Confusion over medication directions for use is one of the primary reasons patients do not take medications appropriately. This results in extended illness, slower recovery, readmissions, and reduced patient satisfaction.  In a recent survey of nearly 1,000 patients, 88% said they find labels confusing and 23% said they had taken a medication wrong because the label was confusing.

In May 2013, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) released evidence-based standards for patient-centered medication labels. Research shows patient-centered labels improve medication use, especially for patients with low health literacy. This presentation will describe Wisconsin Health Literacy's collaborative effort to implement patient-centered prescrption labels.  New labels have been introduced at 211 pharmacy locations dispensing approximately 4 million prescriptions annually. Pharmacists, pharmacy managers and patients were enthusiastic about patient-centered labels. Analysis of data from one pilot pharmacy system and a related Medicaid health plan show improved adherence in 3 drug categories.

In this session, participants will learn how health literacy affects use of prescription medications from the perspective of patients, pharmacists and providers; become familiar with the prescription label standards and how they can be implemented in pharmacies, share ideas on how to improve the directions for use (sig), and explore how the implementation model developed in Wisconsin may be replicated in pharmacies around the world.