5 Reasons to Bring Your Medication to All Medical Appointments

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julio 27, 2023

Five key reasons to bring your medications to every medical appointment, including improving accuracy of your health records, avoiding dangerous drug interactions, and helping providers tailor care. The guide highlights how sharing current prescriptions, supplements, and over-the-counter drugs strengthens communication, prevents errors, and supports better treatment decisions. Following this habit can enhance safety, streamline visits, and ensure your care team has a complete picture of your medication use.

Medication is generally safe when used as prescribed, but there are risks when taking multiple medications. Surprisingly, antibiotics are one of the top medications resulting in ER visits for adverse drug events – resulting in an estimated 200,000 ER visits per year, which is almost one in six ER visits related to medications.

“Whether you’re going to your primary care doctor, urgent care, or the ER, always grab your medications on your way out the door,” says Dr. Stephen Giorgianni, a primary care provider at Complete Health Ormand Beach West and Complete Health’s Chief Physician for Metro-Daytona. “It’ll help ensure you get the best care possible at your final destination.”

Here are the reasons you need to bring your medication to all medical appointments:

Usage confusion – Instructions on a pill bottle can be easily misunderstood. Talking with your provider about how you’re taking your medication will help verify proper usage.
Bring the bottles – Medications come in various dosages and recommended schedules. Share with your doctor how often and how much you take to ensure it was prescribed correctly.
Avoid dangerous reactions – Receiving prescriptions from multiple doctors is common. Talking with your primary care doctor about everything you are taking will help avoid potentially dangerous reactions.
Get ahead of your refills – Reviewing the number of refills you have left on your prescription during your doctor’s visit can save you time later.
Bring your over-the-counter medications and vitamins – Certain dietary supplements can change the absorption and metabolism of prescribed medication. That can affect the potency, resulting in getting too much or too little of what you need from the medication.

It’s common for medical providers to find at least one potential problem with a patient’s medication regimen during a visit. It’s important to be honest with your provider about which medications you are on, why you’re on them, and how often you are truly taking them.

To find a Complete Health primary care location nearest you, visit www.completehealth.com