Resources for:

Your Doctor’s Visit

Questions to Ask about Your Medicines: It's important to know as much as possible about the medicines you're taking. Here are some examples of questions you might ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Decisions about Medicines: Decision Points are designed to guide you through key health decisions, combining medical information with your personal values to make a wise health decision.

Prevent Medical Errors with Medicine: How to use medicines can be confusing, especially if you are using a lot of medicines. You need to keep track of when and how to take them, and prescriptions and labels are not always easy to understand.

Video: Make The Most of Your Doctor Visit: Even though you can’t change how much time you have with your doctor, you can do things to make the most of your visit.

Video: Why Are Blood Tests Needed with Some Medicines?: To make sure your medicine is working safely for you, you may need to get blood tests at regular times.

Taking Your Medicines Safely

Quick Tips: Taking Medicines Wisely: Medicines can help you manage your health, but only if you take them correctly. Learn tips that might help.

What is on a prescription label? There is important information on a prescription label. Knowing what the information means can help you know which medicine you are taking and how to take it properly.

Taking Medicines as Prescribed: Medicine is one of the many tools your doctor has to treat a health problem. Taking medicine as your doctor suggests will improve your health and may prevent future problems.

Dealing with Medicine Side Effects and Interactions: Medicines work in a delicate balance with your body and with each other. Sometimes the balance tips and this can cause side effects or medicine interactions.

Non-Prescription Medicines and Products: A non-prescription medicine—sometimes called an over-the-counter, or OTC, medicine—is any drug that you can buy without a doctor's prescription. These drugs can interact with other medicines and can sometimes cause serious health problems.

Video: Preventing Falls – Medicine Safety: As you get older your body can become more sensitive to medicine and that can cause side effects like feeling dizzy or drowsy, which can make you fall.

​Monitoring Your Medicines

Keeping Track of Medicines: It can be hard to keep track of when and how to take medicines. Here are some ideas you can use to stay organized and track your medicines.

Video: Managing Your Medicines: When you have a health condition, understanding all the medicines you take is an important part of your treatment plan.

Monitoring Your Medicines: Your doctor may want you to have tests to be sure that the medicine isn't harming you and that you're getting the right dose.

Monitoring Your Medicines in the Hospital: Medication errors aren't unusual in the hospital. As an active patient, you can keep careful track of the medicines you're getting and help prevent mistakes.

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