Table 1.

Relevant Quotations Organized by Themes: Patients

Theme	Sample Quotations
1: Ownership of health and medication knowledge	“If I don’t know what I’m taking and what’s changing, how I can expect to keep on top of my own personal health?” “Yes, I have to be an active participant in my own health care.”
2: Identified consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information	“ … if you’re going to any kind of a health care professional, you’re going for a reason and they need to know accurate information to be able to treat you.” “… critical information to the care that’s being provided to me.” “… what they [medications] are is that you might actually do things which diminish their effectiveness or conflict with their effects or perhaps precipitate symptoms or side effects that are associated with them. And similarly, if health care professionals don’t know, then … they may prescribe medication or other therapies which are contrary to or in conflict with your existing medication.”
3: Patient-specific strategies to improve medication histories	“… when they [health care professionals] can see first-hand what [medication] it is, [it] saves time and increases accuracy.” “I know them by memory, … If it’s kind of drastic change, or if I have a lot going on, I tend to write it down.” “Also, education is very important. It reinforces your confidence.” “The patient themselves knowing what’s happening and you know … understanding what the medication is about …”
4: Suggestions for system-level facilitators to improve accuracy of medication histories	“… a single network where your meds are listed …” or “… set up a database so that all medications … be captured under an OHIP number …” or “sort of electronic records, smart card … or some other in hospital records …” “… I think that there should be some generic branding in the labeling system, …, Lipitor [atorvastatin] is the same as every other cholesterol-reducing medication, but they should be known as a group of medications. If you go to the supermarket and you want to get dishwasher detergent, it doesn’t have to be called Sunlight or Tide or anything, the person that you ask will immediately know what you’re asking about and they’ll point you in the right direction. There isn’t that same convenience or ease of use with medications, that simple communication, … if you don’t know the name of the medication, it’s a block or a hurdle to being able to communicate clearly about it.”