Managing Medications

In 2008, the Queen’s Family Health Team began to wonder just how accurate its medication lists were in our EMR. A medical student audit conducted that summer found a lot of room for improvement, particularly for patients on multiple medications or those seeing multiple providers. Since then, Queen’s FHT has developed numerous processes and policies focused on medication safety and, specifically, on how to maintain accurate medication lists.  The project has grown to include reviewing and tracking of prescription refill processes and clarifications from pharmacies, community pharmacy outreach, resident education, ordering and stocking of medications, and medication reconciliation at the patient-level. Their approach has been comprehensive and multi-faceted – it has relied on raising awareness, focused teaching sessions with providers, patient education, data collection, and engagement of all staff, from clerical to pharmacy to physician. Follow-up audits in January and August 2010 found great improvements in the accuracy of medication lists. This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference highlights their journey to date and “lessons learned” from their approach to medication safety. PRESENTER: Karen Hall Barber ORGANIZATION: Queen’s Family Health Team Click here to view.