What is Medication Reconciliation?

Medication reconciliation is the process of ensuring that a patient’s medication list is accurate and up to date across different healthcare settings. It involves comparing a patient's current medications (including prescription drugs, over-the-counter (OTC) medications, and supplements) with new medication orders when there are transitions in care (e.g., hospital admission, transfer, or discharge). The goal is to identify and resolve discrepancies to prevent medication errors such as omissions, duplications, dosing errors, or drug interactions.

This process is particularly important for patient safety and is commonly performed in hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. It requires collaboration between healthcare providers, pharmacists, and patients to maintain a "one source of truth" for medication records.

Current Challenges:

Complexity of capturing all medications (both Rx and OTC)
Significant time and resource required
Patients may lack the ability and willingness to provide accurate information
Fragmented medication data across providers, without a common standard for interoperability

Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality:

The Joint Commission (TJC) – Requires medication reconciliation as part of its National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG 03.06.01) for accredited hospitals, nursing care centers, and other healthcare settings.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) – Requires medication reconciliation as a condition for Meaningful Use/EHR Incentive Programs and under the Hospital Conditions of Participation (CoP) for patient safety.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) – Promotes medication reconciliation as part of patient safety initiatives and has developed tools like the MATCH Toolkit to improve reconciliation processes.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) – Encourages medication reconciliation as part of patient safety programs, particularly under the 100,000 Lives Campaign and the 5 Million Lives Campaign.
World Health Organization (WHO) – Includes medication reconciliation in its Medication Without Harm initiative as part of the Third Global Patient Safety Challenge.
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) – Includes medication reconciliation measures in its Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), which impacts payers and accountable care organizations.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) – Requires medication reconciliation in its patient safety and electronic health record (EHR) policies.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – While not directly mandating medication reconciliation, the FDA's pharmacovigilance and adverse event reporting efforts reinforce the need for accurate medication records.

What Makes the AccuMed Approach Different?

Interoperability

All entries mapped to RxNorm at SCD or SBD level.*

Patient-Centric

Patients play a central role in creating and maintaining their medication list with the help of technology.

Simplicity

Dual entry options.
- Picklist with auto-suggest.
- NDC with dynamic scanning.

Accuracy

Captures all approved medications (Rx and OTC) in the United States, with details on ingredient, strength and dosage form.

*SCD: semantic clinical drug, e.g., “acetaminophen 500 MG Oral Tablet” (RxCUI 198440).
SBD: semantic branded drug, e.g., “Tylenol Extra Strength 500 MG Oral Tablet” (RxCUI 209459).