Market Education

Sequest Targets JCAHO Requirements and Recommendations for Medication Reconciliation

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One of the objectives of the JCAHO System Tracer for Medication management is to evaluate the medication reconciliation process during “hand-offs” from one level of care. Joint Commission surveyors target a client/client/resident receiving a specific medication.  The review begins with the individual’s clinical/medical record then follows the medication process throughout the system. The review focuses on compliance with requirements of the NPSG Goals for 2008 which include:

Goal 8(a): Accurately and completely reconcile medications across the continuum of care.

Implementation requirements for this goal include establishing a process for obtaining and documenting a complete list of the client’s current medications upon the client’s admission to the organization and with the involvement of the client. This process also includes a comparison of the medications the organization provides to those on the list.
Goal 8(b): A complete list of the client’s medications is communicated to the next provider of service when a client is referred or transferred to another setting, service, practitioner, or level of care within or outside the organization. The complete list of medications is also provided to the client upon discharge.

Implementation requirements for this goal expect that, at a minimum, reconciliation must occur any time the organization requires that orders be rewritten and any time the client changes service, setting, provider or level of care and new medication orders are written. For transitions not involving new medications or rewriting of orders, the organization should determine whether reconciliation must occur.
Medications that need to be communicated to the next provider, organization, level, or setting of care include all medications that the client is to take following discharge or transfer, not just the prescription medications that are “ordered” at discharge. The list of “discharge medications” provided to the next provider or organization should already have been reconciled against the list of medications the client was receiving during treatment as well as against the original list of medications the client was taking prior to admission.