How Do We Eliminate Pill Confusion?

According research conducted by the Society of General Internal Medicine 41% of seniors reported taking 5 or more prescription medications.

A pink pill, a round pill, a blue one, a purple one, one that is oval, one that is square.  These medications come in a plethora of shapes, sizes and colors that even a trained professional - let alone the chronically ill patient - can find confusing.

Medication non-adherence is a severe challenge. As cited in a Bloomberg Businessweek article:

• Nearly 3 in 4 Americans don't always take medication as directed
• More than 1 in 3 hospital admission are medication-related 
• ~125,000 premature deaths are attributed to medication non-adherence
• This is an extra cost of ~$290 billion per year to patients, insurers and government health programs

Confusion is a significant factor in non-adherence.

Pill Confusion

How do we defeat Pill Confusion? Pill Pouch seems to have triumphed.  Check it out!

Do You Know Your Community Pharmacist?

Who is your community pharmacist? Trusted adviser? Sought after resource? Part of our care network? Friend?

Some of us may not know our community pharmacist. In the advent of central-fill, home delivery prescriptions and access to information at any hour, our trusted community pharmacist may be turning into an obsolete intermediary. As a result, are we missing an opportunity for better care?