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Background and importance Medication reconciliation improves continuity of patient care by reducing prescribing errors. Aim and objectives The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of medication reconciliation on complex chronic patients (CCPs) during their hospital stay. Material and methods A retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary hospital. CCPs admitted for general and gastrointestinal surgery, angiology and vascular surgery, urology, nephrology and rheumatology were included in the study. Any CCPs admitted between December 2017 and February 2018 (control group, before the reconciliation implementation), and between December 2018 to February 2019 (intervention group, after implementing medication reconciliation) were included in the study. Patients received medication reconciliation during their admission, discharge and once in primary care. Data were obtained through electronic health records and were analysed with STATA14. Results The study included 116 patients in the intervention group and 199 patients in the control group. There were no significant differences in age (75.3 years, p=0.975) or gender between the two groups (32.7% women; p=0.217). Hospitalisation stay was, on average, 9.3 days for the intervention group (95% CI 7.6–11.0) and 8.9 days for the control group (95% CI 6.9–10.9) (p=0.789). Patient readmission within 30 days post-discharge was greater for those who did not receive a medication reconciliation (28.4% intervention group, 32.2% group control; OR=0.8; 95% CI 0.5–1.4). Time until readmission was 12.8 days (95% CI 10.0–15.6) and 11.5 days (95% CI 9.9–13.1) for the intervention group and control group, respectively (p=0.395). The study also showed fewer emergency visits for patients who received medication reconciliation (0.27 visits) in comparison with the control group (0.33 visits) (OR=0.7; 95% CI 0.4–1.2). Conclusion and relevance This study showed that medication reconciliation has the potential to decrease the number of readmissions within 30 days post-discharge, days until the next admission and emergency visits. Overall, the results of the study showed the positive impact that medication reconciliation has on complex chronic patients. References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest. |
