National Patient Safety Goals®
Effective July 2023 for the Hospital Program
involve the management of medications are addressed in the standards rather than in this goal.
These include coordinating information during transitions in care both within and outside of the
organization (PC.02.02.01), patient education on safe medication use (PC.02.03.01), and
communications with other providers (PC.04.02.01).
In settings where medications are not routinely prescribed or administered, this NPSG provides
organizations with the flexibility to decide what medication information they need to collect based
on the services they provide to patients. It is often important for physicians and other licensed
practitioners to know what medications the patient is taking when planning care, treatment, and
services, even in situations where medications are not used.
Maintain and communicate accurate patient medication information.
--Rationale for NPSG.03.06.01--
There is evidence that medication discrepancies can affect patient outcomes. Medication reconciliation is
intended to identify and resolve discrepancies—it is a process of comparing the medications a patient is
taking (or should be taking) with newly ordered medications. The comparison addresses duplications,
omissions, and interactions, and the need to continue current medications. The types of information that
physicians and other licensed practitioners use to reconcile medications include (among others) medication
name, dose, frequency, route, and purpose. Organizations should identify the information that needs to be
collected in order to reconcile current and newly ordered medications and to safely prescribe medications in
the future.
Element(s) of Performance for NPSG.03.06.01
Obtain information on the medications the patient is currently taking when they are admitted to the
hospital or is seen in an outpatient setting. This information is documented in a list or other format that
is useful to those who manage medications.
Note 1: Current medications include those taken at scheduled times and those taken on an as-needed
basis. See the Glossary for a definition of medications.
Note 2: It is often difficult to obtain complete information on current medications from a patient. A good
faith effort to obtain this information from the patient and/or other sources will be considered as
meeting the intent of the EP.
Define the types of medication information (for example, name, dose, route, frequency, purpose) to be
collected in non-24-hour settings.
Note: Examples of non-24-hour settings include the emergency department, primary care, outpatient
radiology, ambulatory surgery, and diagnostic settings.
Compare the medication information the patient brought to the hospital with the medications ordered
for the patient by the hospital in order to identify and resolve discrepancies.
Note: Discrepancies include omissions, duplications, contraindications, unclear information, and
changes. A qualified individual, identified by the hospital, does the comparison.
Provide the patient (or family, caregiver, or support person as needed) with written information on the
medications the patient should be taking when they are discharged from the hospital or at the end of
an outpatient encounter (for example, name, dose, route, frequency, purpose).
Explain the importance of managing medication information to the patient when they are discharged
from the hospital or at the end of an outpatient encounter.
Note: Examples include instructing the patient to give a list to their primary care provider; to update the
information when medications are discontinued, doses are changed, or new medications (including
over-the-counter products) are added; and to carry medication information at all times in the event of
emergency situations. (For information on patient education on medications, refer to Standards
MM.06.01.03, PC.02.03.01, and PC.04.01.05.)
© 2023 The Joint Commission
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Report Generated by DSSM
Wednesday, Mar 29 2023