How to get every medicine onto one current list, what to bring to appointments, and how to keep the list straight when a hospital stay changes things.
A medication list only helps if it’s complete and current: every prescription, over-the-counter medicine, vitamin and supplement, plus what was stopped and why. It’s the first thing a new doctor, an ER nurse or a pharmacist asks for, and often the thing nobody has handy when it’s needed.
These articles walk through building that list, taking it to appointments, and checking it again after a hospital stay, when medicines are most likely to be added, changed or dropped. Hospitals call that last step medication reconciliation. At home, it means making sure the list in the discharge papers matches what’s actually in the cabinet.
Start with the free Family Medication Starter List, a two-page printable with room for current medicines, stopped medicines and allergies.
3 articles, newest first.
A hospital pharmacist on the most dangerous medication week of the year: what to ask before discharge, the drugs most likely to go wrong, and the first 72 hours home.
A practicing U.S. hospital pharmacist explains what she actually does every day, why it matters for your hospitalized family member, and what happens to that oversight after discharge.
Free medication list template designed by a hospital pharmacist for families managing an aging parent's pills. Includes fields most templates miss.