According to an article published in the August 30, 2005, issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ. 2005;173:510-515)the medication histories obtained at the time of admission are frequently erroneous or incomplete. And, the error and omissions are potentially very harmful.
Conclusion: accurate medication histories at the time of hospital admission are an important element of patient safety. They also state that, given that research has suggested incomplete histories may account for over 25% of hospital prescribing errors, their results indicate a need for a systematic approach to ensure the acquisition of accurate medication histories at the time of hospital admission.
According to an article published in the August 30, 2005, issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ. 2005;173:510-515)the medication histories obtained at the time of hospital admission are frequently erroneous or incomplete. And, the errors and omissions are potentially very harmful.
Researchers reviewed 22 studies of the frequency, type, and clinical importance of medication history errors at the time of hospital admission. The studies reviewed involved a total of 3,755 patients.
Major findings: errors in prescription medication histories occurred in up to 67% of cases. In 6 of the studies, the investigators estimated that 11% to 59% of the medication history errors were clinically important.
Conclusion: accurate medication histories at the time of hospital admission are an important element of patient safety. They also state that, given that research has suggested incomplete histories may account for over 25% of hospital prescribing errors, their results indicate a need for a systematic approach to ensure the acquisition of accurate medication histories at the time of hospital admission.
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