Montaleytang M, Correard F, Spiteri C, et al. Int J Clin Pharm. 2021;43:1183-1190.
Previous studies have found that discrepancies between patients’ medication lists and medications they are actually taking are common. This study found that sharing the results of medication reconciliation performed at admission and discharge with patients’ community care providers led to a decrease in medication discrepancies.
Gurwitz JH, Kapoor A, Garber L, et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2021;181:610-618.
High-risk medications have the potential to cause serious patient harm if not administered correctly. In this randomized trial, a pharmacist-directed intervention (including in-home assessment by a clinical pharmacist, communication with the primary care team, and telephone follow-up) did not result in a lower rate of adverse drug events or medication errors involving high-risk drug classes during the posthospitalization period.
Bloodworth LS, Malinowski SS, Lirette ST, et al. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association: JAPhA. 2019;59:896-904.
Medication reconciliation is one potential strategy for preventing adverse events and readmissions. This study examined a pharmacist-led intervention involving collaborations with inpatient and community-based pharmacists to provide pre-discharge and 30-day medication reconciliation. There were indications that this type of intervention can reduce readmission rates, but further investigation in larger populations is necessary.
Cheong V-L, Tomlinson J, Khan S, Petty D. Prescriber. 2019;30:29-34.
Geriatric patients are particularly vulnerable to medication-related harm. This article summarizes types of incidents and contributing factors to adverse drug events in older patients after hospital discharge. The authors recommend strategies to reduce medication-related harm, including discharge communication improvements, primary care collaboration, and postdischarge patient education.
Pellegrin K, Lozano A, Miyamura J, et al. BMJ Qual Saf. 2019;28:103-110.
Older adults frequently encounter medication-related harm, which may result in preventable hospitalizations. In six Hawaiian hospitals, hospital pharmacists identified older patients at risk of medication problems and assigned them to a community pharmacist who coordinated their medications across prescribers for 1 year after discharge. This post-hoc analysis of the intervention found that most medication-related harm occurred in the community (70%) rather than the hospital and that the intervention successfully reduced community-acquired harm.
Abebe E, Stone JA, Lester CA, et al. J Patient Saf. 2021;17:405-411.
Handoffs present a significant patient safety hazard across multiple health care settings. Interruptions and distractions, which can interfere with handoff communication, are prevalent in pharmacy environments. This cross-sectional survey of community pharmacies found that virtually none of the pharmacists had received training in how to hand off information. A significant proportion of responses indicated that pharmacy information technology systems do not support handoff communication. Respondents reported that handoffs are frequently inadequate or inaccurate. The authors conclude that interventions are needed to enhance the quality of handoff communication in community pharmacy settings to prevent dispensing errors.
Griesbach S, Lustig A, Malsin L, et al. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2016;21:330-336.
This study of a quality improvement initiative found that automated screening of prescribing data uncovered many potential adverse drug events. Prescribers were notified about these safety concerns, and almost 80% of these potential adverse drug events were resolved through prescription changes. The extent of patient harm which occurred or was averted was not reported. This work suggests that real-time data from electronic prescribing could be harnessed to improve patient safety, as others have suggested.
Ensing HT, Koster ES, Stuijt CCM, et al. Int J Clin Pharm. 2015;37:430-4.
Patients are susceptible to various problems following hospital discharge, including medication errors. This commentary suggests that improving the transfer of patient medication history, performing home visits to follow up with patients, and collaboration between primary care and community pharmacy can help reduce adverse drug events after patients are discharged from the hospital.
Chui MA, Stone JA. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2014;10:195-203.
This qualitative study used interviews with community pharmacists to characterize the types of latent errors that can contribute to problems with handoffs in care. Since the handoff process was not standardized, pharmacists reported encountering both information overload and a lack of accurate information when giving and receiving handoffs.
Costa LL, Poe SS, Lee MC. J Nurs Care Qual. 2011;26:243-51.
This study provides a comparative description of two interventions to improve care transitions following hospital discharge. Home nurse visits uncovered 62% more medication discrepancies than those detected by telephone interview.
Ponniah A, Shakib S, Doecke CJ, et al. Pharm World Sci. 2008;30:810-5.
A medication reconciliation system led by pharmacists was successfully implemented in order to improve postdischarge care for patients with congestive heart failure.
This monthly selection of error reports includes examples of confusion regarding medication delivery instructions and sound-alike mistakes involving epinephrine and ephedrine.
This monthly selection of medication error reports describes a case of misidentifying home medications for a hospitalized patient, how character space limitations in medication administration records may cause medication errors, and fatal misuse of a fentanyl patch on a child.
This monthly selection of medication error reports addresses examples of unclear dose preparation instructions, potential insulin storage mix ups, and drug name confusion.
Allan J, Ball P, Alston M. Rural Remote Health. 2008;8:835.
Drawing from qualitative interviews with pharmacists and social workers, investigators determined that access to rural health services is affected by individual concerns about privacy and confidentiality, and by the reputation and value system of the health care worker.
This monthly selection of medication error reports discusses product name confusion, an unsafe process for outdated drug replacement, and smart pump dose administration problems.
This monthly selection of medication error reports includes an error averted because the pharmacist checked the patient's prior prescription data and a dosing error due to consumer confusion about dose measurement.
This monthly report discussed medication reconciliation and community pharmacists, look-alike and sound-alike problems, and automated dispensing cabinet stocking errors.