One of the top reasons older adults are re-hospitalized is due to medications errors. After a hospitalization, patients may be sent home with new and unfamiliar medications. The hospital should provide a list with instructions on which medications to start taking as well as which to stop taking.
This list is of critical importance. It should be given to your primary care physician as well as anyone who may be helping to care for you, whether it be family or a caregiver.
I had a recent incident where I gave the medical assistant at my physician’s office my list of new medications as well as the medications to stop taking from my hospital discharge. However, the medical assistant just added all the new medications to what they already had in their system for me. When I got home and read the summary from the doctor visit, I was shocked to see that she did not take out the medications I was told to stop taking. I was having a friend set up my medications and if I didn’t catch this error I am sure I would have ended up in the ER!
When I called the doctor’s office, the medical assistant said she was not allowed to remove medications! Yes, this is crazy, and I will be taking this up with the medical group who made this serious error. I was fortunate that I was familiar enough with my medications to double check the list, but for many older adults living alone this could have had a very different outcome.
At Eldercare Services we work with our clients to see that their medications are reconciled after any doctor visit and especially after hospitalizations. This helps avoid medications errors.
Double check your discharge documents and ask questions if you think there is an error or something is unclear! You may benefit from having a Care Manager as your advocate, especially for the first few weeks after a hospitalization.