Medication reconciliation in ambulatory oncology

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Ambulatory Care
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Medication reconciliation models in ambulatory care are scarce.
• Ambulatory settings present unique challenges for medication reconciliation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a novel patient-clinician partnership intervention for medication reconciliation in an ambulatory oncology setting.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention in improving medication list accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a patient-clinician partnership intervention augmenting existing policies.
• Clinic assistants provided patients with electronic medical record medication lists for review.
• Patients updated their medication lists and returned them to clinicians for entry or pharmacist review.

Main Results:

• Baseline medication lists contained errors or omissions in 81% of patients.
• The reconciliation program updated 90% of incorrect medication lists.
• Only 2% of medication lists were corrected with usual care (p < .001).

Conclusions:

• The program successfully reconciled a high volume of medication lists, with 31 changes per 100 medications.
• Implementation required significant staff engagement and continuous operational focus.
• This patient-centered approach significantly improved medication list accuracy in ambulatory oncology care.