Theme | Key Points |
---|---|
Potential benefits | • Reminder to take medications • Help when picking up medications on behalf of someone else • Useful with non-tablet medications (e.g. creams) • May encourage health checks • Medication reconciliation • Helps with the management of a patient in emergency situations • Helps when medication has multiple indications |
Potential limitations | • Privacy concerns • Overcrowding of the label • Prescriber difficulty with defining/clarifying indication |
Describing the Indication | • Medical terminology may make consumer take condition more seriously • Treatment specificity preferred with anti-infectives |
Potential Safety Benefits | • May reduce confusion with generic brand substitutions • Helps health-care professional match dose to indication • May reduce look-alike sound-alike errors |