Background: Medication reconciliation (MR) is associated with reduced discrepancies and adverse events within institutions. In ambulatory care, MR is often considered more challenging due to periodic, brief patient encounters and the involvement of multiple prescribers who lack shared records. MedsCheck, a community pharmacy program in Ontario for patients with diabetes or those taking 3 or more medications, generates a best possible medication history (BPMH) that can serve as a starting point for MR. Our objectives were to develop and evaluate a program to integrate MedsCheck into the workflow of an ambulatory clinic.
Methods: An initiative was implemented within the Complex Care Clinic (CCC), an academic internal medicine clinic at Women's College Hospital (WCH). During booking of their first appointment, patients were encouraged to receive a MedsCheck. A letter was faxed to the patient's preferred community pharmacy with a request to conduct a MedsCheck and send documentation to the clinic. Evaluation included patient and health care provider questionnaires and chart review.
Results: Fifty-five of 86 new patients referred to the CCC were eligible for a MedsCheck. Fifty-four patients consented to having their community pharmacy contacted, and documentation was received for 21 (39%) of these reviews. Chart review was conducted for patients who completed the patient feedback questionnaire (n = 32). Community pharmacists reported at least 1 drug therapy problem for 12 (57%) patients with a mean of 2.6 (SD 1.5) per patient. Medical residents reported an estimated mean appointment time savings of 7.9 minutes (SD 2.4).
Conclusion: The program was feasibly integrated into clinic workflow and shortened the time spent creating BPMHs. This approach could be adopted by other ambulatory care clinics.