Development of indicators to assess the quality of medicines reconciliation at hospital admission: an e-Delphi study

Objective The aim of this Delphi study was to examine consensus on the appropriateness of the medicines reconciliation (MR) indicators. Methods Practising hospital pharmacists in UK hospitals conducting MR in hospital wards were invited to participate in the study. Appropriateness was defined using...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The International journal of pharmacy practice 2016-05, Vol.24 (3), p.209-216
Main Authors: Aljamal, Mohammed Sulaiman, Ashcroft, Darren, Tully, Mary P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
clinical practice
Consensus
Delphi method
Delphi Technique
drug misuse
Female
Humans
Male
Medication Errors - prevention & control
medication history
Medication Reconciliation - standards
Patient Admission
pharmaceutical care
Pharmacists
Pharmacy Service, Hospital
prescribing errors
Reconciliation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective The aim of this Delphi study was to examine consensus on the appropriateness of the medicines reconciliation (MR) indicators. Methods Practising hospital pharmacists in UK hospitals conducting MR in hospital wards were invited to participate in the study. Appropriateness was defined using four criteria: clarity, importance, relevance and usefulness. The modified Delphi technique was selected as a structured method to develop consensus. RAND definition for consensus was used. In the second round, feedback on the first round was provided. The study did not require Research Ethics approval. Key findings Sixty‐five hospital pharmacists completed the first round Delphi, and 59 of them completed the second round. Their experience ranged from three to 33 years with an average of 16.6 years. Fifty‐five indicators were sent to the panel after the pilot study. Each of the two rounds took approximately 8 weeks to be completed. Forty‐one indicators reached consensus to be appropriate. Fourteen indicators did not reach consensus. Conclusions The Delphi technique was very effective for enhancing the panel participation as noticed in their responses both in the first and second rounds. Forty‐one indicators achieved consensus as being appropriate to evaluate the MR process. These indicators could be used to assess the process and hence improve the quality of the patient care on hospital admission. The indicators need to be used in practice.
ISSN:0961-7671
2042-7174
DOI:10.1111/ijpp.12234