title: Can electronic health records help improve patients' understanding of medications?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present pilot data from an ongoing electronic health record (EHR) quality improvement study to improve medication management using patient previsit review of the EHR medication list and a plain-language new medication information sheet to provide with every new EHR prescription.
  
  
  METHODS
  Postvisit survey of 191 patients at an academic general internal medicine clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were asked about discrepancies and problems, concerns, and questions (PCQs) in their EHR summary for up to 10 current medications and about knowledge of new prescriptions. Findings describe the extent of medication discrepancies, perceived PCQs about current medications, and patient knowledge about new medications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 78.0% of patients had at least 1 discrepancy, more than half had a drug listed that they were not taking or dose or frequency discrepancies, and 8.9% reported an omission; 41.9% indicated at least 1 PCQ about their current medications. Among patients who received a new prescription, most knew what the new medication was for and how to take it. However, 66.0% indicated uncertainty about potential adverse effects that they should telephone the physician about.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Discrepancies can be efficiently categorized by previsit review of EHR medication lists. Prereview offers physicians the opportunity to better address important medication PCQs. Testing the value of EHR-generated plain-language medication information sheets requires follow-up interviews after medications are filled. Patients may not understand the actual benefits of new medications.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University, 750 N Lakeshore Dr, 10th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. jennifer-webb@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feinglass
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Makoul
authors.forename: Cheryl L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wilkes
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Dunham
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs