Effectiveness of an educational intervention in improving the patient medication reconciliation in the emergency department.

AIMS

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention in improving the patient medication reconciliation process.

METHOD

This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted at St. Jude hospital, California (CA), United States. An educational intervention was provided to the healthcare team working in the emergency department (ED) to explore its effectiveness in improving their patient medication reconciliation practices. A survey was administered to explore the healthcare staff's views on where responsibility lay in their team concerning the fulfilment of appropriate medication reconciliation procedures. Additionally, we identified the barriers facing the completion of appropriate medication reconciliation using open-ended question provided to healthcare staff at the hospital.

RESULTS

In the pre-intervention phase, the percentage of patients who received medication reconciliation was statistically significantly higher during the day shift (71.0% compared with 51.3%). In the postintervention phase, the percentage of patients who received medication reconciliation was statistically significantly higher during the night shift (96.7% compared with 75.8%). Overall, the percentage of patients who received medication reconciliation was statistically significantly higher in the postintervention group (81.3%) compared with the pre-intervention group (64.7%) (P < .001).

CONCLUSION

Educational intervention is an effective tool in improving medication reconciliation practices in inpatient settings. The process of medication reconciliation should be conducted based on shared responsibility between healthcare providers and aimed at reducing medication errors and improving patient safety.