3 Easy Habits to Help Your Family Use Medication Safely

The start of a new year is the perfect time to revisit your habits – the things you do every day almost without thinking. Tweaking a few of your habits related to prescription medications can help to keep your family safe and help to keep a few more dollars in your bank account.

1. Read your prescription label before leaving the pharmacy counter

Tiny prescription drug labels contain a wealth of information, as required by federal law. Getting in the habit of quickly skimming the label of each prescription medication you pick up is a critical way to keep your family safe. In particular, there are three parts of the prescription label you should always check :

     1. Patient name

     2. Dosing and storage instructions

     3. Refill instructions

2. Store all medications somewhere cool and dry

Experts agree that most medications benefit from being stored in a cool, dry place, as opposed to a steamy bathroom medicine cabinet or in a purse or backpack where the temperature might vary widely. Always check the drug’s label for specific storage instructions, and when in doubt, store medications above the reach of little ones in a room with a stable temperature.

3. Ask questions about your family’s prescriptions

Your doctor and your pharmacist want to answer your questions about your prescription medications! No medical professional is ever going to want you to guess about dosing, side effects, or any other aspect of administering your treatment. Each and every patient is unique, so you should always ask, confirm, and reconfirm any concerns or questions you have about every prescription you fill .

4. Use a free prescription discount card

This one isn’t about safety, but it’s a good habit to get into nonetheless! Regardless of whether or not your family has insurance, prescription drugs can be expensive. Signing up for a prescription discount card can make a big difference in how much you spend. By simply using the Free Prescription Discount Card from FamilyWize each time they visit the pharmacy, over 11 million people nationwide have saved more than $1 billion on their prescription medications.

How do you help your family use and store your medications safely? Share your tips and good habits with us on Twitter @FamilyWize.