The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provides a free, downloadable medications at transitions and clinical handoffs toolkit for medication reconciliation.
Medication reconciliation is a complex process that impacts all patients as they move through all healthcare settings. The process involves comparison of a patient's current medication regimen against a physician's admission, transfer, or discharge orders to identify discrepancies. Study data show that an effective process can detect and avert most medication discrepancies, potentially avoiding a large number of adverse drug events and related costs for care of affected patients.
This toolkit is based on the Medications at Transitions and Clinical Handoffs (MATCH) website. MATCH was developed by Gary Noskin, MD, and Kristine Gleason, RPh, of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, through the support of an AHRQ grant and collaboration between Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and The Joint Commission.
This toolkit incorporates the experiences and lessons learned by healthcare facilities that have implemented the MATCH strategies to improve their medication reconciliation processes.
The table of contents is as follows:
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1. Building the Project Foundation: Gaining Leadership Support Within the Organization
- Chapter 2. Building the Project Foundation: Project Teams and Scope
- Chapter 3. Developing Change: Designing the Medication Reconciliation Process
- Chapter 4. Developing and Pilot Testing Change: Implementing the Medication Reconciliation Process
- Chapter 5. Education and Training
- Chapter 6. Assessment and Process Evaluation
- Chapter 7. High Risk Situations for Medication Reconciliation
- Conclusion
- References
Download the AHRQ toolkit (pdf) for use in your facility.
Note: View our database providing 175 reports that link to free, downloadable and adaptable tools for use in surgery centers, hospitals and other organizations by clicking here.
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