Adverse drug events (ADEs) occur with disturbing frequency in acute care, long-term care, and home care settings. In the Canadian Adverse Events Study, drug and fluid-related events were the second most common type of procedure or event to which patient safety incidents were related.

Medication errors that can be prevented include inadvertent omission of needed home medications, failure to restart home medications following transfer and discharge, duplicate therapy at discharge resulting from brand/generic combinations or formulary substitutions, and errors associated with incorrect doses or dosage forms.

We can make a difference.

Reduce ADEs by following the Medication Reconciliation process:

• Obtain a complete and accurate list of each patient’s current home medications, including name, dosage, frequency, and route.
• Use that list when writing admission, transfer, and/or discharge orders.
• Compare the list against the patient’s admission, transfer, and/or discharge orders, identifying and bringing discrepancies to the attention of the prescriber and, if appropriate, making changes to the orders.
• Document resulting changes.

Click here to download the Acute Care Getting Started Kit.
Click here to download the Long Term Care Getting Started Kit.
Click here to download the Home Care Getting Started Kit.

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