Applying medicines reconciliation indicators in two UK hospitals: a feasibility study

Abstract

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to apply the Medicines reconciliation (MR) indicators and to assess their feasibility for use with patients on admission. Methods This is a mixed-methods study conducted in two large teaching hospitals in the north-west of England. There were two phases: (1) a prospective direct non-participant observational study was conducted on a small sample of five pharmacists in each hospital, who were observed while they conducted the MR process without interference by the investigator and (2) pharmacy staff conducting MR were asked to complete the MR data collection form, comprising various clinical information during the working hours of a selected weekday for all MRs conducted for patients admitted to hospital during that day. SPSS V20 was used for data analysis. Key findings In the first phase, five MR indicators were found not to be feasible and three not adequately assessed, while 33 indicators were considered feasible to be used in a hospital setting. In the second phase, 33 indicators were considered feasible to assess MR on admission to the hospital, 14 indicators were found feasible to assess main aspects of the MR process, and 18 indicators were found feasible to assess detailed aspects of the MR process. The majority of admissions were unplanned. Roughly half 45.4% of the patients admitted to hospital A were reconciled, while in hospital B 52% were reconciled. Conclusion The use of different methods to collect data was effective in providing valuable information as well as overcoming the potential limitation of each method.