical mistakes. The cost to our nation's healthcare system is estimated to be $3.5 billion dollars each year.
Ten years ago, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published the report "To Err is Human-Building a Safer Healthcare System" which revealed these scary statistics and provided several basic recommendations for helping to solve the problem. In fact, the IOM clearly stated that by decreasing the rate of medication errors in our hospitals we would directly impact the overall costs of our healthcare.
In May 2009, ten years after the initial report by the IOM, the Consumer's Union (CU), which publishes Consumer's Report, released information that concludes that we are no better off today than we were ten years ago. The CU report "To Err is Human- To Delay is Deadly" states that in the past ten years a million lives have been lost and billions of dollars have been wasted due to preventable medical mistakes.
President Barack Obama has made improving efficiency and reducing medication errors a central theme of his healthcare reform strategy. You, as the patient, play an extremely critical role in making sure an error does not happen to you and consequently keep the costs of your healthcare down. There are three basic steps that you can take to achieve this goal.
1) Ask Questions The first thing that you need to do is to ask questions. You will need to ask your doctor about your health care by writing your questions down before you get to his office. Additionally, make sure that you understand the answers to your questions and write them down. Most people get home and don't clearly remember what they were told. This is important information and you need to be clear on the details of what you are being told.
Also, ask your Pharmacist questions. These questions include: What is the name of this drug? How should I take it? What is this drug for? Does this come as a generic? What should I do if I miss a dose? What are the side effects?
Your pharmacist is a wealth of information regarding your drug therapy and can guard you against allergic reactions and drug interactions. He or she can also help to save you money by recommending generic brands and other cost saving strategies.
2) Know Your Numbers "Know Your Numbers" is a term used by the American Heart Association and relates to knowing your "numbers" or test results for heart disease. You should know your numbers for all of your illnesses. For example: if your blood pressure is 142/93mmHg, what does that mean? How often should you monitor your blood pressure? Are there other things that you should be doing to lower your blood pressure? By doing this you are becoming an informed consumer and helping to prevent future problems from arising. Remember, your doctor is the one person who is the expert in your treatment and care. Ask your doctor what these numbers mean and what you need to do about them.
3) Keep a Personal Health Record The Personal Health Record is where you should keep all of your important health information. This is the central place where you have your list of current medications, copies of all of you lab and test results information from your doctor visits and information about your medications. This may be kept in a hard copy or electronic format.
The Personal Health Record provides you and your doctor with your complete medical history and is the source of all of your medical information. Many times drugs are ordered that the patient is allergic to or has had a bad reaction to. Duplicate tests may be ordered because the doctor does not have record of them being done. By carrying this record with you to your appointments you can provide that missing information to your doctor and save yourself time, money, frustration and possibly even a medical mistake from happening to you.
By asking questions, knowing your numbers and keeping a personal health record you are taking a big step in preventing a medical error and helping to lower your own healthcare costs.
Mary Sue McAslan, Pharm.D.
America's Family Pharmacist
DrMarySue@americasfamilypharmacist.com
http://www.americasfamilypharmacist.com
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