Accreditation

Study looks at physician communication of new meds to patients

Accreditation Connection, October 16, 2006

Physicians could do a better job communicating medication use when they prescribe new drugs to their patients, according to a new study.

The study, published in the September 25 Archives of Internal Medicine, found that in too many instances, physicians did not address such things as the purpose of a medication, potential adverse side effects, or the names of drugs they were prescribing to their patients, according to a report in Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare magazine.

Yet these gaps in the patients' knowledge can lead to misuse, non-adherence, drug overdoses and underdoses, and other potentially serious problems, according to the report about the study. Click here to read more.

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