Medication Reconciliation: Number of Unintentional Medication Discrepancies per Medication per Patient

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Hospital Care
Country
United States of America
Publishing Organisation
Quality improvement (Internal to the specific organization)
Type of Quality Indicator
Outcome
IOM Quality Dimension
Safety
Domain
Medications and Medication Management

Defining Attributes

Definition

This measure assesses the actual quality of the medication reconciliation process by identifying errors in admission and discharge medication orders due to problems with the medication reconciliation process.

Numerator

For each sampled inpatient in the denominator, the total number of unintentional medication discrepancies in admission orders plus the total number of unintentional medication discrepancies in discharge orders.

Denominator

The patient denominator is the sum of the number of medications in the gold standard medication lists plus the number of unintentionally ordered additional medications in a random sample of all adults admitted to the hospital.

Exclusions

Patients that are discharged or expire before a gold standard medication list can be obtained.

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Electronic/paper chart records
Data Collection Methods

Electronic Health Data, Electronic Health Records, Instrument-Based Data, Other, Paper Medical Records

Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods
Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Evidence Source
Technical Specifications
Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Can the Quality Indicator be Readily Implemented at a Population Level in Australia Given its Current Data Landscape?
Implementation of this quality indicator was not assessed.
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
31 March 2026