The Implementation of a Pharmacy Student-led Medication History Program in a Large, Tertiary Pediatric Emergency Center

Purpose The implementation of a pharmacy student-led medication history program in the Emergency Center to identify and prevent medication-related errors. Methods This was a twelve-week pilot study from October 2016 to January 2017 that evaluated the implementation of a medication history program within a large, tertiary pediatric Emergency Center. Pharmacy students were trained and process-validated by a pharmacist to complete medication histories for patients with admission status. The students compared the current medication list in the electronic medical record to the medication list obtained through the patient interview. The following discrepancies were documented on the data collection form: incorrect/missing dose, incorrect/missing route, incorrect/missing frequency, incorrect/missing drug, incorrect/missing allergy, incorrect/missing formulation, discontinued/not taking drug, and duplication. Additional information collected included: time to complete medication histories, number of outside pharmacies used, total number of home medications in the record, and total number of medications reported during the interview. Results Students completed 180 medication histories. Within this population, 98 (54%) were male. The mean ± S.D. age and weight reported were 6.3 ± 6.1 years and 28.7 ± 27 kilograms, respectively. There was a mean ± S.D of 3 ± 3.1 discrepancies per patient. The mean ± S.D time spent on a medication history was 8.7 ± 4.8 minutes per patient. In accordance with the Pareto Principle, approximately 80% of 522 discrepancies came from discontinued/not taking drug (34%), incorrect/missing drug (31%), and incorrect/missing dose (14%). Conclusion Pharmacy students, with appropriate oversight, have been beneficial in collecting medication histories and identifying medication discrepancies to prevent errors.