Card Your Patients

Many people have difficulty with completing the section of our office's patient information sheet that asks for a complete list of their current medications. Now I give them a preprinted "patient medication card" sized to fit in a wallet when folded. I ask them to take it home, fill it out, and put it in their wallet. I note in their chart that I gave it to them; at their next visit, I ask for the card, copy the information into the chart, and hand it back. If they don't have it, I gently chide them and offer another.