High-Risk Medications for Seniors: Are We Making It Easy to Do the Wrong Thing?

As the saying goes, technology is wonderful – when it works! With so many time-saving and life-improving options at our fingertips these days, it’s easy to begin to rely fully on automation over human interaction. Such is the case with medications for seniors being prescribed electronically; only instead of making life easier, it’s being shown to cause some serious repercussions to seniors.

A recent study delved into senior falls, and determined that 62% of patients age 65 and older who had fallen had taken one or more high risk medications that are linked to an increase in falls – within a 24-hour period prior to their fall. And, it’s believed that technology had a hand in these hazards.

Electronic prescribing includes an automatic default dosage that should be manually adjusted for each person’s particular script. In the case of this study, it was determined that a startling 41% of those high-risk medications for seniors were given at the default dose, which was higher than the recommended dosage for seniors. Clearly, it’s crucial that a change to these electronic systems is needed – whether in lowering the default dose, or adding in extra checks to make sure patients receive their correct meds, at the correct dose, 100% of the time.

Independence-4-Seniors Home Care in the greater Chicago area can help with medication reminders for seniors, transitional care from hospital to home, and more. Contact us at (630) 323-4665 for help in keeping your senior loved ones safe.