Medication Safety

Document your medications

• Medication Card (wallet size) 
• Medication Card (8 ½ x 11)
• New Medication? Questions to Ask Your Provider

At Swedish, we keep medical information in an electronic record. This means that every doctor in every Swedish clinic, hospital and emergency room can see what medicines other Swedish doctors have prescribed for a patient. They also can see whether a patient has any drug allergies.

Pharmacies also keep records of the prescriptions they fill. This keeps them from filling a prescription that won’t work right or may be harmful if it is taken with something else the patient is already taking. Always filling your prescriptions at the same pharmacy is helpful in tracking your medication history.

What you can do to help

Most people take an assortment of prescription medications, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and supplements. They may see doctors at several different clinics that may not share an electronic medical record, and they may use more than one pharmacy.

Making sure that every doctor knows everything you are taking is the best way you can help ensure your medication safety. You can be part of the solution.

Five simple steps to medication safety

1. Keep a medication record for every member of your family. On the record include:
   • Prescription medications
   • Over-the-counter medications
   • Vitamins
   • Supplements
   Update the record regularly – especially when beginning or stopping a medication. Keep it in your wallet.
   
   Swedish pharmacies and some clinics offer their patients medication records. Ask for one at your next visit, download the Swedish Medication Record, or call the Community Health Education Department at 206-386-2502 to receive one by mail.
2. Share your medication record with your doctor every time you have an appointment, or are admitted to the hospital or visit an emergency room so your medical record is always up to date.
3. Ask questions when your doctor prescribes a new medicine. To help you remember which questions to ask, download the New Medication? Questions to Ask Your Provider.
4. Don’t take anyone else’s medicine – and don’t share your medicines with anyone else.
5. Don’t take any medications that have expired. Over time medicine may become less effective and may even become harmful.

Resources

Washington Patient Safety Coalition – My Medicine List

Medication Card (8 ½ x 11)

• Medication Card - English
• Medication Card - Amharic
• Medication Card - Chinese
• Medication Card - French
• Medication Card - Korean
• Medication Card - Russian
• Medication Card - Somali
• Medication Card - Spanish
• Medication Card - Tigrigna
• Medication Card - Vietnamese