Implementation of VA Patient-centered Prescription Label and Patient Medication Information

In 2011, VA National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) evaluated the impact of culture, age, and education on the understanding of a proposed evidence-based Veterans Affairs (VA) prescription label. The evaluation was conducted using structured in-person focus group methodology. Participants were recruited from various regions of the United States to ensure broad representation of various cultural and ethnic groups that receive services from the VA. The study confirmed that a new standardized VA prescription label is preferred by Veterans and improved Veteran comprehension of prescription label information vs the prescription label used at that time. The VA approved standardizing all prescriptions labels to the VA Patient Centric Prescription Label format. Implementation VA wide was completed January 2015. The 2010 study also identified poor Veteran comprehension of the patient centric information (PMI) provided with each prescription. The text of the current PMI is provided by First Data Bank (FDB) and the VA specifies the format in which the PMI is printed. A 2015 study will evaluate different PMI formats to enhance Veteran comprehension and preference.