Medication Safety Quality Measures
A goal for patient safety from the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is to accurately
and completely reconcile (critically compare) medications across the continuum
of care. This means that medications are reviewed at critical transfer points
such as:
- admission
to the hospital
- transfer between hospital units
- transfer to home
- transfer to another facility
Patients can help further reduce medication errors by doing
the following:
- keep an up-to-date list of medications
- bring medications to the hospital
or other clinical site when being treated
- learn generic and trade names for
medications
- share allergy and medication reaction information as needed
- take an active
role in healthcare by keeping notes and asking questions
A recent study in the Archives
of Internal Medicine (February, 2005; 165(4): 424-429) demonstrated
that the most common medication error was omission of a routinely-used medication.
Antibiotics, however, are taken for only seven to 10 days but can be forgotten
at critical transfer points since they are rarely part of an ongoing medication
regimen.
Reinfection and superinfection
(a new infection in addition to the one already present, which may not respond
to antibiotics) can occur when antibiotics are not taken for the prescribed
number of days, so this type of error can be hazardous and costly.
At
St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center, a critical comparison of old and new medications occurs
at all patient transfer points.