Medication reviews are typically done by a doctor or pharmacist. The purpose of the review is to verify a medication’s guidelines, interactions, allergies have been taken into consideration. A few key points are:
- The patient is taking the most appropriate medication for their corresponding disease state and/or condition.
- The patient knows how and why they take said medication(s).
- Therapeutic duplications. This is taking 2 similar medications for the same condition and over or under utilization (taking too much or too little of a medication).
- Any drug interactions that may exist between medications or over the counter products.
- Address patient questions or concerns about the medications
Why Would You Need Medication Review?
There are a few reasons you might need a medication review by a pharmacist. First, if you see more than one doctor. Many times other doctors, like specialists, might not know all the medications you are on and their RXs may interact with the RXs from your primary care or a different specialist. Second, new formulations of medications may be available for your pharmacist to recommend. Third, if you have changed insurance, there may be a medication you are better suited for that your previous insurance would not cover that you now qualify for.
After a medication review, a patient can have medications taken off their regiment, many times we will see a patient on 13 or more medications have 3 taken off simply because they were treating each others side effects or were interacting with each other. In short, there are new medications and formulations available every year, and your prescription regiment should be reviewed to make sure it is optimized for you.
Herold’s Pharmacy Offers Free Medication Reviews For Our Patients. If you don’t use us, please transfer your meds and we will provide one!
