In our meeting last evening, requested
by Brenda, we had everyone in attendance plus several from Dr. Tom's
group and Dr. Tom. Brenda was still agitated about what had happened
and very vocal about what should be done.
Tim started the meeting by showing the
slides I had prepared from my blogs and this article. Please read
the link to the article as this blog would be too long if I included all
the discussion.
First, when you have a hard-copy
prescription, if it's hand-written, make sure you can read it.
Second, when you pick up a
prescription, check the name to make sure it's for you.
Third, make sure that you are paying
the lowest price available.
Fourth, if your doctor is changing your
dosage, or changing your prescription in any way, be particularly
careful to look at the pill bottle when you receive it.
Fifth, every time you receive a new
prescription, or a new refill of any drug, look carefully at the
bottle to confirm that the information on the label matches up with
what you know you were prescribed.
Sixth, read the pharmacy insert, and
know the fillers, dyes, and ingredients used in the medication you
are taking.
Then from this blog, I had this list of
tips. Read the blog at your convenience.
Keep a list of your current
medications with you at all times.
Cross-check and update your medicine
list with your provider at every visit.
Ask for an updated list of your
medications and prescriptions before leaving your doctor's office.
If you're tech savvy, use the
practice patient portal.
Cross-check every medicine after you
pick it up against the prescription your provider wrote.
Don't hesitate to speak up if you
think a prescription is wrong.
Finally, don't forget that so called
"natural" supplements are medicines too.
To the above points or tips, I had
added the following:
#1. If the doctor e-prescribes, ask for
a copy of what was sent to the pharmacy.
#2. If there are questions, please talk
to the doctor before leaving.
There was a lot of discussion on the
points and tips provided and I had printouts available and handed
them out.
Dr. Tom then made several comments and
had Tim go through the slides a second time. He said he appreciates
patients that ask questions about their medications and what the side
effects are. He said that sometimes he is not fully aware of all the
side effects and will hand write the name of the medication(s) so
that the patient can look them up on the computer. He also gives them
the URL for the WebMD site and at least one other site. He also
gives them one or two other medications that can be substituted so
that they can look them up.
He does ask them to call him back
within 48 hours (during office hours, of course) and discuss the
medication(s) they would use. He did say that sometimes he tells the
patient that they should start the medication(s) immediately because
of the injury or illness and to call if they have questions after
starting the medication(s).
He then asked which pharmacies were
being used and there were five different pharmacies. He understood
the VA pharmacy because of the veterans in the group and the second
pharmacy because Medicare recommends people on Medicare use this
pharmacy. He then stated the second pharmacy will provide a list of
medications used by each patient served by them if asked.
The other three he was not sure they
would provide a list except at year end, but it would not hurt to ask
if needed.
He commented on Brenda's situation and
stated that computers can lead to errors when doctors do not use care
and close other patient's accounts and make sure they are in the
correct patient for e-prescribing. He said he made this embarrassing
error one time and has since made sure he was in the correct account
before hitting the send key. He admitted that some doctors are in
such a hurry that they don't check the account. He then asked how
many used or had access to their patient portal. Only nine of us did
and Dr. Tom said this was less then he would like to see.
Dr. Tom concluded that he appreciated
the discussion about prescriptions and prescription errors and hoped
this topic could be had again in about 18 months. Or he said could
include more groups as he felt the topic was needed. Errors do happen
and everyone needs to be aware of this.
Tim asked if there was anything that
needed discussion and said the meeting was over. Discussions
continued and Tim put the slides back up for a few that had
questions.
Dr. Tom asked Tim and me to talk with
him before leaving. He had heard about our meeting in November with
a group about a half hour's drive south of us. He had been asked to
come and had told the doctor that he would since he knew the people
that would be presenting to his group. He asked Tim if he could read
the information that would be presented as he knew the doctor and
wanted to be prepared if the doctor had questions. He said the
doctor follows the ADA a little closer than he possibly should, but
he knew we did not and felt this would be a good time to teach the
doctor a few good pointers.
Dr. Tom asked if the topic we had
presented could be added. Tim said the material already may be too
long, but we could check. Tim then suggested that maybe we could
invite them to meet with the groups in a meeting next April and have
this be one of the topics. Dr. Tom said he would bring this up after
our meeting with them in November. Tim said the topics should be
ready in another week and he would let him review them. With that,
we closed the room for the night.
