The best possible medication history (BPMH) is the gold standard approach for reconciling a patient’s prescribed and over-the-counter medications.

In response to resource limitations, this multi-center study including five Ascension hospitals assessed the impact of a telepharmacy pilot program including virtual pharmacy technicians (vCPhT) to obtain BPMH from patients admitted to the hospital from the emergency department (ED) compared to other clinicians. In the telepharmacy program, pharmacy technicians’ complete medication histories via video conferencing, document completed medication histories in the electronic health record (EHR) and support multiple EDs at once.

An evaluation of the program found that rates of unintentional discrepancies per medication and incomplete medication histories were significantly lower for vCPhT compared to other clinicians. Length of stay, readmissions, and emergency department visits were similar for both groups. This innovative approach to completing medication history is generalizable across hospitals and settings