Medication Reconciliation Errors on Discharge for EMU Patients
Abstract number :
3.305
Submission category :
7. Anti-seizure Medications / 7E. Other
Year :
2022
Submission ID :
2204387
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/5/2022 12:00:00 PM
Published date :
Nov 22, 2022, 05:24 AM
Authors :
Ayman Alboudi, MD – Staten Island University Hospital; Anna Bank, MD – Epileptologist, Neurology, Lenox Hill Hospital
Rationale: Medication documentation errors in discharge summaries following inpatient hospitalization are common. Antiepileptic drug (AED) documentation errors can increase the risk of breakthrough seizures and adverse medication effects in patients with epilepsy. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of medication documentation errors in the discharge summaries of patients discharged from the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, and to identify predictors of these errors.
Methods: Medical records for all patients admitted to the Lenox Hill Hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) in 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Discrepancies between the AED regimen at the time of discharge and the AED regimen in the discharge summary were recorded for each admission and were considered AED documentation errors. Age, gender, race/ethnicity, discharge day, number of AEDs, number of AED changes during admission, the total number of medications, day of discharge (weekday vs weekend), and length of stay were also recorded. Associations between demographic and clinical variables and AED documentation errors were calculated using T-tests for continuous variables and Fisher exact tests for categorical variables.
Results: A total of 113 EMU admissions were identified. Discharge summaries for 12 admissions (10.6 %) contained AED documentation errors. Patient age (p = 0.62), gender (p = 0.877), and day of discharge (P = 0.443) were not associated with increased likelihood of errors. Number of AEDs on admission (p = 0.004), total number of medications (p = 0.013), number of medication changes during admission (p = 0.0007), and length of stay (p = 0.0001) were associated with increased likelihood of errors.
Conclusions: Patients with more complex medication regimens and longer hospitalizations were at increased risk of AED documentation errors in their discharge summaries upon discharge from the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Particularly in these complex patients, careful attention to discharge summary accuracy is essential.
Funding: None
Anti-seizure Medications