| 6. For admissions, how long has a medication reconciliation process been in place on your unit/in your department/facility? |
| 0 months |
64% |
| 1-3 months |
7% |
| 3-6 months |
11% |
| 6-12 months |
7% |
| Don抰 know |
4% |
| 7. For transfers to a different level of care, how long has a medication reconciliation process been in place on your unit/in your department/facility? |
| 0 months |
66% |
| 1-3 months |
7% |
| 3-6 months |
9% |
| 6-12 months |
7% |
| Don抰 know |
5% |
| 8. For discharges from your care, how long has a medication reconciliation process been in place on your unit/in your department/facility? |
| 0 months |
66% |
| 1-3 months |
7% |
| 3-6 months |
9% |
| 6-12 months |
6% |
|
|
About your process
9. Who is primarily responsible for the following (you may choose more than one category)… |
Nurse |
Pharmacist |
Physician/ Prescriber |
Medical Records |
Other |
Don’t Know |
| a. Collecting an initial medication history |
34% |
4% |
12% |
2% |
2% |
2% |
| b. Assuring the medication history is accurate |
28% |
9% |
17% |
2% |
2% |
3% |
| c. Reconciling medications between the history and the admission orders |
24% |
11% |
19% |
2% |
2% |
3% |
| d. Reconciling medications upon transfer of a patient to another level of care |
25% |
9% |
20% |
2% |
2% |
3% |
| e. Reconciling medications at the time of discharge |
25% |
6% |
21% |
2% |
2% |
4% |
| f. Sending the patient’s discharge medication list to the patient’s physician/next provider |
19% |
3% |
8% |
5% |
5% |
10% |
|
| 10. After an admission medication history is obtained, your policy states all medications must be reconciled within how many hours? |
| 12 |
65% |
| 24 |
16% |
| 36 |
1% |
| 48 |
1% |
| Not Sure |
12% |
| 11. Does your policy specify a different timeframe for reconciliation depending upon the critical nature of the drugs on the medication history list? |
| No |
83% |
| Not Sure |
12% |
| 12. Your medication reconciliation process is documented on which type of form? |
| Combination of both |
10% |
| Computer charting system |
6% |
| Not documented |
2% |
| Not sure |
2% |
| 13. Does the prescriber order medications directly on the same form or screen used to document the initial medication history? |
| Always |
73% |
| Never |
17% |
| 14. Please rank the relative importance of success factors and barriers encountered during the implementation of the medication reconciliation program at your facility. Scale: 1=most important, 8=least important (use each number once in the ranking process). |
a. SUCCESS FACTORS |
Rank
|
b. BARRIERS |
Rank
|
| i. Teamwork among disciplines |
| 1 |
82% |
| 2 |
6% |
| 3 |
4% |
| 4 |
3% |
| 5 |
2% |
| 6 |
1% |
| 7 |
1% |
i. Unreliable patient |
| 1 |
77% |
| 2 |
6% |
| 3 |
5% |
| 4 |
4% |
| 5 |
3% |
| 6 |
2% |
| 7 |
2% |
| ii. Clearly defined protocols |
| 1 |
75% |
| 2 |
9% |
| 3 |
5% |
| 4 |
4% |
| 5 |
3% |
| 6 |
2% |
| 7 |
1% |
ii. Documentation from other sources |
| 1 |
69% |
| 2 |
7% |
| 3 |
6% |
| 4 |
5% |
| 5 |
4% |
| 6 |
4% |
| 7 |
3% |
| iii. Centralized history form/screen |
| 1 |
73% |
| 2 |
8% |
| 3 |
6% |
| 4 |
5% |
| 5 |
3% |
| 6 |
2% |
| 7 |
2% |
iii. Lack of teamwork among disciplines |
| 1 |
73% |
| 2 |
6% |
| 3 |
6% |
| 4 |
5% |
| 5 |
4% |
| 6 |
3% |
| 7 |
3% |
| iv. History collection by pharmacist |
| 1 |
66% |
| 2 |
3% |
| 3 |
3% |
| 4 |
4% |
| 5 |
4% |
| 6 |
4% |
| 7 |
8% |
iv. Extra burden |
| 1 |
70% |
| 2 |
6% |
| 3 |
5% |
| 4 |
6% |
| 5 |
4% |
| 6 |
3% |
| 7 |
4% |
| v. Easy communication with outpatient providers |
| 1 |
67% |
| 2 |
5% |
| 3 |
5% |
| 4 |
5% |
| 5 |
5% |
| 6 |
7% |
| 7 |
5% |
v. Lack of frontline staff input into process |
| 1 |
68% |
| 2 |
5% |
| 3 |
5% |
| 4 |
5% |
| 5 |
5% |
| 6 |
5% |
| 7 |
4% |
| vi. Reasonable expectations for “complete” history |
| 1 |
70% |
| 2 |
7% |
| 3 |
6% |
| 4 |
5% |
| 5 |
5% |
| 6 |
4% |
| 7 |
2% |
vi. Lack of administrative leadership |
| 1 |
68% |
| 2 |
5% |
| 3 |
4% |
| 4 |
4% |
| 5 |
5% |
| 6 |
5% |
| 7 |
6% |
| vii. Awareness of the role of each contributor |
| 1 |
70% |
| 2 |
7% |
| 3 |
6% |
| 4 |
5% |
| 5 |
4% |
| 6 |
4% |
| 7 |
4% |
vii. Lack of physician leadership |
| 1 |
73% |
| 2 |
6% |
| 3 |
4% |
| 4 |
4% |
| 5 |
3% |
| 6 |
3% |
| 15. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1=not valuable and 5=very valuable, please select a number below indicating your perception of the value of the medication reconciliation process to patient safety overall:
| 1 |
1% |
| 2 |
66% |
| 3 |
4% |
| 4 |
7% |
16. Other comments:
| The presentaion of this NPSG is just one more in a lne of JCAHO requirements for which there is no template. It is untested or at least not completely tested. This is a problem for which there must be a global solution not a piecemeal, patchwork of systems. The reality is that our healthcare system is not amenable to a global solution at this point and time in history. This is another demand on all healthcare providers in place of something that they were already doing. Advice on this NPSG has gone from, "it is the providers responsibility to reconcile, to the pharmacist, nurse or provider. Who do you think will end up with this one? This has gone from inpatient only to outpatient clinics. There are a few systems that are remarkable within themselves, (the VA for example)however, in most cases, an accurate transfer to another system or provider is not there. It is likely that there will be many RFI(s) written on this one before JCAHO backs up on this one. In some cases this NPSG will cause a more dangerous patient safety scenario, rather that one that is safer. And since it has gone so far, it will be extremely difficult for them to retract this one. Perhaps they will at least give our healthcare system a little more time... |
| JCAHO has instituted several safety issues in the last few years that are wonderful in theory but an absolute nightmare in accomplishment. Physicians should assume more responsibility in this process. |
| The more comprehensive the reconiciliation process appears, the more likely that staff will depend on it as accurate. This is dangerous because the information is often incomplete because of fragmented care. The process is very valuable in a setting where the sources of providing medications is limited. |
| Very valuable, but difficult process especially when trying to reconcile physician History and physical with the medications that the patient states they are currently taking. |
| Many of your "Success factors" are barriers at our facility. History collection is the Physicians ultimate responsibility, often done by nursing staff. Pharmacist involvement is minimal due to staffing/ & lack of Physicians asking for help from Pharmacy. Communication between facilities and retail pharmacies is poor at best, and would benefit if a formalized universal method of communicating med profiles can be instituted preferably via electronic processing. |
| When JCAHO wanted this, they should have given guidelines for staffing, forms, and how we should do it. We have spent more time on the forms and the process than any other project. We have also had to increase staffing in pharmacy without reimbursement from from any insurance or other payer. |
| On the medical unit that I work on, the most frequent problem is patients who come in without a clear medication list. They give additional info for at least two more days after they are admitted. The greatest help to us is what only one physicians' group does is to send over a clear and current med list from the office on addmission. |
| I am a CNS in a Regional Perinatal Center. I clearly see the value of medication reconciliation, but I have not been successful in helping to see the value in the process for our patients. They clearly see the value for Med-Surg units, but not for Ob. As women are aging and still having babies, the number of meds they take also increases. My nurses think it's all about prenatal vitamins and iron. |
| Medication Reconciliation has brought to the forefront, the numerous problems in obtaining and continuing accurate patient medication information. If the problem is not corrected at the admission, the problem continues until the first office visit at the patient's primary care provider where it is identified. Until there is a national database for patient medication histories, medication reconciliation will be continue to be problematic for all- doctors, nurses, and pharmacies! Staffing issues continue to threaten this very necessary process as it takes time to complete an accurate history. As hospitals stuggle to change to all encompassing computer systems, hospitals that have both paper and computer systems will continue to be burned by this process. I could elaborate more on our challenges and opportunities for improvement but due to lack of time I can't at this time. Mary Cubick, Pharm.D. |
| A resource intensive process to start, will take a culture shift to get everyone on board; if done right at the first time will have much success. Important to undertand how patients enter the system. This is a journey that will take at least 12- 24 months to get significant measurable results. If presented up front as a safety initiative not to meet some regualtory or accreditation needs, there is better acceptance. |
| JCAHO NPSG 8 A&B requirement of 100% compliane is quite a challenge. We are part of a seven hospital system with multiple other outpatient and long term care facilities. As a system we are in the process of standardizing our forms, communication stratagies and process across the continuum of care. To date our complince from data submitted is 81-85%. Medications missed at discharge are multivitamines, glucosamine, birth control pills- mostly OTC meds. |
| education of the patients is upmost in my mind. So many men say "ask my wife" when asked what meds they take. When taking medicine hx I ask what each med is used for, this helps to eleminate wrong med names. About 10 years ago our hospital printed a med list card that we fill out in pencil with the Drug name, Dosage, How often it is taken and for what purpose. The card folds to the size of a credit card and seems to be well received by our patients. The patients and their families are then responsible to keep it current and keep it in their wallet or purse. The hospital gets these out to the patients at health fairs and through admissions to the hospital. It does at times take up my time by completing this card, but I really express to the patient and their famlies how very important this card is to their care. I have many times seen patients out in the community and they ask me if I could please get them another card, so they do use them. |
| Our process is coming along well, though the staff is still on a learning curve! |
| The physicians need to understand that working out the process for medication reconciliation is an ongoing project, just as any new process. Due to the many facets of this process, it is going to take a considerable amount of time to tweak to make this work for everyone. Even then, change is always possible. |
| MDs especially outpatient surgeons are highly resistant to the process. They feel that they are not the prescribers and they don't know the meds so they don't want to be responsible. |
| In our institution. I think the pharmacists and pharm techs would DIE before they ever became involved in anything like gathering data or speaking with a patient.
There is not a process to "Hand over" the resposibility when this collection is very difficult to gather.
Administration is so out of touch with what happens at the bedside that it is sad and dangerous because they are adding more and more to the caregivers' responsibilities that there is less time to do our jobs and more chances for errors and safety issues. |
| The med rec form is printed from the computer by a nurse on to a paper form where it is reviewed against the medications that are on the patient information form (filled out by the patient/family) and the patient. Forms are then faxed to the pharmacy. |
| I believe people do not know what their medications are for. They take a lot of supplements and over the counter drugs because of the TV push for such "wonder" drugs. They go see MD's for various specialities and no MD coordinates the care between the internist and the cardiologist and the urologist, etc. Hopefully, they use the same pharmacy so there is a check and balance.We have an elderly population and they may be on 35 different drugs and supplements. How can any one afford this and keep up with when and what to take? |
| While I believe that pt safety is of primary importance, I think the reconciliation process our facility has is too cumbersome, lacks clarity about how it is used, and has not been communicated well to all users. I don't see much difference in this process from prior admission process. It seems that errors often still get thru several people people before they are caught. Just yesterday I had one where an MD wrote for mg instead of the correct dose in grams. It went thru 5 people (MD, discharge planning RN, home care RN, hospital pharmacist and floor staff RN, before it was caught by the home IV pharmacist). The order was written correctly in on one form (by the discharge planning nurse) and incorrectly on another form (by the MD). This caused a several hour delay in the pt being discharged from the hospital due to need to contact MD and obtain clarification. No harm to the pt, but definitely inconvenience. It also caused an hour of overtime for the IV home nurse, and possibly for the home care IV pharmacist. |
| We're having difficulty with compliance with the process and ensuring reliability of the patient provided information. |
| the public should be educated to the importance of knowing their oun medical issues and choices. |
| hard to understand your ranking questions as to barriers, success factors |
| Getting started has been very challenging. Since we are a computerized facility, it tands to be somewhat cumbersome trying to unite the 2 processes. We enter meds on the Medication Reconciliation Form, but then have to enter onto the computer for hand out when patient is discharged. Our Biggest obstacle is getting the physicians to comply. Changing that behavior will take alot of time, even my best docs are lax in this area. |
| Before reading this I had no idea what medication reconcilitaion was. Thanks for making me more knowledgeable. |
| Hard to reconcill when patient's doctor offices closed and patient obtains medication through a mail order. |
| Given the computerized record we use, reconciliation is a matter of clicking on a tab - the outpatient, inpatient and other medications are there - plus a web clink to click on to get to other facilities - this should be an easy process for nurses and providers |
| My role as rn admitting,transfer and discharging a pt I am the last stop for pt safety in relation to their meds. I have a huge advantage of being in the home and actually looking at the bottles, the med cabinet, the kitchen counter,etc. I have to be sure they are taking the meds as ordered and communicate the list to all their doctors, this is an overwhelming job at times. I could not sleepat night if I did not give 100% every time evry visit. I may never know but I am sure I have prented med errors in the home by completing med rec. Thankyou Lora RN CPC |
| Providers and staff seem not to understand that all this does is formalize a process that has been poorly done for years. All they see is the increased liability, not the improvements for the pt.
We had an interdisciplinary team implement, but it seems like every unit is different and has it's own cultural reaction to change. |
| oops, delete previous submission, wrong response #16 |
| Many medications are not reconciled/ordered by the physician even though the patient has been on them at home for years and there are no contraindications for them. It is also difficult and time consuming to reconcile medications from patients that are unreliable and you have to call a pharmacy, family member, or physician office (this is particularly difficult when a patient is admitted at night). I wonder if both physicians and patients need to be more educated on the importance of medication reconciliation? |
| NOT ALL THE PHYSICIANS HAVE BOUGHT INTO THE IMPORTANCE OF MED RECONCILLATION. |
| As a homecare nurse, very often we get multiple different lists from hospital, rehab and what the patient has. Many times there is no explanation as to why a medicine change was made particularly when a patient was on one med at D/C from hospital and those meds changed at D/C from rehab. Also, the patient's medicines in the home can be very different from any of the lists we receive, and PCPs are often not put in the loop of med changes that occur during inpatient stays. It can be very challenging to try and figure out what the patient is really taking. |
| Medication reconciliation is a difficult process for many different reasons.
A medication may be forgotten or also too many medications can be administered if the
reconciliation is not done properly.Ideally a pharmacist should do the reconciliation
with patient's meds, pharmacy list and patient interview , practically it needs too much
resources. |
| The form is valuable only if it is completed/the pt. knows their medications and doses/the physician reviews. |
| The concept is valuable...the process and barriers with an accurate and timely process is what is lacking and causes most confusion. |
| becasue of the shortage of pharmacist the med reconciliation has more errors than before. Nurses do not know what they are doing, physicians do not wnat to spend the time listening to a nurse read off the list. The nurses do not know dosages, drugs, or even frequencies. This whole process is failing because of inconsistant nurses who just are not the drug experts. If there were more pharmacists or pharmacy students availalbe this would be a great process. It should be the pharmacist doing drug histories and reconciling withthe physicians. That is the only way to reduce errors!!!! |
| Medictation Reconciliation (MR) is a valuable NPSG to help reduce medication errors. Demonstrating the importance of the goal to physicians and nursing staff has been a major obstacle though training was implemented prior to its initiation. Teamwork among the disciplines is crucial for an effective MR process. |
| We are still having difficulties and problems with the whole process and have another team looking at it. At present, it could cause errors. For example, the medication list may not be complete because the pharmacy needs to be called. But the MD writes admitting orders and they are scanned to pharmacy. Then the next day the list is complete and the physician indicates which meds to continue in hospital. It is scanned to pharmacy. However, the doses are different than the admitting orders. Now which one is right? |
| Screens do not stay open long enough during my procedures for this valuable information to be readily available in the procedure room, without my ungloving and pulling it up again. |
| Very important issue, but complicated by many factors outside the control of the acute care hospital. These problems (accurate med history etc) cleary demonstrate the need for a central organized database of patients medical histories. |
| The toughest part of this process is getting everybody to agree that correct execution is worth the time it takes to implement. We are still in the formative stage, and it's been six months, because our main motivation was JCAHO last November. |
| I really feel that the initial reconciliation on admission is an accident waiting to happen. We have had some severe near misses. The MD takes these sheets as gospel...
Needs to be fixed ???? |
| This process is very lengthy and time consuming for nurses. This takes away valuable time that could be spent at the bedside. For our particular hospital, long-term ACUTE care, patients often have no idea of the meds because they have been in another facility for weeks or even months. On discharge, some patients have been here for 2-4 months and the med rec form can be multiple pages, once again, very time consuming. |
| Implementation was easier than we thought; our Nursing dept made the med recon form part of the initial admission assessment form; as an incentive to complete, Pharmacy had to have allergies on the assessment form in order to enter any meds into the computer system. The MDs absolutely love and have asked if we could set up computers in their lounges so they can access transfer or post-op MARs on their own. Still a WIP after 3-6mos. Started in December. |
| We struggle profoundly with physician willingness to assume responsibility for ordering of home meds in the hospital, or addressing home meds to continue/change when returning home. Surgeons have a completely "hands off" approach. "I don't know about most of the home meds, and it doesn't matter while they are in the hospital." Their position is that what they do in the hospital (i.e. orthopedic surgery) doesn't alter the meds the patient will take at home postop. Interestingly, they feel fine writing orders to "continue home meds" (in the hospital) and "resume home meds" (after discharge), but when provided a list of these meds, they do not want to address them individually. Much of the concern surrounds the accuracy of the home med list. The surgeons don't want to be held responsible if they indicate a home med is to be continued, then later find out that the dose was wrong (i.e. patient reported dose incorrectly). Our Medicine physicians (i.e. "Admit and Manage" MDs), are very thorough in their collection of detailed admit medication histories. However, they do not manage the surgeons patients. Difficult issues to resolve! |
| It takes a lot of time to do this accurately. On a busy med/surg unit you are constantly getting admissions and discharges and transfers. I know this is needed but it is very stressful trying to get it done along with all the other safety issues going on and also care for all the other patients on the unit. Many medical patients are on huge lists of medications. Patient acuity is higher than ever. To make this happen i think the government should be looking at ways to reimberse hospitals so more staff could be hired to help make this happen. We need more pharmacy and nurses to get this done timely and accurately. It would be nice to see some funding to help get adequate staff. It is all well and good to give directives but if the government wants it to happen they need to put their money where their mouth is. |
| The discharge process has been the most difficult to institute. The inpatient process has been the initial focus. Outpatient will follow after the inpatient process is completed. |
| Parents, for the most part, have been unreliable in providing information. For example, one parent said her child was on zantac. The physician ordered zantac. The child was on zyrtec, not zantac, at home. One parent told us the child was on Ritalin XR 100mg. Wrong dose, however, the physician ordered as Ritalin XR 100mg. More education needed. |
| I work in an outpt radiation clinic within a hospital. I find that the medication list is often not updated by the medical oncologist or NP at the chemo facility across the street |
| not too sure how to answer question # 14 in the barrier column. |
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