Continuity of Medication Management

Medication ReconciliationA Systematic Process to Reduce Adverse Medication Events

HospitalPresenterMonth YYYY

Continuity is an Issue in Health Care

• 10-67% of medication histories contain at least one error1

• Incomplete medication histories at the time of admission have been cited as the cause of at least 27% of prescribing errors in hospital2

• The most common error is the omission of a regularly used medicine3

• Around half of the medication errors that happen in hospital occur on admission or discharge4

• 30% of these errors have the potential to cause harm3,5

NSW Examples - Medication Errors

Aspirin and clopidogrel ceased in ICU and not recommenced when patient transferred to

ward

Patient suffered sudden cardiac

arrest resulting in death

May have contributed to

patient’s death

Patient prescribed ramipril 1.25mg daily, medication chart was rewritten as ramipril

12.5mg daily

Patient suffered pre-syncopal episode, was transferred to HDU and required

noradrenaline

Caused temporary harm and required

intervention

Patient initiated on new cardiac medication,

discharged with no summary or medicine

Patient became acutely unwell and

was re-admitted

Caused temporary harm and required

intervention

Continuity of Medication Management

Continuity of medication management is achieved when a series of medication management cycles, each of which corresponds to an episode of care, is linked so that information is transferred between cycles (APAC 2005)

Medication Management Pathway

Patient

Procure

Quality audit and review

Decision to prescribemedicine

Record medicine order/prescription

Review of medicine order

Issue of medicine

Provision of medicines

information

Distribution & storage of medicine

Administration of medicine

Monitor ofresponse

Transfer ofverified information

Medication Reconciliation

• A process to reduce adverse medication events by:- Ensuring patients receive all intended

medicines- Mitigating common errors of transcription,

omission, commission and duplication - Ensuring accurate, current and comprehensive

medication information follows patients on transfer and discharge

Medication Reconciliation4 Simple Steps to Improve Patient Safety

1. Collect a comprehensive medication history

2. Confirm the accuracy of the history

3. Compare the history with prescribed medicines

4. Supply accurate medicines information

1. What is a Best Possible Medication History (BPMH)?

• An accurate and complete medication history, or as close as possible

• Uses at least one other source of medicines information to verify

• More comprehensive than a routine primary medication history

1. Collect a BPMH

• Gather an accurate as possible medication history, using a combination of sources of medicines information:- Patient/carer interview when possible

AND/OR - Other sources of medicines information e.g.

community healthcare provider

2. Confirm the Accuracy of the History

• Verify the obtained information- Use a secondary source to confirm the interview

information OR- Use two or more sources of information to obtain

and verify the medication history

• Explore inconsistencies between the different sources

• The collecting and confirming steps may occur in succession or concurrently

Sources of Medicines Information• Sources may include:

- Patient/carer interview (wherever possible)- GP medication list, referral letter, phone call- Patient medication list- Community pharmacy dispensing history - Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) medication

chart- Patient’s own medications, prescriptions or dose

administration aids- Previous hospital discharge summary

3. Compare the history with prescribed medicines

• Use the BPMH when determining the medications to be prescribed on admission:- Decide and document the plan for each

medicine e.g. to continue, change, withhold or cease

- Check the medicines that have been prescribed follow the plan

- Compare pre-admission and current medications at every transfer of care

4. Supply Accurate Medicines Information

• Between wards, hospitals and at discharge consider:- Are all medicines prescribed still relevant?- Do any pre-admission medicines

withheld/changed need to be recommenced/changed back?

- Are the changes, including reasons clearly documented?

- Is the list complete and clear for your patient, your team and the next care provider?

A Tool to Facilitate Medication ReconciliationNSW Medication Management Plan (MMP)

Prompts for:- Dose- Frequency- Indication- Duration- Recently ceased- Recently changed- Sources of list- Checklist

Area to record medicines taken

prior to presentation

MMP

Medication Chart

Dr’s Plan column enables comparison with the medication chart atadmission

Reconciliation Complete on Admission

Tick reconcile column

once complete

Identifying and Tracking Issues

Area to record:- Identified medication

related problems - Action required - Person responsible- Result of action

Assisting DischargeAs well as containing a list of the patient’s pre-admission medications for comparison at discharge the MMP can:- Capture medication changes

during admission- Capture comments e.g.

medication administration and supply requirements

- Provide a discharge checklist- Identify patients for home

medicines review

The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards

• 3 criteria linked to medication reconciliation- Criterion 4.6 The clinical workforce taking an accurate

medication history…- Criterion 4.8 The clinical workforce reviewing the

patient’s current medication orders…and reconciling any discrepancies

- Criterion 4.12 Ensuring a current comprehensive list of medicines, and the reason/s for any change, is provided to the receiving clinician and the patient during clinical handovers

National and International • The Australian Safety and Quality Goals for Health Care:

- Recognise continuity of medication management as an area of priority

- Identify care transitions (admission, transfer and discharge) as an area of concern

- Define patient populations that are at an increased risk of adverse medication events

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) names medication reconciliation as one of its ‘High 5’ patient safety solutions

Key Points• A BPMH results in safer prescribing

• Documenting a BPMH and plan- Improves communication between the health care team- Reduces error, confusion and re-work- Reduces time and error at discharge

• Reconciling at admission, ward/hospital transfer and discharge reduces medication errors and patient harm

• Providing accurate information at transfer/discharge results in safe ongoing care

References1. Tam V, Knowles SR, Cornish PL, Fine N, Marchesano R, Etchells EE.

Frequency, type and clinical importance of medication history errors at admission to hospital: a systematic review. CMAJ 2005;173:510-5.

2. Dobrzanski S, Hammond I, Khan G, Holdsworth H. The nature of hospital prescribing errors. Br J Clin Govern 2002;7:187-93.

3. Cornish PL, Knowles SR, Marchesano R, Tam V, Shadowitz S, Juurlink DN, Etchells EE. Unintended medication discrepancies at the time of hospital admission. Arch Intern Med 2005;165:424-9.

4. Sullivan C, Gleason KM, Rooney D, Groszek JM, Barnard C. Medication reconciliation in the acute care setting: opportunity and challenge for nursing. J Nurs Care Qual 2005;20:95-8.

5. Vira T, Colquhoun M, Etchells EE. Reconcilable differences: correcting medication errors at hospital admission and discharge. Qual Saf Health Care 2006;15:122-6.