[Experiences of health care providers with the implementation of medication schemes on paper].

Background: Medication management demands information exchange between healthcare professionals of intra- and transmural care.

Aim: The goal of this study is to determine if a paper medication overview improves the information exchange between healthcare professionals of primary and secondary care in the South Eastern part of Limburg.

Methods: A paper medication overview was implemented in this region. A pre and post survey were used to gather healthcare professionals opinions about the potential of the paper medication overview. The expectations, experiences and the use of the medication overview were gathered.

Results: The most important barriers are the time investment of healthcare professionals and patient involvement. A paper medication overview appears to be mostly used to reduce medication errors. Few healthcare professionals see potential in the paper medication overview as a tool to improve communication. An electronic medication overview yields more possibilities as well for intramural care as for transmural care.

Conclusion: A paper medication overview is perceived as a tool to reduce medication errors. Although it is very time consuming to keep the paper medication overview up-to date, it yields a lot of possibilities to improve information exchange between different kinds of healthcare professionals. Patient involvement is crucial to establish the flow of healthcare information.