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Med rec survey highlights compliance trouble spots

Quality Improvement Monitor, April 4, 2008

Originally introduced as a National Patient Safety Goal by The Joint Commission in 2005, medication reconciliation remains a challenge for many hospitals.

HCPro recently surveyed 43 facilities to find out what methods, policies, and procedures most healthcare facilities use to implement the medication reconciliation process. Most are healthcare facilities in urban (44%) and rural (40%) settings, with the minority in suburban (16%) settings. Most are smaller facilities, with fewer than 150 beds (63%).

Most respondents use paper medical records to document the medication reconciliation process, although 47% use electronic methods or a combination of electronic and paper methods. Electronic methods fare better during survey time, says Kurt Patton, principal of Patton Healthcare Consulting, LLC, in Glendale, AZ. He says electronic records can help keep only in one location.

"The tip I give to organizations is to document meds in only one location, on the med rec list. The physician should refer to that list in the history and physical, and the nurse should refer to that list in the initial nursing assessment," says Patton. "But don't start to create additional or redundant lists of medications. One, it's unnecessary. Two, it creates opportunity for error."

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