The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care released a toolkit meant to help ambulatory healthcare organizations avoid preventable adverse drug events.
Here's what you should know:
1. AAAHC's Medication Reconciliation Toolkit details the five essential elements of a complete medication reconciliation process:
- Make medication reconciliation part of the organization's safety culture
- Implement a single-source document policy
- Confirm and document medications before and after every patient exam or procedure
- Communicate with patients, other providers and/or the pharmacy to correct medication discrepancies
- Ensure patients understand when and how to take medications
2. The toolkit provides sample medication reconciliation forms for primary care and ambulatory surgical providers. Providers can tailor the forms to meet their specific needs.
3. The Medication Reconciliation Toolkit is available for purchase here.
"The AAAHC toolkit provides evidence-based recommendations on how to prevent medication errors, taking into account obstacles, such as a patient's age and health literacy, as well as language barriers or hearing/visual impairments," said Naomi Kuznets, AAAHC Institute vice president and senior director.
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