Medication reconciliation: passing phase or real need?
Medication reconciliation errors occur across transitions in patient care. Of all medication errors in a hospital, 25 % in hospitalised patients are caused by a failure to reconcile new prescriptions with ongoing home treatments. These errors are more common at discharge, but the critical moment for detecting and resolving them is at the time of admission. This commentary reviews the different ways in which reconciliation errors can be prevented. The reconciliation process should be standardised and implemented in daily practice as a routine part of healthcare provision. To achieve this, professional development of hospital pharmacists is of paramount importance. The commentary goes on to describe the factors that affect the reconciliation process and the stages involved in its implementation. Finally, we discuss the use of information technology as a means to help integrating medication reconciliation into clinical practice.
Pharmacy Department (Servicio de Farmacia), Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain. mduran.hgugm@salud.madrid.org
Esther
E
Durán-García
Cecilia M
CM
Fernandez-Llamazares
Miguel A
MA
Calleja-Hernández
D016303:Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D059065:Medication Reconciliation / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000592:standards; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000592:standards; D010595:Pharmacists; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D024382:Professional Role; D016730:Program Development; D057188:Workflow