Following directions tough pill to swallow
Some area pharmacies offer a service that packages a customer’s daily medication into a blister pack to allow the person to easily make sure they are being taken correctly.
Pharmacist Scott Adamson explains to McCracken Pharmacy customer Debbie Fox of Waynesburg how a blister pack system can help her keep track of properly taking her daily medications.
Television shows like “Mystery Diagnosis” may make it appear as though diagnosis is the difficult part about managing disease; however, for many older Americans surviving with illnesses, there is a much bigger battle raging – that of medication adherence, or taking medications as directed.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 20 to 30 percent of medications are never filled, and medications are only taken as prescribed in about 50 percent of cases.
“Sometimes medications require prior authorizations or aren’t covered by insurance,” said Scott Adamson, pharmacist at McCracken Pharmacy in Waynesburg, “and that can create roadblocks to taking medications appropriately.”
To read between the lines, the trouble here is often new medications, which can result from hospital stays.
With senior citizens making up nearly 20 percent of the area population and seniors making up the majority of hospital admissions, insuring education and access to newly prescribed medications cannot be overstated.
Thanks to new national objectives to decrease hospital readmissions, pharmacists are taking more active roles in assessing medication lists and increasing adherence to medication regimens. w
According to pharmacist Susan Guthrie, who is a certified specialist in the needs of seniors at Washington Health System, pharmacists are looking toward detailed reviews of medication lists to prevent redundant therapies as well as considering which medications might increase the side effects of other medications. Both are factors which may decrease a patient’s likelihood of adhering to their medication schedules.
Beyond the number of medications or unpleasant side effects, daily medication schedules can be overwhelming for some, requiring breakfast, mid-morning, lunchtime, afternoon, dinner and evening doses. Due to cognitive disorders, plain forgetfulness and other factors, plans must be put into place to abide by prescribed medication schedules.
According to Adamson, it’s ideal if a capable family member or trusted friend is available to arrange medications for someone in need. A variety of medication organizing boxes are available at any pharmacy to help in this task.
The push to decrease hospital readmission rates looks heavily upon medication adherence, since even a few missed doses may cause a trip to the emergency room, depending upon the medication. Seizure medications and anti-arrhythmic heart medications are both examples of classes that require strict adherence to a medication schedule, according to Adamson.
Creative measures to improve medication adherence, independent of a trusty family member, can help to serve this cause.
Pharmacies like McCracken offer a service that places all the medications scheduled for a certain time of day into a blister pack. Services like this one remove the, “Did I take my heart pill this morning?” guessing game, since the blister pack serves as a reference.
Despite these innovations, access to medication can be compromised due to even the simplest of glitches. Here are a few tips:
Adamson recommends taking hospital discharge instructions to your community pharmacist for review. This is another safe uard to check allergies, interactions, side effects and the prevention of duplicate medications.
If insurance coverage or financial issues become a concern for new or old prescriptions, check with your pharmacist, said Guthrie. The problem could be an error or the pharmacist may know of ways to help you obtain the medication, like discount cards from the pharmaceutical company.
“You really need to take an active role in your health care,” said Guthrie. “You need to ask questions; you have the right to do that.”