[GWEN20009]

How does the pharmacy compare and review drug interaction in cases where the patient has multiple Dr's. prescribing multiple medications. Family member being treated for chronic pain and bipolar depression by prescriptions from 3 different Dr's. I checked the meds using the INTERACTIONS CHECKER and there are multiple major drug interactions.

We have been under the impression the pharmacy would notify us of any potential drug interactions. Could the system be "buked" if one pharmacy was filling all the Rx's but half were submitted under private insurance and the other's through workers comp?

Should we address our concern for drug dependency & potential interactions with the pharmacist or with one of the 3 DRs....and if through a DR, which one?

[pharmd1]

Hi Gwen20009,
what you have just mentioned is one of the biggest problems today that we face in healthcare - a disjointed system that doesn't always talk to itself.

The good news though is that currently there are advances being made in healthcare technology to try to fix this problem. More specifically, things like electronic medical records that are centralized and accessible by all a patient's healthcare providers (as well as the patient in some cases). Unfortunately, with hurdles such as HIPAA and other patient confidentiality issues, this is proving to be a tougher-than-expected goal to achieve.

In the meantime your best bet is exactly what you have stated; right now the onus is on you to make sure that everyone involved in your care is on the same page. That means you keeping track of all your medications and letting all your doctors and pharmacies/pharmacists know what you are taking at any given point. They may not always ask you for the information amid other concerns so you should be sure to bring it up and make sure someone (if not all) double-check for drug-drug interactions as well as drug-disease interactions.

I know this doesn't solve the problem for you but I do hope it is somehow helpful to you.