Nursing

The right information can help with medication reconciliation

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, October 27, 2006

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The JCAHO has made a conscious effort to simplify how hospitals meet the medication reconciliation goal. What's important is keeping two records: The patient's home medications upon arrival to the hospital and the list of medications that the patient is currently taking while in the hospital.

To meet the goal, Reading (PA) Hospital and Medical Center's home medication reconciliation form provides four copies of the same information. The 700-plus-bed facility's form was designed to get all necessary parties on the same page. The four copies will ultimately provide the same information to the people and places that need it: the patient, pharmacy, physician, and the patient's record.

Getting patients to give up-to-date medication information is still a challenge for most hospitals, including Reading. Try the following ways to jog patients' memories:

  • Asking the patient for the medications that they currently take
  • Calling a family member-at home if possible-to read the prescription bottles
  • Speaking with staff at a long-term care facility, if the patient lives there
  • Calling the patient's primary care physician/specialists
  • Calling the patient's local pharmacy

To get more tips, go to Briefings on Patient Safety (BOPS). For the cost of just three stories, you can get the entire November issue of BOPS. Click here to choose between the PDF and HTML versions for just $30. Subscribers to the online version of BOPS have free access to this article. Subscribers to the print newsletter can find this article in their November issue.



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