Effect of admission medication reconciliation on adverse drug events from admission medication changes.

M edication reconciliation, a process by which a health care provider obtains and documents a thorough medication history with specific attention to comparing current and previous medication use, has been a focus of major patient safety initiatives. Evaluations of medication reconciliation programs have reported factors associated with successful implementation and its effect on prescribing outcomes such as medication errors and potential adverse drug events but not its effect on actual adverse drug events (ADEs). The objective of this study was to estimate the effectiveness of inpatient medication reconciliation at the time of hospital admission on ADEs caused by admission prescribing changes.