Preoperative medication reconciliation for elective admissions in Dutch hospitals Preoperatieve medicatieverificatie bij electieve opnames in Nederlandse ziekenhuizen

Background Preliminary studies have shown that in one-third of the cases in the Netherlands, a medication overview is not correct at the time of hospital admission, even after preoperative screening. Improvement can be achieved by optimization of the medication verification process. Objective This study was performed to gain insight in different methods that are used by Dutch hospitals to perform medication reconciliation and to give an overview of the different methods that are used for preoperative medication reconciliation in the Netherlands. Design and methods Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with employees responsible for the implementation of the medication reconciliation process of 38 Dutch hospitals. Information is obtained about executing disciplines, whether the reconciliation is performed during a physical visit at the hospital or by phone, whether medication reconciliation has an expiration date and if so, what the shelf life is, and the organization of the medication reconciliation process during the days before hospitalization. Results In all 38 included hospitals, pharmacy technicians perform preoperative medication reconciliation. Mostly, the medication reconciliation interviews are being conducted during a physical visit at the preoperative consultation outpatient clinic, combined with a visit to a nurse and an anesthesiologist. When applicable, shelf lives vary from one week to six months. Conclusion After investigating 38 methods of medication reconciliation used in Dutch hospitals, we can conclude that these are mostly performed by pharmacy technicians during a preoperative consultation hour but differences between hospitals were seen in the moment when the medication reconciliation is performed and whether it is repeated upon hospital admission.