PictureRx: Improving Medication Safety in Health Disparity Populations

Medication safety is an important concern in hospital Emergency Departments (EDs), which
provide approximately 136 million patient visits annually in the US. An accurate list of the
patient's medications is often needed to inform medical decision-making. Moreover, health
care facilities are required to provide patients with an accurate, reconciled list of their
medications upon completion of the visit. However, for 37-87% of patients in the ED, errors
are present in the documented medication list, and patients often leave without an updated
list of their medications or a good understanding of their self-care instructions. This
increases the risk of harmful adverse drug events. Health disparity populations, who are
more likely to seek care in EDs and who more often have difficulty providing a complete
medication history, are disproportionately affected.

Health information technology has the potential to improve medication safety in this
setting. PictureRx is an internet-based platform designed to improve medication management
in vulnerable populations. It allows users to generate illustrated medication lists in an
easily-understood, patient-centered format, in either English or Spanish. The investigators
have developed a process for importing prescription fill data from the Surescripts
Medication History service, which covers 96% of US pharmacies, into the PictureRx platform.
The investigators are developing a mobile tablet PC-based medication history platform that
receives and processes the Surescripts data, as well as prompts verification and additional
information about the medication regimen.

This trial will assess the effect of the PictureRx medication history platform on the
accuracy and efficiency of the medication reconciliation process, as well as patient
understanding and satisfaction, in hospital Emergency Departments.