Five hundred (500) patients on multiple medications across certain outpatient services at TCI Hospital will receive special Medpacks starting in November as part of the health care facility's mission to encourage patients to bring their medications to every hospital visit.
The hospital held a press conference on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021, to raise awareness of the community initiative and to reinforce the importance of medication safety. Dr. Sani Amatti - Deputy Chief of Medical Services, Dr. Henry Blythe - Head of Family Medicine, Isha Honore - Quality Risk and Patient Safety Manager and Kennita Myers-Handfield - Pharmacist at TCI Hospital gave remarks.
The patients prioritized to receive the medication bags are oncology patients on active treatment, dialysis patients, internal medicine, family practice, and pediatric patients on four or more medications with doctor's appointments scheduled during the distribution period.
The project seeks to strengthen the process of medication reconciliation, which means ensuring that a patient's medication list is as accurate and up-to-date as possible during every hospital visit.
This seemingly simple process serves a critical role in patient safety and preventing harm from medications or adverse drug events. These include medication errors such as omissions, duplications, dosing errors, or drug interactions.
The project will monitor how frequently patients use their Medpacks across clinic visits. The hospital will also track a pre-selected sample of patients over a 6 to 12 month period to examine any changes or improvements in certain aspects of their medical condition.
Preventing harm from medications or adverse drug events remains a top patient safety priority in hospitals and across the continuum of care for patients.
The process is only effective if all patients bring their medications to every hospital visit to be reviewed by a clinician. These include prescription medication, vitamins, herbal supplements and over the counter medications.
Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Sani Amatti, Deputy Chief of Medical Services at InterHealth Canada - TCI Hospital, stated: “The process of medication reconciliation has been ongoing since the hospital’s inception as a strategic priority, which promotes a culture of patient safety and people-centred care. While the objective is to reduce medication errors and adverse drug events, this process also creates an opportunity for physicians to gauge whether patients are compliant with taking their medications and provide any additional information needed. This can help patients to better adhere to their regimen, feel better, and stay well."