As we head to press this month, The Joint Commission (TJC) acknowledged the difficulties many organizations are having in meeting the complex requirements of medication reconciliation (National Patient Safety Goal 8). TJC announced on their website that retroactive to January 1, 2009, while medication reconciliation under NPSG 8 will continue to be evaluated during surveys, findings will not be factored into accreditation decisions nor will they generate RFIs or appear in the accreditation report.

Nonetheless, TJC was very clear that the risk to patients from errors in the medication reconciliation process is significant and all organizations are expected to continue to address medication reconciliation. TJC will refine NPSG 8 throughout 2009 with easier-to-implement requirements expected for 2010.

While you may feel a bit of relief if you have a survey approaching, it is clear that the importance of developing an efficient and effective medication reconciliation process has not diminished in any way. Just as establishing systems to avoid preventable medication errors is of paramount importance for every healthcare facility, pharmacy’s role in leading this effort is paramount to its success.

In keeping with our goal of providing timely, informative articles that meet the needs of directors of pharmacy, your next issue of PP&P will include the success story of a health system that—with pharmacy leadership—completely revamped their medication reconciliation process to ensure optimal medication safety.

We are pleased to share the stories of pharmacists taking leadership roles to improve healthcare delivery and patient safety in the pages of PP&P. If you have found success in addressing medication reconciliation at your organization, I would love to hear from you.

All the best,



R. Mitchell Halvorsen
Publisher



PS - The first International Pediatric Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacology Symposium will take place April 24-26, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. Informatics in pediatric pharmacy will be one of the many topics on the agenda. For more information visit the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group website at www.ppag.org.