“Check Your Meds Day” is scheduled for October 21, 2017. The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) is asking pharmacies across the country, including its 22,000 members, to host a Check Your Meds Day event.
As part of the campaign, individuals are invited to visit their local pharmacy and bring all their medications and supplements. The pharmacy team will provide a thorough medication review, at no cost. Check Your Meds Day participants will leave with an updated medication list, recommendations to take to prescribers (if applicable) and a better understanding of how to take medication safely.
NCPA launched a webpage with the resources pharmacies need to quickly and easily plan and promote a local Check Your Meds Day event. The materials are available to anyone; you do not have to be a NCPA member.
Suggested Next Steps:
- Visit the National Check Your Meds webpage, hosted by the NCPA Innovation Center, to learn more about the campaign and the benefits of medication reconciliation.
- Consider hosting an event on October 21 using the resources available on the Check Your Meds Day webpage.
- Promote Check Your Meds Day to all relevant audiences using available communication channels, such as newsletters, websites and social media.
“For individuals and consumers, it is important to have all their healthcare providers, especially their pharmacist, aware of all medications they are taking, including over the counter medications (OTCs) and supplements. OTCs and supplements can interact with prescription medications and potentially cause adverse drug events. Check your Meds Day is a great opportunity to update medication lists and check for any potential interactions,” stated Jayme Steig, PharmD, RPh, Quality Improvement Project Manager with Great Plains QIN.
Together, we can reduce adverse drug events for Medicare consumers, avoid complications and unnecessary readmissions and increase awareness of the important role pharmacists play as a member of the healthcare team.