Medication reconciliation is the process of creating the most accurate list possible of all medications a patient is taking — including drug name, dosage, frequency, and route — and comparing that list against the physician’s admission, transfer, and/or discharge orders, with the goal of providing correct medications to the patient at all transition points within the hospital. Experience from hundreds of organizations has shown that poor communication of medical information at transition points is responsible for as many as 50 percent of all medication errors and up to 20 percent of adverse drug events in the hospital. Each time a patient moves from one setting to another, clinicians should review previous medication orders alongside new orders and plans for care, and reconcile any differences. If this process does not occur in a standardized manner that is designed to ensure complete reconciliation, medication errors may lead to adverse events and harm.

One frequently asked question is, "What is the process for reconciling medications at each visit in outpatient settings?"  To learn more, see Reconcile Medications in Outpatient Settings.