Dr. Mary Sue McAslan, known as America's Family PharmacistTM,
is a pharmacist with an expertise in quality improvement and patient
safety. Based on her 30 years of experience in healthcare, her
forthcoming book Preventing Medical MistakesTM and
her currently available "Personal Health System", she explains how
individuals can take responsibility for their own healthcare and
prevent costly medical errors.
Dr.
Mary Sue is a strong proponent of proactive healthcare: every person
should take a critical role ensuring an error does not happen to you.
This can reduce the costs of your healthcare and save your life.
Therefore, the following three steps must be undertaken to avoid
potentially costly medical errors.
1) Ask Questions:
The
first thing that you need to do is to ask questions. You will need to
ask your doctor about your health care by writing your questions down
before you get to his office. Additionally, make sure that you
understand the answers to your questions and write them down. Most
people get home and don't clearly remember what they were told. This is
important information and you need to be clear on the details of what
you are being told. Your pharmacist is a wealth of information
regarding your drug therapy and can guard you against allergic
reactions and drug interactions. He or she can also help to save you
money by recommending generic brands and other cost saving strategies.
2) Know Your Numbers:"Know
Your Numbers" is a term used by the American Heart Association and
relates to knowing your "numbers" or test results for heart disease.
You should know your numbers for all of your illnesses. For
example: if your blood pressure is 142/93 mmHg, what does
that mean? How often should you monitor your blood pressure? Are there
other things that you should be doing to lower your blood pressure? By
doing this you are becoming an informed consumer and helping to prevent
future problems from arising. Remember, your doctor is the one person
who is the expert in your treatment and care. Ask your doctor what
these numbers mean and what you need to do about them.
3) Keep a Personal Health System: The
Personal Health System is where you should keep all of your important
health information. This is the central place where you have your list
of current medications, copies of all of you lab and test results
information from your doctor visits and information about your
medications. The Personal Health System provides you and your
doctor with your complete medical history and is the source of all of
your medical information. Many times drugs are ordered that the patient
is allergic to or has had a bad reaction to. Duplicate tests may be
ordered because the doctor does not have record of them being done. By
carrying this record with you to your appointments, you can provide
that missing information to your doctor and save yourself time, money,
frustration and possibly, even a medical mistake from happening to you.
Take Action: By
asking questions, knowing your numbers and keeping a personal health
system you are taking a big step in preventing a medical error and
helping to lower your own healthcare costs. Don't wait, take
action and control over your health today and order the Personal Health
System as your first step to lowering your health care costs and
potentially avoiding costly medical errors.
