Learn / What Is Medication Management and Why It Matters
What Is Medication Management and Why It Matters
Key Points
- Medication management is a collaborative process with your prescriber.
- Regular monitoring and adjustments ensure medication safety and effectiveness.
- Medication management can help you get the most out of your treatment plan.
Medication management is the ongoing process of collaborating with a healthcare professional to ensure you get the most benefit from your mental health medications. It involves making informed decisions about medications, dosages, and potential side effects to best support your health and well-being.
Why Is Medication Management Important?
If you’re taking medication to help with your mental health or addiction recovery, it’s essential to work closely with a healthcare professional who can regularly review your medication plan and adjust it as needed. This is important both to make sure your treatment is effective and to ensure your safety.
A qualified psychiatrist, primary care doctor, or mental health-specialized nurse practitioner can help you maximize the effectiveness of your medications while minimizing the risk of potential side effects and drug interactions.
Components of Medication Management
So what is medication management, exactly? This multifaceted process involves more than just taking a pill—it’s based on a professionally designed treatment plan that’s created for your specific needs. It’s a collaborative effort between you and your prescriber to ensure safe, effective, and optimal medication use. Medication management typically involves these key components:
Medication Review
A thorough medication review1 forms the foundation of effective medication management. In this in-depth assessment, a healthcare professional will assess the appropriateness, effectiveness, and safety of your current medications.
- Appropriateness: This step ensures the medications prescribed are truly necessary for your conditions. Your prescriber will consider factors like potential duplication of therapies and interactions with other medications or supplements you’re taking. They might also recommend behavioral therapies to address underlying causes of symptoms instead of just managing them.
- Effectiveness: The review determines whether your current medications are adequately controlling your condition. This might include symptom control, improvement in certain health markers, or exploring alternative medications if the current ones aren’t working.
- Medication safety: A critical part of the review involves identifying potential side effects and drug interactions. Your provider will assess your risk factors for adverse reactions and ensure your medications are safe for you to take in combination with each other.
Regular medication reviews are important, especially for people with chronic conditions who may be on multiple medications long-term. These reviews let you know if you need to make any changes to your medication management strategy as your mental health status evolves, or if side effects emerge.
Patient Education
Ideally, your provider should not just send you away with a prescription, but help you understand your treatment plan. Knowledge is power when it comes to making choices about your medication. At your appointment, your doctor might explain the following:
- Dosage and administration: The prescribed dosage and how to take the medication (with food, on an empty stomach, at specific times of day, etc.)
- Side effects: Potential side effects, their severity, and what to do if they arise
- Medication interactions: Potential interactions with other medications, supplements, or even certain foods
- Proper disposal of expired medication: How to safely dispose of expired medications to prevent accidental misuse
Understanding your medications empowers you to become an active participant in your own mental health journey and catch any issues early on. Patients who understand their medications also tend to adhere better to their treatment plans.2
Monitoring and Follow-Up
Medication management is an ongoing process that requires regular monitoring and follow-up appointments. This allows your healthcare provider to check how you’re responding to your medication, track your progress toward your treatment goals, and make any necessary adjustments.
During follow-up appointments, your doctor may
- Ask about any side effects you’ve experienced
- Monitor vital signs and other health markers to gauge the medication’s effectiveness
- Order lab tests to assess the medication’s impact on your body
- Adjust the medication dosage or type if needed
The frequency of follow-up appointments will vary depending on your specific condition and medications. Appointments are usually more frequent after starting or switching to a new medication.
Challenges in Medication Management
While medication management has clear benefits, it can also present some challenges. One of the most significant hurdles is medication adherence,3 or taking medications as prescribed. Factors like complex medication regimens, forgetfulness, or side effects can all contribute to non-adherence.
Another challenge stems from patients managing multiple medications.4 Keeping track of numerous prescriptions, dosages, and administration schedules can be overwhelming, causing you to miss doses.
Communication barriers between healthcare providers5 can also create problems for patients. If doctors, specialists, and pharmacists don’t coordinate with each other, they can potentially duplicate medications and overlook drug interactions, increasing patient safety risks as a result.
Benefits of Effective Medication Management
Effective management has important benefits for people who use medication to manage their mental health:
- Better outcomes: Taking the right medications at the correct dosages maximizes the effectiveness of treatment, meaning better symptom control and improvement of your overall mental health.
- Reduced risk of complications: Regularly monitoring and adjusting your medication minimizes the risk of side effects and drug interactions, preventing potential complications and protecting your safety.
- Enhanced quality of life: Reducing the intensity of mental health symptoms allows you to experience a better quality of life, with fewer limitations and improved daily functioning.
This approach doesn’t have to replace therapy—in fact, research shows that medication works best in conjunction with behavioral therapies6 for treating addiction, personality disorders, and other mental health conditions. For many people, getting their symptoms under control allows them to make the best use of their other mental wellness tools.
A Collaborative Approach to Medication Management
Safe and effective medication management requires a collaborative effort between you and your treatment team. Ideally, any doctors, pharmacists, or nurses involved in your medication plan should work together to prescribe the right medications, monitor your progress, and address your questions and concerns at any point in the process. However, this doesn’t always happen, and many people find it helpful to work with a primary prescriber who oversees their medication plan and coordinates their care.
Find Help For Prescription Drug Misuse
Medication is a powerful tool for managing mental health conditions. But it’s also important to address any underlying issues that might lead to prescription drug misuse. If you or someone you know is struggling with dependence or addiction to prescription drugs, professional help is available.
Many rehabs specialize in treating prescription drug addiction. Their admissions specialists can provide a brief assessment over the phone, help you determine if you need treatment, and explain your treatment options. Prescription drug addiction treatment programs can provide medical detox, evidence-based therapies, and relapse prevention strategies to help you achieve long-term recovery. Some rehabs have in-house medical professionals who provide medication management services.
Search for a rehab specializing in prescription drug addiction treatment and reclaim control of your well-being.
Frequently Asked Questions About Medication Management
What does medication management involve?
Medication management includes medication review (to evaluate appropriateness, effectiveness, and safety), patient education (to advise on dosage, side effects, and interactions), and follow-up monitoring (to assess your response to medication and adjust if needed).
What are the benefits of effective medication management?
Effective medication management offers better treatment outcomes, reduces risks of side effects, and enhances quality of life by improving mental health symptoms.
How often should medication reviews be conducted?
Regular medication reviews are important, especially for chronic conditions. Your check-ins will likely be more frequent when you start or switch to a new medication, and less frequent as you get used to managing your medication on your own. The frequency of your reviews should be determined by your prescribing healthcare professional.
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Maher, Robert L., et al. “Clinical Consequences of Polypharmacy in Elderly.” Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, vol. 13, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 57–65. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1517/14740338.2013.827660.
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Brown, Marie T., et al. “Medication Adherence: Truth and Consequences.” The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, vol. 351, no. 4, Apr. 2016, pp. 387–99. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjms.2016.01.010.
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Brown, Marie T., and Jennifer K. Bussell. “Medication Adherence: WHO Cares?” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, vol. 86, no. 4, Apr. 2011, pp. 304–14. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.4065/mcp.2010.0575.
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Inauen, J., Bierbauer, W., Lüscher, J., König, C., Tobias, R., Ihle, A., … Scholz, U. (2017). Assessing adherence to multiple medications and in daily life among patients with multimorbidity. Psychology & Health, 32(10), 1233–1248. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2016.1275632
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Ozavci, Guncag, et al. “A Systematic Review of Older Patients’ Experiences and Perceptions of Communication about Managing Medication across Transitions of Care.” Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, vol. 17, no. 2, Feb. 2021, pp. 273–91. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.03.023.
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Volpicelli, Joseph. Combining Medication and Psychosocial Treatments for Addictions: The BRENDA Approach. Guilford Press, 2001.
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