A review of technology-induced error and waste in medication reconciliation

Abstract

Medication errors can be caused by a number of factors, including the people, medicine, systems and procedures involved in medication processes. Medication use that causes harm is known as Adverse Drug Events (ADE). Medication reconciliation is one of the prevention strategies of medication errors. However, the challenges and barriers in its implementation include an inefficient medication reconciliation process. A lean method is increasingly used in healthcare to optimize process flow. This paper aims to identify waste in medication reconciliation processes, in order to reduce ADE and improve safety. We identified a number of wastes, including discrepancies that were caused by a lack of coordination and communication between hospital and community pharmacies, and unclear tasks and responsibilities of professionals and community pharmacies.