AHRQ Standardizes Med Instructions

The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality is making available, via the AHRQ Pharmacy Health Literacy Center, a set of standardized instructions aimed at improving patient medication adherence. The tested instructions for pills follow the Universal Medication Schedule (UMS) that simplifies complex prescription orders by standardizing administration times. The new instructions, which specify  that patients are to take medications in the morning, at noon, in the evening and at bedtime, have also been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

AHRQ suggests that making medication regimens easier for patients to understand and follow ultimately will lead to a reduction in the occurrence of mediation errors that can happen because of insufficient or confusing instructions. To read the new instructions, click here.

To learn more about other tools and resources available from the AHRQ Pharmacy Health Literacy Center, click here.