Medication Reconciliation

Medication reconciliation is a problem that a lot of healthcare organizations struggle with.
Patients may receive a new medication or may have changes made to their existing medication during different transitions of care and though most these changes are intentional, unintended changes occur more frequently than one can imagine. If a medical provider is unable to obtain an accurate medication list from the patient and a new regimen is implemented at the time of discharge needed medications may be omitted, duplicate treatments may be implemented or incorrect dosages may be ordered. Discrepancies such as these can cause adverse drug events and the most common adverse reaction happens to patients after they are discharged from the hospital. This increases the chances of a readmissions in some patient populations.














Medication Reconciliation (Med Rec) and finding steps to improve the transitions of care are recognized as a critical aspect for managing patients. There are reports from Joint Commission that the most frequently found root cause when analyzing sentinel events is the break down of communication when it comes to the importance of medication reconciliations.   There are several steps in the ASHP toolkit that can help with implementing a process for reconciling medications in the healthcare organization.

 

 

Reconciliation is the process of  identifying the most accurate list of all medications a patient is taking : including name, dosage, frequency, and route, and then using this list to help the provider's in ordering the correct medications for patients anywhere in the organization. Reconciliation involves comparing the patient’s current list of medications against the physician’s admission orders, at the time of transfer from each point of care, and at the time of discharge. Experience has shown that hundreds of organization have poor communication and processes when it comes to medication reconciliation. This poor communication has been proven to be responsible for over 50% of medication errors and up to 20% of adverse events.

 

 

In our organization the workflow has been planned on how to implement the medication reconciliation process but it is the matter of having the physicians wait until all of the information is compiled prior to ordering regular medications. It is important for everyone in a healthcare organization to provide the most accurate list for the patient so there are no medications missed and the proper dosages are being ordered.

medication reconcilliation: medication reconcilliation | Piktochart Infographic Editor

 

 

References:
https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primers/primer/1

http://www.ashp.org/menu/PracticePolicy/ResourceCenters/PatientSafety/ASHPMedicationReconciliationToolkit_1.aspx

http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Tools/BMHMemphisMedicationReconciliationForm.aspx