Comparison of a Pharmacist-Performed and Physician or Advanced Practice Provider-Performed Medication History in Pediatric Patients.

In the adult population, a high rate of discrepancies exists between provider-performed and pharmacist-performed medication histories. Limited data exist regarding pharmacist-performed medication histories in hospitalized pediatric patients. Identify the incidence and severity of discrepancies in medication histories performed by practitioners compared with pharmacists in the pediatric population. After institutional review board approval, a retrospective analysis of pediatric patients admitted to inpatient pediatric units in a tertiary hospital was performed. The primary endpoint of the study was the percentage of provider-performed medication histories with any discrepancies compared with the pharmacist-performed medication history. Secondary endpoints included the number and type of discrepancies and the discrepancy's potential risk of patient harm. A total of 101 subjects were included. Nineteen patients (18.8%) had at least one medication discrepancy. Missing medications accounted for the majority of the discrepancies. Advance practice providers performed a small number of the initial medication histories (5%) and had at least one discrepancy for each history performed. The percentages of Grades 1, 2, and 3 discrepancies were 57.2%, 17.1%, and 25.7%, respectively. Medications with the most frequent discrepancies included anticonvulsants, antihistamines, and histamine receptor antagonists. Limitations include the retrospective nature of the study and lower than expected discrepancy rate. In this study, 18.8% of pediatric patients had a discrepancy between medication histories. Missing medications accounted for the largest amount of discrepancies. A large percentage of discrepancies had the potential to cause patient harm.