Over 6.3 billion medications were dispensed in 2020 in the United States, and while some drugs are short courses 一 such as a 10-day course of antibiotics to treat a sinus infection 一 many people take medications regularly to control chronic conditions. You may take medications for an indefinite time or several at once. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 24% of people have taken three or more prescription drugs in the past month, and 12.8% have taken five or more prescriptions.
As internal medicine specialists, our multidisciplinary team knows that managing medication isn’t always easy, especially if you have several. That’s why we offer comprehensive medication management here in our Brooklyn, New York, office. Medication management is the process of overseeing all medications prescribed to you.
Let’s look at the five benefits of medication management, courtesy of our team here at LaSante Health Center.
Medication management isn’t just a list of medications you take each day. Instead, comprehensive medication management is unique to you and factors in your overall health, comorbidities, lifestyle, and other issues that may affect your medication therapy.
What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. For example, maybe you have a changing work schedule, making a once-monthly injectable medication more convenient than a pill you take at the same time daily.
Medication management personalized is a collaboration between you, ,your LaSante Health Center provider and other specialists involved in your care, whether you’re taking medication to treat anxiety or lower your cholesterol.
The more prescriptions you have the more potential for drug interactions. Our team reviews all your medications, including how they may potentially interact with each other.
We answer questions such as:
By looking at how all your medications interact, we can help reduce unwanted side effects.
Taking the appropriate medication on time and consistently is both important and necessary. Medication management services are convenient and contribute to:
With medication management, you can get all these instructions from one place. You don’t have to worry about getting part of your instructions from one practitioner and other parts of your instructions from another.
Nearly 1.3 million people are injured by medication errors at home. This can include taking a dose too early or taking the wrong pill. Medication errors like this can lead to adverse reactions and even hospitalization.
Medication management can help reduce adverse reactions and reduce the risk of hospitalizations related to these errors by ensuring that your medications don’t interact, helping you learn when and how to take your specific medications, and identifying any substances to avoid while taking your medications.
Medication management isn’t a one-time conversation; it’s an ongoing process in which our team monitors your regimen, ensuring that it’s appropriate based on your medication conditions and goals.
Proper medication adherence (i.e., taking all medications on time and as directed) and medication management can help control a chronic illness or lead to a successful recovery of a short-term illness.
Many different devices and mobile apps are designed to make managing your medications easier, but true medication management goes far beyond organizing pills in a pill organizer. Our goals are to improve your therapeutic outcome, reduce risks associated with drug interactions, reconcile medications, and ensure that you’re only prescribed medications you genuinely need.
To learn more about medication management or to schedule an appointment, give us a call at 718-246-5700.
