Medication Reconciliation Software
Here are some key excerpts adapted from the AHRQ on Medication Reconciliation Software
“Patients admitted to a hospital commonly receive new medications or have changes made to their existing medications. As a result, the new medication regimen prescribed at the time of discharge may inadvertently omit needed medications that patients have been receiving for some time. Alternatively, new medications may unintentionally duplicate existing medications. For example, a physician might prescribe a calcium channel blocker to a patient who has hypertension but is already taking another medication from the same drug class. Medication reconciliation software is set in place to avoid such issues.
Such unintended inconsistencies in medication regimens may occur at any point of transition in care (eg, transfer from an intensive care unit to a general ward), not just at hospital admission or discharge. Studies have shown that unintended changes in medications occur in 33% of patients at the time of transfer from one site of care within a hospital, and in 14% of patients at hospital discharge.”
Medication reconciliation software aids in the process of avoiding such inadvertent inconsistencies across transitions in care by reviewing the patient's complete medication regimen at the time of admission, transfer, and discharge and comparing it with the regimen being considered for the new setting of care.
“While the importance of medication reconciliation is universally recognized, there is no consensus on the best method of carrying out the process of reconciling medications. A variety of methods have been studied, including having pharmacists perform the entire process, linking medication reconciliation to existing computerized provider order entry systems, and integrating medication reconciliation software within the electronic medical record system. Another avenue being explored is involving patients in reconciling their own medications.”
DrFirst works with MEDITECH and hospital systems to integrate electronic prescription software and feed the data into the hospital information system.
Visit to read more: http://www.psnet.ahrq.gov/primer.aspx?primerID=1Testimonials