Medication history assessment by pharmacists vital in detecting errors

Evaluation of medication history by pharmacists has allowed the detection of medication errors, mostly medication omissions, reports a recent study.

“Majority of the errors intervened by pharmacists were accepted by the doctors which prevented potential significant or serious patient harm,” the authors said.

This cross-sectional study was conducted for 4 months in the general medical wards of a tertiary hospital. Using purposive sampling, the authors recruited newly admitted patients with at least one prescription medication.

Clinical pharmacists assessed medication history within 24 hours or as soon as possible following admission. Pharmacist-acquired medication histories were compared with in-patient medication charts to detect discrepancies.

The authors then collaborated with the treating doctors to do the verification of the discrepancies, interventions, and assessment of potential severity of patient harm resulting from medication errors.

A total of 990 medication discrepancies were detected among 390 patients enrolled in this study. Some 135 (13.6 percent) medication errors were found in 93 (23.8 percent) patients (91.45 errors per patient), most of which were medication omissions (79.3 percent), followed by dosing errors (9.6 percent).

Among these errors, 88.1 percent were considered “significant” or “serious,” but none were deemed “life-threatening.” Of note, the doctors accepted most (83 percent) of the pharmaceutical interventions.

“Medication history assessment during hospital admissions is an important element in the medication reconciliation process,” the authors said. “It ensures continuity of care and reduces medication errors.”