- Title
- Audit of general practitioner medication lists for older patients at a regional hospital
- Creator
- Boyce, Laura E.; Knight, Anne T.
- Relation
- Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research Vol. 43, Issue 2, p. 105-108
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2055-2335.2013.tb00230.x
- Publisher
- Wiley Blackwell Publishing
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2013
- Description
- Background: Complete medication reconciliation is often difficult to achieve, particularly in the emergency department (ED). General practitioner (GP) medication lists may be used by some doctors for charting medications. Aim: To determine the discrepancies in the medication history information between GP medication lists and the actual medication usage of older patients admitted via a regional ED. Method: A clinical audit was conducted over a 2-week period at a small regional hospital. Patients 65 years and over, taking 3 or more medications prior to admission, admitted via the ED and with a national inpatient medication chart (NIMC) prepared by a medical officer were identified. Eligible patients were provided with medication reconciliation by a pharmacist. Discrepancies between the medication history obtained by the pharmacist, the GP medication list and the NIMC were assessed. The clinical significance of the discrepancies were classified using a severity assessment code matrix. Results: 48 patients were eligible and 75% had 1 or more discrepancy in their GP medication list. Almost half of the discrepancies were related to non-current medications being recorded. Potential clinical significance of the discrepancies in 19% of patients was 'moderate' or 'major'. Conclusion: While a GP medication list is a useful tool in the medication reconciliation process, it is not a complete representation of the patient's medications prior to admission.
- Subject
- emergency departments; general practitioners; medication lists; elderly patients
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1068161
- Identifier
- uon:18563
- Identifier
- ISSN:1445-937X
- Language
- eng
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