Practice Committee Publishes New Medication Reconciliation ResourceMedication reconciliation is an important aspect of the initial and ongoing assessment for a patient receiving home health physical therapy. Medication reconciliation refers the process of creating the most accurate list of all medications a patient is taking, including drug name, dosage, frequency, and route and comparing that list against the admission, transfer, and/or discharge orders, with the goal of providing a correct list of medications to the patient at all transition points. Medication discrepancies frequently occur during care transitions from hospital to home. These discrepancies place patients at risk for adverse drug events (ADEs). Medication reconciliation is essential in managing adverse drug events and improving drug safety in older adults. It can be difficult to obtain a complete list of medications from a home health patient, and accuracy is dependent on the patients or caregiver’s ability and willingness to provide this information. The “Medication Reconciliation in Home Health Physical Therapy” resource covers challenges in home health in reconciling medications, gives tips questions to ask patients and care givers to enhance the reconciliation process, and reviews methods to breaking barriers to medication reconciliation in home health. |