NQF Showcases ASHP Members' Medication Reconciliation Program

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 25 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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An award-winning medication reconciliation program conducted by American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) members was highlighted as an "extraordinarily innovative" example of patient care improvement by the National Quality Forum (NQF) National Priorities Partnership.

The program, "Bilingual Pharmacy Technician Medication Reconciliation at Hospital Admission Reduces Omissions of Prescribed Medication," was conducted by the pharmacy department at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women in San Diego and Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in Chula Vista , Calif. and used bilingual pharmacy technicians to reconcile patients' medications.

The pharmacists enrolled 478 patients in the program between August 2005 and March 2006. Within 24 hours of admission, a trained pharmacy technician interviewed the patients, a mix of English, Spanish, and Tagalog language speakers. Following review and approval from the supervising pharmacist, the technicians added the completed medication history forms to the patients' medical records. A pharmacy resident then quantified medications that should have been listed on the forms and determined discrepancies. Findings from the program showed the technicians' systematic process produced more accurate medication histories.

The team members for the program, which also received the ASHP Best Practices Award in Health-System Pharmacy in 2006, are Kim Luong-Schwab, Pharm.D., BCPS, Lara Gillian, Pharm.D., Ronald A. Floyd, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS, Blair Frater, Pharm.D., and Elaine Levy, Pharm.D.

"ASHP is extremely pleased that the NQF has recognized this important program," said ASHP President Kevin J. Colgan, M.A., FASHP. "We hope that the creative approach taken by these practitioners will be a model for others to emulate."

The NQF-convened National Priorities Partnership identified the program as a culturally sensitive medication reconciliation program. The program is a featured example in a report released by the partnership, entitled, Aligning Our Efforts to Transform America 's Healthcare: National Priorities and Goals.

About ASHP

For more than 60 years,ASHP has helped pharmacists who practice in hospitals and health systems improve medication use and enhance patient safety. The Society's 35,000 members include pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who practice in inpatient, outpatient, home-care, and long-term-care settings, as well as pharmacy students. For more information about the wide array of ASHP activities and the many ways in which pharmacists help people make the best use of medicines, visit ASHP's Web site, http://www.ashp.org, or its consumer Web site, http://www.safemedication.com.

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists