Medication Reconciliation: A Necessary Process for Patient Safety

Medication reconciliation is the process of determining the most accurate list of medications the patient is taking. Sounds simple, doesn ’t it? However, in more than 25 years as a nurse practitioner (NP) — the majority spent in inpatient settings (hospital, rehabilitation, skilled nursing facility) — I have found medication reconciliation is still one of the most frustrating aspects of patient care. The use of electronic health records to communicate information was supposed to improve the process and patient safety, but I have yet to see this happen consistently.
Source: Caring for the Ages - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: NURSES ’ NOTES Source Type: news