Report: Hospitals still need to work on medication reconciliation

Medication reconciliation is an important process all hospitals must excel at, but a new report finds that there’s much work to do, according to Modern Healthcare. Med rec is the process of comparing a patient’s medication orders to the list of medications the patient has been taking. The federal electronic health record (EHR) incentive payment program added med rec to the Stage 2 meaningful use criteria that went into effect in October 2013.

A study of 19 hospitals released by the National Institute for Health Care Reform found that they used EHRs to support med rec, but more than one third used a hybrid paper-electronic process because of dissatisfaction with the med rec tools offered by their EHR vendors. Results were mixed, with some hospitals doubting the accuracy of the information collected. Hospitals need to improve access to reliable medication histories, refine EHR usability, engage physicians, and share patient information with the next care provider, Modern Healthcare reported.

Read the article here.