Throughout this month, my blog has focused on building readiness before medication. I’ve shared qualifications that help assess if you’re ready to adhere to a medication regimen, the importance of gaining a thorough understanding of the illness, and how to best prepare for your prescription by having an open dialogue with your doctor and pharmacist. Now, I’ll focus on helpful ways to organize your medications and ensure that you are getting the most from your prescriptions by adhering to your medication regimen.

The most cost effective, simple solution for effectively organizing your medications is a pill box. Pill boxes provide an easy, visual reminder to take your medications daily – and the right dose at the right time. When you have a vial full of pills, it can be difficult to know whether you’ve missed your daily dose. A pill reminder makes it easy to get back on track quickly without the risk of under- or over-dosing.

For example, if you are managing five prescriptions taken twice daily, you are opening each vial more than 60 times a month—for a total of 300 times! In addition, by opening up the vials each time you take your medication, you increase the likelihood of medication errors because vials look the same and therefore, are easy to mix up. Sitting down once a month or week and pre-filling a pill box is an inexpensive and easy way to make sure your medications are dispensed correctly.

Before heading to your local CVS, Walmart or Walgreens, consider these key questions when purchasing a pill box:

• How many medications are you or your family member taking?
• What are the sizes of your pills?
• How many times a day do you need to take them?
• Do you need to take your medications with you to work or travel?
• If you are purchasing pill boxes for more than one family member, do you need to purchase different pill boxes for each person to prevent mix-ups?
• How often do you want to fill your pill box?

Pill boxes come in various shapes and sizes, so you can choose one that fits your medication needs and personal preferences – such as a color or design you like. There are pill boxes designed specifically for taking AM/PM medications, for taking medications 4 times a day, weekly or monthly; travel pill boxes, locking pill boxes, detachable, and opaque pill boxes so your medications remain discreet. I’ve highlighted several of my favorite pill boxes here.

I’d like to know, what is your favorite pill box?

-Susan

Tags: AM/PM pill box, CVS, medication adherence, medication readiness, organizing medications, pill box, pill reminder, prescriptions, Walgreens, Walmart

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Before Medication: Building Readiness, Medication Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.