Medication reconciliation in the outpatient primary care setting: Barriers and opportunities

Increased complexity of the health care system has led to challenges of vital communications, such as a current and accurate patient medication list. Medication reconciliation aims to create the most comprehensive and accurate list of a patient's current medications by comparing it with their electronic health record. However, effectively gathering, organizing, and communicating this medication information across different stages of care is often complex and challenging. Fragmented provider groups and incompatible software systems can also lead to breaks in communication and contribute to medication discrepancies. Medication reconciliation is an evidence-based safety intervention that can decrease medication errors and patient harm. Primary care providers play a critical role in ensuring a patient's medication list is current and accurate.