Maintaining an effective and efficient medication reconciliation process for patient safety in every facility is at the forefront of national patient safety goals and initiatives.
The process must encompass all areas where patient transitions occur in your facility: admission, transfer, and discharge. The effectiveness of the medication reconciliation process in your facility will also follow your patients in the post-acute setting or at home. A sound medication reconciliation process must involve all caregiver disciplines, must be integrated into their daily workflow, and must have the support of facility leadership to be successful. Interventions and improvements must be appropriately implemented as process gaps are identified, and these corrections should be measured for the effectiveness of your patient safety improvement efforts.
This toolkit will guide you through the steps of flowchart and review of your current process, identifying gaps in the process, methods to revise the process, leadership support mechanisms, staff education guidance, and implementing and measuring process changes. Following the steps and guidelines outlined in each chapter of the MATCH toolkit has proven to be the most successful method for hospitals and post-acute setting providers that participated in the AHRQ Quality Improvement Organization Learning Network project. The initial and subsequent improvement work to your medication reconciliation process will ultimately result in improved patient care and patient safety outcomes.
