The role of housestaff in implementing medication reconciliation on admission at an academic medical center

Am J Med Qual. 2011 Jan-Feb;26(1):39-42. doi: 10.1177/1062860610370712. Epub 2010 May 25.

Abstract

Since 2006, the Joint Commission has required all hospitals to have a process in place for medication reconciliation (MR). Although it has been shown that MR decreases medical errors, achieving compliance has proven difficult for many health care institutions. This article describes a housestaff-championed intervention of a "hard stop" for on-admission MR orders that led to a statistically significant increase in compliance that was sustained at 6 months after intervention. Academic medical centers, which comprise large numbers of housestaff, can improve compliance with on-admission MR by engaging housestaff in the development of solutions and in communication to their peers, leading to sustained results.

MeSH terms

  • Academic Medical Centers / standards*
  • Guideline Adherence
  • Humans
  • Medical Errors / prevention & control*
  • Medical Errors / trends
  • Medical Staff, Hospital*
  • Medication Reconciliation*
  • New York
  • Patient Admission*
  • Workforce