Publication Date
10-1-2023
Journal
Applied Clinical Informatics
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Medication discrepancies between clinical systems may pose a patient safety hazard. In this paper, we identify challenges and quantify medication discrepancies across transitions of care.
METHODS: We used structured clinical data and free-text hospital discharge summaries to compare active medications' lists at four time points: preadmission (outpatient), at-admission (inpatient), at-discharge (inpatient), and postdischarge (outpatient). Medication lists were normalized to RxNorm. RxNorm identifiers were further processed using the RxNav API to identify the ingredient. The specific drugs and ingredients from inpatient and outpatient medication lists were compared.
RESULTS: Using RxNorm drugs, the median percentage intersection when comparing active medication lists within the same electronic health record system ranged between 94.1 and 100% indicating substantial overlap. Similarly, when using RxNorm ingredients the median percentage intersection was 94.1 to 100%. In contrast, the median percentage intersection when comparing active medication lists across EHR systems was significantly lower (RxNorm drugs: 6.1-7.1%; RxNorm ingredients: 29.4-35.0%) indicating that the active medication lists were significantly less similar (
CONCLUSION: Despite the challenges to medication normalization, there are opportunities to identify and assist with medication reconciliation across transitions of care between institutions.
Keywords
medical records' systems, computerized, medication reconciliation, patient safety