Longitudinal medication reconciliation at hospital admission, discharge and post-discharge.

BACKGROUND: Medication reconciliation (MR) is a widely recognised method to promote patient safety. However, its implementation is generally limited to an interaction at a single transition point. OBJECTIVES: To examine the rates and types of changes implemented in patient's medication regimens when MR is performed longitudinally at hospital admission, discharge and post-discharge, and to assess the clinical impact. METHODS: A prospective multicentre cohort study was conducted in two hospitals. Patients received MR at admission, discharge and within five days post-discharge at home. Data was collected on rates and types of changes implemented in their medication regimens, due to MR, at all three transition points. These changes entailed corrections of unintentional discrepancies, e.g., between patients' actual medication use and physician prescriptions, and optimisations of pharmacotherapy, e.g., adding laxatives when opioids are prescribed. Using a validated instrument, the clinical impact of all medication changes were scored. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: In total, 197 patients with a median age of 73 years were included. In 86.3% of patients at least one change was implemented in the medication regimen due to longitudinal MR. At admission, discharge and post-discharge, changes in medication regimens were necessary in 66.5%, 62.9% and 52.8% of patients, respectively. At admission and post-discharge, mainly unintentional discrepancies were corrected, and at discharge mainly optimisations were implemented. Implemented medication changes, due to longitudinal MR, prevented potential harm in 161 patients (81.7%). Potentially serious medication errors were most often prevented at hospital discharge, and predominantly involved optimising antithrombotic agents. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in medication regimens were implemented in 86.3% of patients due to longitudinal MR at admission, discharge and post-discharge. The rates and types of medication changes vary over time. Hospital discharge is an important moment for optimising pharmacotherapy.

The effect of an inpatient geriatric stewardship on drug-related problems reported by patients after discharge.

Background Drug-related problems after discharge are common among older adults with polypharmacy. Medication review during hospitalization has been proposed as one solution. Inpatient medication review is often based on clinical records only. An obstacle is the lack of insight into the outpatient history. Therefore, a geriatric stewardship was designed and involved an inpatient medication review by a hospital pharmacist and geriatrician based on (I) clinical records to draft initial recommendations, (II) consultations with primary care providers (general practitioner and community pharmacist) to discuss the hospital-based recommendations, (III) patient interviews to assess their needs, and (IV) a multidisciplinary evaluation of all previous steps to draft final recommendations. Objective To assess the effect of the geriatric stewardship on drug-related problems reported by patients after discharge. Setting General teaching hospital. Methods An implementation study (pre-post design) was performed. Orthopaedic and surgical patients (≥ 65 years) with polypharmacy and a frailty risk factor were included. The pre-group received usual care, the post-group received the geriatric stewardship intervention. Two weeks post-discharge, patient-reported drug-related problems were assessed using a validated questionnaire. Drug-related problems were classified into drug-related complaints, practical problems, and questions about medication. Outcomes The outcomes were the number and type of drug-related problems per patient (primary) and the number of initial recommendations that were altered due to primary care provider and patient input (secondary). Results In total, 127 patients were analysed (usual care n = 74, intervention n = 53). Intervention patients reported fewer drug-related problems compared to usual care: 2.8 versus 3.3 per patient (Adjusted relative risk 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.66-1.05). This difference resulted from a halving in drug-related complaints (p < 0.05), for example pain, drowsiness, nausea or constipation. Nearly 30% of the initial recommendations based on the clinical records were discarded or modified after primary care provider consultations and patient interviews. Conclusion The geriatric stewardship did not significantly reduce drug-related problems, but it significantly halved drug-related complaints. One-in-three initial recommendations were altered due to primary care provider and patient input. Inpatient medication reviews should not be based on clinical records only; they require transmural collaboration and patient participation to ensure continuity of patient care.