Drugstore doctors are a growing trend, but is it safe for elderly patients to see them on occasion? In this video, HealthMaker Debra Whitman discusses the possible concerns of scenarios like these.
It can be but then we want to make sure that, if they're given a medication their primary care doctor knows about it, and that it doesn't interact with five or six others that they're on. So we do need to really look broadly at the healthcare system for what level of treatment people need, but we need to make sure that it's coordinated, we need to make sure that the instructions given in any environment individuals that they can understand what the follow up needs to be, they need to be able to take that information and bring it to other doctors, again we sort of make people carry their files with them and in 2013 we should be doing all of these electronically.
Debra Whitman is AARP’s executive vice president for policy, strategy and international affairs. She is an authority on aging issues with experience in national policymaking, domestic and international research and the political process.
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