From hospital to home healthcare: the need for medication reconciliation

Abstract

Medication reconciliation is a process of comparing medications being used by a client to a current list of prescribed medications to verify its accuracy, and is a best-practice strategy to reduce medication errors. In home healthcare, medication reconciliation includes comparing medications specified in hospital discharge instructions, those taken before the hospitalization, and those now taken by the client, and documenting action taken to resolve discrepancies noted. This exploratory study was designed to describe the adequacy of medication reconciliation in a Midwestern home healthcare agency.