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Pharmacy collected medication histories in an observation unit
Gabrielle L Procopio1, Brian Faley1, Michael A Wynd1
1Department of Pharmacy, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ, USA; The Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
SAGE Open Medicine
|January 16, 2016
Summary
Pharmacists identified an average of 2.9 medication discrepancies per patient in observation units. This highlights the need for improved medication reconciliation processes to ensure patient safety.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacy Practice
- Patient Safety
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Medication reconciliation processes in hospitals are not well-defined.
- Observation units experience high patient turnover, necessitating accurate medication histories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of pharmacists and student pharmacists in detecting medication history discrepancies.
- Focus on medication histories obtained during triage for observation patients.
Main Methods:
- Pharmacists and student pharmacists collected medication histories for observation patients.
- Compared triage-obtained histories with pharmacy-collected histories to identify discrepancies.
- Excluded patients/cases where histories could not be obtained from any source.
Main Results:
- 1467 discrepancies were found across 501 medication histories (3213 records).
- Discrepancies included omissions (55%), wrong frequency (20.2%), wrong dose (19%), discontinued (3.5%), and wrong medication (2.3%).
- An average of 2.9 discrepancies per patient was observed, with only 15% of profiles fully matched.
Conclusions:
- Pharmacy-led medication history collection in observation units effectively identifies critical discrepancies.
- These identified discrepancies can be addressed through interdisciplinary team reconciliation.
- Enhancing medication reconciliation improves patient safety in observation settings.
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