Proposal for AHRQ R-13 grant to organize a multidisciplinary conference focused on Medication Reconciliation. With the implementation of medication reconciliation as a Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare (JCAHO) patient safety goal, it has become clear that there are challenges and barriers in creating the process and outcome improvements the new standard is hoping to promote. Currently, the process for meeting the standard is varied and may involve a variety of inpatient clinicians (nurses, physicians, pharmacists). A task force charged by the Society of Hospital Medicine's (SHM) Hospital Quality and Patient Safety (HQPS) committee has proposed the development of a multi-disciplinary conference to address the myriad issues related to medication reconciliation. Goals of the conference include: 1. Bringing together a variety of medication reconciliation stakeholders to identify facilitating factors and barriers in meeting the mandate 2. Identifying """"""""best practices"""""""" related to medication reconciliation 3. Developing a strategy to address the barriers to medication reconciliation As a multi-disciplinary conference, the task force seeks the partnership of a variety of organizations affected by the Joint Commission mandate. Partner organizations will be asked to provide faculty and input into the meeting structure and agenda. This integrated approach will foster collaboration between stakeholders and encourage diversity in conference attendees. Funding for the conference will be achieved through an AHRQ R-13 conference grant. SHM staff and members have begun development of the grant application and will complete the application after partner organizations have been identified and their input is incorporated. The conference will be held immediately prior to the 2008 SHM annual meeting in order to encourage clinicians and administrators involved in hospital medicine to attend. This date is tentative and may be subject to change based on the availability of partnering organization leadership and faculty. Through the development and execution of this unique multi-disciplinary conference, SHM will provide a forum to discuss the logistical issues involved in implementing medication reconciliation programs and ultimately advance the goal of improving medication safety. Public Health Relevance Statement Project Narrative Adverse events related to medications (ADEs) are remarkably common and often preventable. Given this understanding, several national regulatory and quality agencies, including the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (The Joint Commission), and the National Quality Forum (NQF), have recognized the importance of putting in place systematic processes which attempt to prevent medication errors for patients during a hospitalization and during the transition into and out of the hospital. ? ? ?
| Greenwald, Jeffrey L; Halasyamani, Lakshmi; Greene, Jan et al. (2010) Making inpatient medication reconciliation patient centered, clinically relevant and implementable: a consensus statement on key principles and necessary first steps. J Hosp Med 5:477-85 |
