The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) believes that an effective process for medication reconciliation reduces medication errors and supports safe medication use by patients. ASHP encourages hospitals and health systems, including community-based providers and managed care systems, to collaborate in organized, multidisciplinary medication reconciliation programs to promote co...

OBJECTIVES To determine the accuracy of medication reconciliation in an internal medicine clinic and to evaluate pharmacist interventions targeted at improving the accuracy of medication reconciliation. DESIGN Prospective case series. SETTING Memphis, TN, from October 2007 to March 2008. PATIENTS 180 adults attending an internal medicine appointment. INTERVENTION On patient arrival, a n...

BACKGROUND Virtual (non-face-to-face) medication reconciliation strategies may reduce adverse drug events (ADEs) among vulnerable ambulatory patients. Understanding provider perspectives on the use of technology for medication reconciliation can inform the design of patient-centered solutions to improve ambulatory medication safety. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to describe primary care ...

Hospitals face increasing pressure to implement medication reconciliation—a systematic way to ensure accurate patient medication lists at admission, during a hospitalization and at discharge—to reduce errors and improve patient outcomes. Electronic health records (EHRs) can help standardize medication reconciliation, but data quality and technical and workflow issues continue to pose challenges...

Background: Medication reconciliation is an essential, but resource-intensive process without a “gold standard” to measure medication adherence. Medication reconciliation applications that focus on facilitating clinicians’ decision-making are needed. Since no single available source of medication information is adequate, combining data sources may improve usefulness and outcomes. Objectives: We...

Medication reconciliation was developed to reduce medical mistakes and injuries through a process of creating and comparing a current medication list from independent patient information sources, and resolving discrepancies. The structure and clinician assignments of medication reconciliation varies between institutions, but usually includes physicians, nurses and pharmacists. The Joint Commiss...

OBJECTIVE To improve understanding of the medication reconciliation process, its effect on patient care and outcomes, and how pharmacists can contribute to improving this process using a standardized framework of service delivery defined in the context of medication therapy management. SUMMARY Medication reconciliation is an integral part of the care transitions process in which health care p...

Medication errors are among the most common type of patient-safety error and therefore are a priority for organizational performance-improvement efforts. Medication reconciliation has been found to greatly reduce adverse drug and medication events. At one facility, a computer-generated Physician Discharge Medication Worksheet (PDMW) was developed to aid medication reconciliation. Use of this to...

BACKGROUND Medication reconciliation is a major component of safe patient care. One of the main problems in the implementation of a medication reconciliation process is the lack of human resources. With limited resources, it is better to target medication reconciliation resources to patients who will derive the most benefit from it. OBJECTIVE The primary objective of this study was to determi...

BACKGROUND Medication reconciliation can prevent medication errors and harm when patients transition between hospital and other care settings. Though a Joint Commission hospital Patient Safety Goal since 2006, organizations continue to have difficulty implementing the process. OBJECTIVE To determine factors that influence performance of medication reconciliation in a hospital setting with a c...