Perspectives

Outcomes Study: Identifying Medication Reconciliation Inconsistencies Impacting 30-Day Readmission Rates at a 200 Bed Community Hospital in the Midwest

Written by CPS | Dec 13, 2024 2:35:01 PM

Members of our team had the opportunity to present a new poster abstract, "Identifying Medication Reconciliation Inconsistencies Impacting 30-Day Readmission Rates at a 200 Bed Community Hospital in the Midwest", at the ASHP 2024 Midyear Meeting held December 8 - 12, 2024.

 

Authors:

Rebecca Volkert, PharmD | Casey Fitzpatrick, PharmD, BCPS | Colin Lombardi, PharmD, MS | Gretchen Lindsey, PharmD

 

Background:

  • Medication reconciliation is a formal process aimed at collecting a comprehensive list of all current medications for patients by comparing a patient's medication orders to an external list of medications. The goal of medication reconciliation is to avoid medications errors, such as duplicates, omissions, or drug interactions.¹
  • Studies show that every hospitalized patient is subject to at least 1 medication reconciliation error per day while admitted.²
  • Medication reconciliation errors occur most predominantly during transitions of care, specifically admissions, transfers, and discharges.²

 

Purpose:

  • To assess the current medication reconciliation process at a community hospital and identify factors that may contribute to hospital readmissions.

Read about the team's findings by downloading the outcomes study below.