What is often challenging during medication reconciliation?

Obtaining a complete list of medications from every patient is often the most challenging aspect of medication reconciliation because it requires thorough communication and attention to detail from both healthcare providers and patients. Patients may have multiple sources for their prescriptions, including different doctors, pharmacies, and over-the-counter medications. Not all patients may remember every medication they are taking, or they might use non-prescription supplements that can affect their care. Additionally, the burden of accurately compiling this list can be complicated by factors such as language barriers, cognitive impairments, or recent changes in a patient’s medication regimen.

On the other hand, documenting prescriptions accurately and communicating effectively with other providers are important, but they often stem from having the complete medication list first. Determining medication side effects, while crucial, primarily deals with the monitoring of medications rather than the accumulation and reconciliation of lists. Therefore, the challenge lies predominantly in gathering all the necessary information to ensure safe medication management.