AAAHC Publishes Medication Reconciliation Benchmarking Study Findings

Posted in: Press Releases

(Skokie, Ill.) December 12, 2019 – Medication errors account for 3.5 million physician office and 1 million emergency room visits per year. Affecting more than 7 million patients, preventable medication errors generate nearly $21 billion in associated health care costs annually. i Medication reconciliation, which involves making the most accurate list of medications a patient is currently using and comparing it with any existing lists, helps mitigate the risk of adverse drug events (ADEs). This fostering of communication between providers and patients helps track that patients are taking medications as recommended and that medications are not contraindicated by patient allergies or with other medications. However, findings from the AAAHC Institute for Quality Improvement’s January–June 2019 benchmarking study on medication reconciliation indicate many ambulatory health care organizations struggle with thoroughly documenting, updating, and verifying medication records, leading to an increased risk of patient complications and overall costs.

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