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Medication Management Strategy: Intervention

Patient and Family Engagement in Primary Care

Medication management is a strategy for engaging with patients and caregivers to create a complete and accurate medication list using the brown bag method. A complete and accurate medication list is the foundation for addressing medication reconciliation and medication management issues. These tools will also help to identify patient behaviors that may be putting patients at risk for an adverse drug event, such as overdosing, underdosing, or missing medications, or other important contextual factors limiting adherence.

Note: Resources on this page were used in testing the Guide to Improving Patient Safety in Primary Care Settings by Engaging Patients and Families. The materials were improved as a result of the testing process. You can find the final version of the Guide at: https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/reports/engage.html.

Getting Started With Medication Management

Medication Management Implementation Quick Start Guide: The Quick Start Guide provides clinicians and practice staff with five simple steps for implementing the medication management strategy in the office setting. It is available in two sizes for printing—a full-page format or a half-page brochure:

Materials To Support Implementation

For Patients and Families

Material Uses Description

Patient Fact Sheet [PDF, 223 KB]
  • Inform the patient and family about the Medication Management strategy.
  • Encourage participation.

Poster, flyer, or handout that explains the goal of medication management and the patient and family role in the medication management process.

Remind patients to bring all their medications to their appointments.

Information card that can be provided to patients along with an appointment reminder before the appointment.

For Practice Staff and Clinicians

Material Uses Description

Medication List [PDF, 74 KB]

Prepare a complete and accurate medication list with the patient.

Simple list that is used by practice staff who engage with the patient and/or family member during preparation and is then used for medication reconciliation.

Sample Process for Medication Management Strategy [PDF, 133 KB]

Provide a sample process for use when designing a medication management strategy and implementation.

Sample process that can be used as an example when developing a medication management process.

For Clinicians

Material Uses Description

Provide tips for clinicians on strategies to overcome common barriers to medication filling and adherence.

Job aid that can be used to help clinicians discuss the core challenges to filling and adhering to prescribed medications with patients and family members. The aid can be handed out as a pocket card or posted at workstations.

For Practice Staff

Material Uses Description

Procedure: Engaging Your Patient To Create a Medication List [PDF, 176 KB]

Inform staff of the procedure for co-creating a medication list with a patient or family member.

Procedure for staff on how to review medicines with a patient and complete the medication list. This procedure may be customized to be practice specific.

Checklist: Creating a Medication List [PDF, 94 KB]

Provide a job aid for staff for creating a medication list with a patient or family member.

Checklist for staff to provide a quick reference for the steps to creating a medication list with a patient or family member.

Additional AHRQ Resources—Medication Management

Page last reviewed June 2023
Page originally created April 2017

Internet Citation: Medication Management Strategy: Intervention. Content last reviewed June 2023. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/reports/engage/interventions/medmanage.html

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