By Wendy J. Meyeroff
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

A major study released this spring had some disturbing news for adults 60 and over. It also helps to emphasize one of many reasons the Centricity electronic medical records system used at Erickson Health^SM is so important.

The study looked at medication use by subscribers to ten different HMOs around the country. Specifically, it looked to see how many subscribers were taking medicines which were on a list called “totally avoid” and how many were considered “rarely appropriate” to prescribe.

The study results: 5 percent of all the subscribers were receiving medications from the “always avoid” list, and another 13 percent from the “rarely appropriate” list. The numbers were even worse for women: 6 percent were getting “always avoid” medications and 15 percent were receiving“rarely appropriate” drugs.

When the study was published, Erickson Health^SM conducted its own survey on in-house medication errors. In contrast to the study’s fairly high percentages, the survey discovered that—thanks to the use of Centricity, plus other prescribing back-ups—the kind of medication errors described in the study have all but been eliminated at communities built and managed by Erickson.

Unfortunately, it’s far too easy for those 62-plus to be poorly affected by medication side effects. There are several contributing factors: they often find medications more potent; those medicines reach higher concentrations in their systems; and most medications last longer in older versus younger individuals’ systems. And when there’s no coordinating system like Centricity to track medication use, it’s even easier for problems to arise.

To find out more about Centricity and Erickson Health^SM request your free Information Kit. Make sure to ask for your copy of the Erickson Health^SM booklet A Guide to Good Health