Three Things to Always Ask Your Pharmacist

August 8th, 2007

Every time a patient visits one of our pharmacists (or any Doctor, indeed any health professional) they should come away with knowledge about their own health. Basically when you (the patient) leave our pharmacy you should have answers to the following questions:

1. What is my health problem?
2. What do I need to do?
3. Why do I need to do this?

And these are the three questions that you should also ask every other health provider you visit because these three fundamental questions (with their answers) empower you (the patient) to become an active partner in your own personal treatment and overall health. At the same time these questions form the very beginning of a relationship with your health-care provider, a relationship that should be based on communication, understanding and respect.

Here in Manitoba the non-profit Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety has developed the “It’s Safe to Ask” program to create stronger lines of communication between patients and health-care providers. This program, started in January 2007 and is based on a successful American program called “It Takes 3”, involves posters and brochures in 15 languages distributed to almost 20,000 health-care professionals across the province. The goal of the program is, quite simply, to improve the communication between health-care providers and patients. So far the results have been gratifying! For more information please check out the “It’s Safe to Ask” website at safetoask.ca

More Questions

At CD Whyte Ridge Pharmacy we have the "It's Safe to Ask" brochures available and we recommend that everyone read and use them. On each brochure there is space to list information you should know before you talk to our pharmacists, information designed to improve the lines of communication. By taking a few minutes to think about these basic issues you will find yourself able to ask questions and achieve better health:

1. Name
2. Medicines (What you are currently taking)
3. Non-Prescription Medicines
4. Vitamins/Herbals
5. Allergies

There are more questions listed in the brochure and the answers to each of them will help our pharmacists serve you better. Each of the questions helps our pharmacist understand who you are and what you need!

At CD Whyte Ridge Pharmacy we believe that the health of our patients requires a partnership and we will do everything within our power to create that very partnership. For more information please call us at (204) 488-1819, email us or come down to our store at 123 G Scurfield Boulevard in Winnipeg, Manitoba. We look forward to seeing you!
Dennis Wong - Owner and Consultant Pharmacist

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Three Things to Always Ask Your Pharmacist