The Impact of Real-Time Documentation of In-Hospital Medication Changes on Preventing Undocumented Discrepancies at Discharge and Improving Physician-Pharmacist Communication: A Retrospective Cohort Study and Survey

Abstract

Woo-Youn Kim,1,2 Anna Baek,1 Yoonhee Kim,1 Yewon Suh,1,2 Eunsook Lee,1 Eunkyung Euni Lee,1,2 Ju-Yeun Lee,1,2 Jongchan Lee,3– 5 Hee Sun Park,3– 5 Eun Sun Kim,3– 5 Yejee Lim,3– 5 Nak-Hyun Kim,3– 5 Jung Hun Ohn,3– 5 Sun-wook Kim,3– 5 Jiwon Ryu,3– 5 Hye Won Kim3– 5 1Department of Pharmacy, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea; 2College of Pharmacy and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea; 3Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea; 4Hospital Medicine Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea; 5Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South KoreaCorrespondence: Hye Won Kim, Email [email protected]: Transitional medication safety is crucial, as miscommunication about medication changes can lead to significant risks. Unclear or incomplete documentation during care transitions can result in outdated or incorrect medication lists at discharge, potentially causing medication errors, adverse drug events, and inadequate patient education. These issues are exacerbated by extended hospital stays and multiple care events, making accurate medication recall challenging at discharge.Objective: Thus, we aimed to investigate how real-time documentation of in-hospital medication changes prevents undocumented medication changes at discharge and improves physician-pharmacist communication.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a tertiary hospital. Two pharmacists reviewed medical records of patients admitted to the acute medical unit from April to June 2020. In-hospital medication discrepancies were determined by comparing preadmission and hospitalization medication lists and it was verified whether the physician’s intent of medication changes was clarified by documentation. By a documentation rate of medication changes of 100% and < 100%, respectively, fully documented (FD) and partially documented (PD) groups were defined. Any undocumented medication changes at discharge were considered a “documentation error at discharge”. Pharmacists’ survey was conducted to assess the impact of appropriate documentation on the pharmacists.Results: After reviewing 400 medication records, patients were categorized into FD (61.3%) and PD (38.8%) groups. Documentation errors at discharge were significantly higher in the PD than in the FD group. Factors associated with documentation errors at discharge included belonging to the PD group, discharge from a non-hospitalist-managed ward, and having three or more intentional discrepancies. Pharmacists showed favorable attitudes towards physician’s documentation.Conclusion: Appropriate documentation of in-hospital medication changes, facilitated by free-text communication, significantly decreased documentation errors at discharge. This analysis underlines the importance of communication between pharmacists and hospitalists in improving patient safety during transitions of care.Plain language summary: During transitions of care, communication failures among healthcare professionals can lead to medication errors. Therefore, effective sharing of information is essential, especially when intentional changes in prescription orders are made. Documenting medication changes facilitates real-time communication, potentially improving medication reconciliation and reducing discrepancies. However, inadequate documentation of medication changes is common in clinical practice. This retrospective cohort study underlines the importance of real-time documentation of in-hospital medication changes. There was a significant reduction in documentation errors at discharge in fully documented group, where real-time documentation of medication changes was more prevalent. Pharmacists showed favorable attitudes toward the physician’s real-time documenting of medication changes because it provided valuable information on understanding the physician’s intent and improving communication and also saved time for pharmacists. This study concludes that physicians’ documentation on medication changes may reduce documentation errors at discharge, meaning that proper documentation of medication changes could enhance patient safety through effective communication.Keywords: medication reconciliation, medication safety, transitions in care, hospital information systems, hospital discharge, quality audit

Keywords

• medication reconciliation
• medication safety
• transitions in care
• hospital information systems
• hospital discharge
• quality audit