Table 1.

Questions to help elicit a complete and accurate medication history from patients and family members

What medicines do you take daily on a scheduled basis regardless of how you feel? When do you take them? What is each medicine for? Do you take any medications only sometimes? If so, what symptoms prompt you to take them? How many doses per week do you take? Do you associate taking medicines with specific activities (e.g., brushing teeth, meals, favorite television show) or times of the day (e.g., bedtime)? How do you remember to take your medications (e.g., pill box, leave pill bottle by toothbrush, set alarm, line up pill bottles)? How many times each week do you miss a dose? Are any of your medicines in the form of patches, inhalers, suppositories, creams, drops, liquids, injectables, nasal sprays? Do you take any medicines only weekly or monthly? Do you go somewhere to receive medicines (e.g., erythropoietin with dialysis, vitamin B12 shots in clinic)? Do you take any medicines over-the-counter, such as herbals, vitamins, or dietary supplements? How long have you been on each medicine? What day of the month do you fill your medicines? When did you take the last dose of each medicine? When was the last time your dose was changed? How many different physicians write you prescriptions? Which pharmacies do you receive your medicines from? What are their phone numbers or addresses? What medication allergies do you have?

Adapted from Sullivan C, Gleason KM, Rooney D, et al. Medication reconciliation in the acute care setting: opportunity and challenge for nursing. J Nurs Care Qual 2005; 20:95–98; and from Kripalani S, Trobaugh AK, Coleman EA. Hospital Discharge. In: Williams MV, Hayward R, eds. Comprehensive Hospital Medicine, Elsevier (in press).