Medication Reconciliation: Abeneficial tool in patient safety

Abstract

This is a narrative review developed after referring to 20 original research papers, two review articles, and the latest WHO guide related to the concept of medication reconciliation. Medication reconciliation plays an important role in reducing medication errors. Various errors happen while prescribing drugs to patients, leading to discrepancies such as the omission of drugs from medication orders, incorrect dosage, and frequency of administration of the drug. All these incidences can affect patients' health and have the potential for adverse drug events. By reconciling medications at admission, transfer, and discharge, it has been observed that a lot of discrepancies have been resolved, and adverse drug events have been prevented, thus securing proper treatment outcomes and enhanced patient safety. Documenting drugs that the patient has already been taking and prescribing drugs for the current condition in accordance with past ones is the basic outline of medication reconciliation. It is only possible to carry out this process smoothly if one is trained with the concept of the process and aware of individual responsibility. Physicians are the prime healthcare workers who must be completely aware of the process followed by nurses and clinical pharmacists who anchor this ship of medication reconciliation. All healthcare workers involved in this process need to follow the principles for implementing medication reconciliation. A meticulous conductance of medication reconciliation can help hospitals in the long run for coordinated functioning of patient safety-related issues and thus strengthen the quality of patient care. The objective of this review is to make healthcare workers aware of medication reconciliation and the potential consequences that can occur if reconciliation is not carried out diligently.