Pharmacists' role in med reconcilation reduces errors, improves accuracy

Hospitals that give their pharmacists a lead role in medication reconciliation experience fewer errors and more accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive patient information during the admission and discharge process, according to new research, MedPageToday reports.

Accurate medication reconciliation jumped from 32.3 percent to 94.2 percent after pharmacists took responsibility for assembling patient medication histories, as well as adding medication progress reports to patient charts at the time of admission, researcher Richard Mioni, of Chicago's Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers (LCMH), reported at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' midyear conference.

"When it comes to medication reconciliation, who better to lead the initiative than the experts in the medication field: pharmacists," Mioni told MedPage Today.

Mioni and his team recorded the results of pharmacist-led reconciliation upon admission into the emergency department from September 2012 to March 2013, and found that as soon as the pharmacists took control, accuracy of reconciliations went from 32.3 percent at admission and 16.7 at discharge, to 50 percent at admission and 25 percent at discharge, according to the article.

Errors in medication reconciliation affect about 54 percent of hospital patients nationwide, according to MedPage Today, with Mioni's team uncovering errors in up to two-thirds of LCMH's admission medication lists and as many as 80 percent of discharge lists.

Due to the success of the study, LCMH approved funding for 3.5 full-time equivalent positions, which will allow pharmacists to handle all medication reconciliations for admissions, Mioni's team told MedPage Today.

Putting pharmacists front and center in the reconciliation process has helped several hospitals reduce readmissions due to medication non-adherence, FierceHealthcare previously reported.

To learn more:
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