Patient Safety Through Medication Reconciliation
This paper examines the role of medication reconciliation in improving patient safety within the U.S. healthcare system, particularly in the context of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Medication errors remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, affecting both inpatient and outpatient populations. The paper argues that Home Care Agencies should implement medication reconciliation processes to reduce these errors and improve care quality. It outlines a set of data collection tools — including OASIS, HHCAHPS, Organizational Performance Improvement, Quarterly Reports, and Supervisory Visits — as practical instruments for achieving accurate and effective medication reconciliation.
- Introduction: ACA context and medication error problem
- Aim: Objective to improve safety via reconciliation
- Materials and Methods: Five data collection tools described
- Results: Reconciliation identified as error-reduction solution
- Conclusion: Summary of tools and safety strategy
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses a structured poster-style format — Introduction, Aim, Methods, Results, and Conclusion — giving the argument a clear, logical progression suited to academic presentation contexts.
- Grounds its recommendation in a concrete clinical problem (medication errors as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality), lending urgency to the policy proposal.
- Identifies specific, named data collection tools (OASIS, HHCAHPS, Quarterly Reports, Supervisory Visits) rather than speaking in abstractions, making the methodology actionable.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates evidence-based policy argumentation: it begins by identifying a measurable clinical problem, anchors the problem in cited statistics and peer-reviewed sources, then proposes a targeted intervention with specific tools. This mirrors the structure of quality-improvement proposals in health sciences, where the problem statement, intervention, and evaluation method are clearly separated.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with an abstract-style summary before moving into an Introduction that contextualizes medication errors within ACA-era healthcare. A brief Aim section states the single objective. The Materials and Methods section enumerates and distinguishes the five data tools. Results synthesize the findings and reinforce the central recommendation, and the Conclusion recaps the main argument concisely. The reference list follows APA formatting conventions.
Introduction
The adoption of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped an increasing number of Americans gain access to health insurance. Despite the benefits associated with this legislation, the quality of healthcare delivery remains a concern due to issues such as medication errors. This paper recommends the implementation of medication reconciliation to improve the quality of healthcare delivery in the United States. The tools recommended for achieving medication reconciliation include OASIS, HHCAHPS, Quarterly Reports, Supervisory Visits, and Organizational Performance Improvement. Application of these tools will assist in enhancing the overall quality of healthcare delivery.
In the contemporary health environment, the United States is undergoing fundamental changes as a result of the adoption of the ACA, commonly known as the Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare." The new law is rapidly increasing the number of American residents who have health insurance and raising coverage among diverse populations. Despite the benefits associated with the ACA, the quality of healthcare delivery remains limited in the United States due to issues such as medication errors.
Typically, medication error is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, accounting for one out of every 845 inpatient deaths and one out of every 130 outpatient deaths. As Beatrice (2014, p. 153) notes, "Any time that information about a patient's medication is communicated, there is a potential for error."
These associated problems have led an increasing number of patients to demand high-quality healthcare. Patients are also seeking a greater variety of treatment options. It is therefore critical for Home Care Agencies to implement changes using medical reconciliation to eliminate or reduce medication errors within the healthcare environment (Musgrave, 2013). Moreover, Home Health Agencies are required to implement policies that build a positive reputation and reduce provider mistakes in order to sustain revenue. Implementation of medication reconciliation will allow healthcare organizations to provide accurate patient treatments (Greenwald, Halasyamani, & Greene, et al., 2010).
Aim
The objective of this paper is to improve patients' safety through medication reconciliation.
References
Beatrice, T. (2014). Improving patient safety by improving medication communication. Orthopaedic Nursing, 28(3), 153–154.
Cornu, P., Steurbaut, S., Leysen, T., et al. (2012). Effect of medication reconciliation at hospital admission on medication discrepancies during hospitalization and at discharge for geriatric patients. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 46, 484–494.
Greenwald, J. L., Halasyamani, L., & Greene, J., et al. (2010). Making inpatient medication reconciliation patient centered, clinically relevant and implementable: A consensus statement on key principles and necessary first steps. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 5, 477.
Musgrave, C. R., Pilcher, N. A., & Taber, D. J. (2013). Improving transplant patient safety through pharmacist discharge medication reconciliation. American Journal of Transplantation, 13(3), 796–801.
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