Objective: With the rapid aging speed of population and the increasing number of medications for the elderly, there are concerns about the right medication of the elderly population which is relatively limited in drug information acquiring. This can lead to a waste of health insurance finance. Hence, the National Health Insurance Service has conducted ‘Health iN’ medication counseling business since 2015, which is an online drug counseling. Methods: The study was based on 160 counseling materials of the 2016 Gyeongin Regional Headquarters of the ‘Health iN’ medication counseling business. When a branch office employee requests a medication counseling of an applicant from intensive care unit of medication overdose or underdose to the ‘Health iN’, a pharmacist counselor answers to the request. Advisory contents will be included to the total opinion with the types and mechanisms of drugs, adverse effects, drug interactions, problems with overdose or underdose of drugs, and special questions of clients. Results: The number of male applicants is 53 (33.1%), and the number of female applicants is 107 (66.9%). The average age is 62.6±7.7, the average number of diseases per person is 2.03±0.94 and the average number of pills one taking is 3.52±2.47. The highest prevalence is Hypertension (n=121, 75.6%), and the rest of prevalence is hyperlipidemia (n=71, 44.3%), Diabetes (n=67, 41.9%), Gastritis (n=9, 5.6%), Angina pectoris (n=8, 5%), Prostate disease (n=8, 5%). 87 people (54.4%) inquire about special caution with medications, 80 people (50.0%) ask about adverse effects, 76 people (47.5%) ask about efficacy and effect of medication, and 18 people (11.3%) ask about drug interactions. Conclusion: Pharmacists should acquire the characteristics of elderly patients and set a medication counseling manual for elderly patients. Effective medication counseling for the elderly with the understanding of their characteristics should be studied. The development of secondary medication counseling program and the reflection of medical charge should be considered for the improvements of short drug guidance time.

Keywords: Drug information, Elderly patients, Health insurance, Medication counseling, Pharmacist