George, Mark and Wes have been working on a project to reduce medication errors and improve understanding and adherence to drug regimens at home. As clinicians, we have seen that all too often medication is not taken as directed. By some conservative estimates, unintended mistakes involving prescription drugs harm at least 1.5 million Americans each year. These errors result in $3.5 billion in ext
ra medical costs and a great deal of illness and suffering. We believe many of these errors can—and should—be prevented. With this goal in mind, we formed the Medication Safety Foundation, a California nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization focused on introducing a simple, inexpensive system for patients and their caregivers of all literacy and educational backgrounds. Our prescription-tracking product—an easy-to-follow calendar—will help people correctly organize and take their prescriptions at home and in other outpatient settings. Users match their actual pills to images on the calendar according to the time and the day they need to take them. The calendar is available online, and can be printed as a worksheet or guide for patients who aren’t computer savvy. We would like to develop a mobile app, too. For many patients and their families, keeping track of a prescription regimen is a complicated, ongoing struggle. Some patients buy pill caddies or devise their own pill-taking strategies. Unfortunately, such efforts often fail. The consequences of improperly administered medications include ineffective treatment for underlying conditions, along with serious or life-threatening side effects. Our calendar is confidential and is designed with the patient as the center of the process. It provides patients with a clear map of the day’s medicines, illustrating when and how many to take. Because the system is “owned” by patients, the calendar remains with them, even when they change insurance or move. It’s simple to make changes whenever they come up. We believe our system will make a big difference—improving the lives of many patients, especially the elderly, the frail and those with low literacy skills. We are now ready to take the next steps so we can transform our prototype into a ready-to-use product and begin demonstrating it to patients, medical professionals and others. To do so, the foundation needs grants and donations from people like you. Your tax-deductible contribution will provide vital support for our mission of reducing the human and financial toll of avoidable medication errors. We would be delighted to share more with you about this important project. Please contact us with your questions or comments. Thanks for your interest and support! The Medication Safety Foundation team
