According to one study, while older people can definitely benefit from medication designed to treat specific ailments, they are also at higher risk of harm caused by overmedication, or the prescription of too many medications (also known as polypharmacy.)  

At My Health 360, Dr. Umbrine Fatima and her team here in Clarence, New York, are focused on delivering deeply personalized patient experiences. This can include deprescribing those medications which no longer serve a positive purpose for your health.

WHAT IS DEPRESCRIBING?

Dr. Fatima will carefully work with you to identify which medications are working for you and which are not performing well to improve your health. Then she can order the medications that aren’t truly helping you to be discontinued. 

Deprescribing isn’t designed to take away important medical intervention. It’s intended to analyze on a case-by-case basis whether a patient is benefiting from their medications as intended. The deprescribing process also analyzes if any of your medications may be reacting badly with one another, or are otherwise ineffective.

COMMONLY OVERPRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS 

According to the CDC, around 30% of antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary, leading to a rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria. This can harm everyone’s health, not just your own, as these bacteria become resistant to more and more antibiotic options and turn into “superbugs” that cannot be stopped.

Long-term benzodiazepine use is also a concern, especially with people over the age of 65 who are more likely to be prescribed the drugs long-term. These medications have been linked with increased risk of falls, fractures, and motor vehicle collisions, especially for older people.

WHY DEPRESCRIBING WORKS BEST WITH CONCIERGE CARE

The goal of deprescribing is to make you healthier by deprescribing medications you no longer need. This can be hard for some doctors to achieve because it requires careful monitoring, which many traditional health practices aren’t set up to manage.

Even in highly integrated health systems like the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), it’s difficult to track all the medications a single patient is on, let alone monitor the effect of each medication on the patient’s body and all other medications being prescribed. 

At My Health 360, our concierge care medical practice model is designed to give each patient extra attention, and this allows us to carefully track your health from all angles at all times. Dr. Fatima can safely and accurately identify which medications should be prescribed and monitor you throughout your medication schedule adjustments. 

Ready to explore deprescribing? Contact our Clarence, New York, office today at 716-235-5317 or book an appointment online at your convenience.