Giving Compass' Take:

• The Conversation reports on the rate of deaths in the U.S. related to medication errors, and suggests expanding the role of pharmacists to instill better safety measures.

• What can organizations in the healthcare sector do to bring more efficiency to the pharmaceutical system, and how would better technology help in this area as well?

• Here's a closer look at whether Artificial Intelligence belongs in your doctor's office.

In today’s health care system, no one person — maybe not even you — knows exactly what drugs you’re taking. What’s more, no one health care provider knows how you, the patient, take your medications and at what doses. No single, up-to-date record consistently displays all of this important information.

The lack of an accurate medication list, and the associated lack of centralized and expert management of your full drug regimen, has serious consequences.

A 2016 study at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine suggested that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. Many of these deaths are directly related to errors associated with medications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 1 million visits to emergency rooms each year stem from adverse medication events.

In addition, thousands of people are harmed by suboptimal medication management, or because they don’t take their medications as directed. And millions of health care dollars are wasted each year in the form of duplicated or unneeded drugs and medication-related hospital readmissions.

As dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy, a school defined by science, as well as a researcher who has strived to improve the effectiveness and safety of medications, I think the key to solving these problems is to expand the role of pharmacists.

Read the full article about how pharmacists can solve medication errors by B. Joseph Guglielmo at The Conversation.