Gaps in continuity of medication management during the transition from hospital to residential care: An observational study (MedGap Study)

• Published in: Australasian journal on ageing Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 247 - 254
• Main Authors: Elliott, Rohan A, Tran, Tim, Taylor, Simone E, Harvey, Penelope A, Belfrage, Mary K, Jennings, Rhonda J, Marriott, Jennifer L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-12-2012
• Subjects: Aged; Aged care; Aged, 80 and over; continuity of patient care; Continuity of Patient Care - organization & administration; Drugs (Pharmaceuticals); Female; Graphs; Hospital discharge; Hospitals; Hospitals - standards; Humans; Male; Management; medication error; Medication errors; Medication Errors - prevention & control; medication system; Nursing homes; Patient Discharge; Patient Transfer - organization & administration; Patients; residential facility; Residential Institutions; Residential Treatment - organization & administration; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 1440-6381; 1741-6612
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2011.00586.x

Aim:  To assess continuity of medication management during transition from hospital to residential care facilities (RCFs).
Method:  Telephone interviews with RCF staff were performed 24 hours after patient transfer to determine the proportion of patients with: missed or significantly delayed doses; RCF medication chart not written/updated in time for the first dose; suitably packed medications not available for the first dose; and RCF medication chart written/updated by a locum doctor. Retrospective audit was used to identify discharge summary discrepancies.
Results:  Seventy‐five doses for 37/202 (18.3%) patients were missed or significantly delayed in the 24 hours after discharge. One hundred and twenty‐five (61.9%) patients did not have their medication chart written/updated and 77 (38.1%) did not have suitably packed medications available for the first dose. Locum doctors wrote RCF medication charts for 66 (32.7%) patients. One hundred and ninety‐seven of 392 (50.3%) changes to regularly scheduled medications were communicated.
Conclusions:  Strategies are needed to address gaps in the continuity of medication management.