Medical prescription errors occur for a number of reasons, none of which a layperson may know how to avoid. According to the CDC [http://www.cdc.gov/medicationsafety/basics.html] we have a list of typical errors that can cost you your life or a loved one. Reaction to a prescribed drug is very common, having been given the wrong medication is also on the rise. The wrong amount of a said drug can affect the body one way and the next time affect the body a different way. As with peanut butter, someone can eat it for a lifetime and develop a reaction to that food.
In the outline the CDC provides at the above website, we can ascertain that if 82% of American's are taking one prescribed drug, and 29% take five or more then the odds of an adverse effect are getting higher. Aging American's and children born with anomalies are bringing up the statistics.
For the time frame cited on the CDC site, between the emergency room visit of 700,000 and 120,000 hospitalizations we had better get a handle on this problem, of patients either taking the wrong medications or someone making a egregious error in a hospital setting. As the medical field begins the arduous task of moving from the old coding system (billing codes) to a newly defined and more specific system of billing insurances we must have a way to determine the patient either isn't allergic or is being given the correct medicines, and above all senior citizens need a better way to control the medicines they are being given by various physicians as we age.
With all those drug encounter errors the faster CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) can catch fraud in its tracks, as errors being afforded patients at an alarming rate. There would be a balance to the legal use of medical billing correctly to avoid fraud, hence the new system for coding in 2014, which has been extended.
We now have to address methods that will ensure that patients are getting the correct medicines and those responsible for administering those drugs will have the education they are required to have, to do those jobs adequately.
Suggestions that will keep you and your family safe, in the video within this article you will see some really easy ways to avoid taking the wrong medicines. What if you are an elderly person that lives by themselves and has no family, and has no outside help? You can call your locale Medicare Offices, or reach out to a church member, to help you get your information in one place. The nurses at your physician's office should be able to provide you with some helpful methods to endure you are taking the right medications at the right time.
Hospitalizations are scary for anyone, but when you are older, hoping you get better is a constant reminder that you are aging. Surgery adds to that fear, but to get the most out of your medical care you must speak to your physician candidly about those issues and get them straight in your mind, like having your own blood drawn in a surgery situation, knowing what drugs they will give you during surgery and your recovery time at the hospital. Recovering at home is actually better for you, getting out of the hospital in a timely manner to avoid a hospital borne infection is critical. The longer you are in the hospital the more chance you can obtain a deadly, life threatening infection.
All in all, hospitals are safer than in the previous centuries, persons are more educated, and staff has your best interest at heart. Mistakes happen! To avoid them have the nurses repeat information at least twice so you understand what is being told to you, especially if you are taking pain medications at the time of this information, have them print out easy to read instructions to avoid doing what you should not do after you get home.
Read up on the hospital you are going to check into, find some data on morbidity (the proportion of sickness or of a specific disease in a geographical locality); http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Morbidity; follow this link for more definition on this data. Stay healthy, stay informed, stay in the loop of your own care, or that special someone that is in your life. Simple steps keep you healthy and your loved ones.
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