Patients trust that the medication prescribed by healthcare professionals will help reduce pain and discomfort, manage symptoms, and improve their quality of life. Hence, health and social care organizations must be cautious about how they manage medication.
Effective medication management is the best way for patients to get the maximum benefit from medicines they need while simultaneously minimizing potential harm.
Health and social care organizations that deal with patient medication require effective medication management systems, processes, and policies to help them manage medication safely and competently while achieving cost-effective outcomes for the organization and its patients.
These healthcare professionals employed by health and social care organizations must understand the importance of medication management and the systems and processes in place to ensure the safe use of medicines.
Medicine management can be divided into five different areas:
- Storage of medicines
- Dispensing medicines
- Administration of medication
- The safe disposal of medicines
- Medication admin and record-keeping
All employees who work with patient medications in any capacity must receive proper training in medication management and familiarize themselves with the organization’s policies.
It’s critical for health and social care organizations to have a top-notch medication management system to guarantee the safe, consistent, and effective administration of their patients’ medications.
Patients with more complex medical requirements may need several medications to treat different health conditions. If a patient has multiple prescriptions, it can be difficult for them or their healthcare providers to keep track of them without the proper processes.
There are many benefits to proper medication management for both patients and health and social care staff and organizations. These include:
Providing the Best Medication
Proper medication management includes selecting the best medication for a patient and monitoring the patient’s response to the dosage. This way, if the patient’s health suddenly declines or the patient stops responding in the same way, the prescription or dosage can be changed.
This careful management helps patients get the best results from their medication.
Providing Value Care
Many medical errors are caused by inadequate or inaccurate information. In healthcare settings, information about medications may be scattered among many sources, such as physicians, pharmacists, and support staff.
When working together on a treatment plan, people may not consult all relevant sources. In addition, the information recorded may be misinterpreted.
Errors with medication can lead to dangerous consequences for patients. These errors can be categorized into the following:
- Incorrect administration of the wrong medicine
- Giving the wrong dose
- Written prescription errors
- Switching the medicine or mixing the medicines
- Mixing the medication with the wrong substances
- Sending the wrong treatment to the wrong patient
- Faulty labeling on the medicine container
These errors can make the medicine ineffective, causing dangerous side effects, deterioration of their condition, medical emergencies, additional costs for health care organizations, or even death. With proper medication management, these mistakes can be avoided.
Giving Everyone Peace of Mind
Many patients, especially the elderly, have difficulty remembering to take their medications at the prescribed times. Professional medication management services can give everyone the peace of mind that the patient is receiving the correct medication at the right time.
Conclusion
Proper medication management is essential in the healthcare industry. It can help address psychiatric conditions, reduce illness and death rates and provide more effective and reliable healthcare services.
Amodeus Healthcare offers dependable psychiatric services in New Hampshire. We offer full services including medication management to to help you achieve the quality life you deserve. Get in touch with us today!