Medication Management

A Medication History Toolkit

This toolkit is designed to improve hospital processes for obtaining an accurate medication history.

Arizona Medication Management Tools

You will find downloads for specific tools and resources to assess your organization and assist your partners in managing medications for your patients.

Assess Your Organization: Medication Management Assessment Tools

The Medication Management Assessment and accompanying Adverse Drug Event (ADE) Gap Analysis components provide evidence-based recommendations and standards for hospitals in the development of a comprehensive medication safety program. The tools reflect published literature and guidelines by relevant professional organizations and regulatory agencies.

BPIP Medication Management Package

The Best Practice Intervention Package (BPIP) includes a successful medication management program that encourages providers to work across settings, uses an interdisciplinary approach, and applies patient-centered teaching methods. This focused BPIP provides patient-friendly tools to improve health literacy and includes a tool and resource guide as well as a clinician guide.

Note: The Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) website requires registration to access this document.

CHAMP Geriatric Medication Management Toolkit

The Collaboration for Homecare Advances in Management and Practice (CHAMP) program includes evidence-based tools for homecare professionals to help seniors manage multiple and high-risk medications.

Consumer Medication Safety Tools

Consumermedsafety.org, a website developed by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, offers tools and resources about high-alert medications and medication safety.

How to Create a Pill Card

From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), this guide is designed to help users create an easy-to-use pill card for patients and/or family caregivers to keep track of their medicines. 

Improving Medication Safety in High-Risk Medicare Beneficiaries

This documentation tool from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) assists with medication evaluation and drug-use problem identification in order to improve safety in high-risk Medicare beneficiaries.

Medication Management at Home

Medication Management at Home: Medication-Related Risk Factors Associated With Poor Health Outcomes is an observation study of patients' homes that investigates how some patients' medication-related risk factors are only identified by home visits and determines the association between these risk factors and poor patient health outcomes.

Medication Management Improvement System Toolkit

This toolkit offers home health agencies and community-based care management agencies practical advice on potential medication-related problems of the elderly.

Medication Management in Care Transitions Best Practices

This document comprises best-practice medication management models, compiled by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the American Pharmacists Association (ASHP- APhA).

Medication Reconciliation Event Review

From the Hospital Quality Institute (HQI), the Medication Reconciliation Event Review: 12 Questions to Ask is a single-page document that evaluates the medication reconciliation process for patients at time of discharge.

Medications At Transitions and Clinical Handoffs (MATCH) Study

This study was designed to determine risk factors and potential harm associated with medication errors at hospital admission. 

Medications at Transitions and Clinical Handoffs (MATCH) Toolkit

This toolkit from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) assists with medication reconciliation, a process to decrease medication errors and patient harm. It uses a comparison of a patient’s current medication regimen against the physician’s admission, transfer, and/or discharge orders to identify discrepancies.

MUST for Seniors

Medication Use Safety Training (MUST) for Seniors is an online educational campaign and workshop designed to promote safe and appropriate medication use for older adults and those who care for them. 

National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention

Published by the Department of Health and Human Services, this document serves as a road map for coordinating federal efforts to reduce preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) and for raising awareness of the importance of medication safety. It identifies efforts to measure and prevent ADEs and outlines future opportunities to prevent ADEs of anticoagulants, diabetes agents, and opioids. 

Optimizing Medication Reconciliation

This publication provides a better understanding of the medication reconciliation process, its effect on patient care and outcomes, and how pharmacists can contribute to improving this process—from the American Pharmacists Association and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Prevent Harm From High-Alert Medications

This how-to guide describes key evidence-based care components for preventing harm from high-alert medications (specifically anticoagulants, narcotics and opiates, insulins, and sedatives), describes how to implement these interventions, and recommends measures to gauge improvement.

Note: The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) website requires registration to access this document.

The 8Ps Risk Assessment Tool

From the Society of Hospital Medicine, this screening tool helps to identify a patient's risk for adverse events after discharge and screens for (1) problems with medications, (2) psychological issues, (3) principal diagnosis, (4) physical limitations, (5) poor health literacy, (6) patient support, (7) prior hospitalizations, and (8) palliative care.

Worst Pills, Best Pills: Adverse Drug Reactions

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. While some ADRs are not very serious, others cause the death, hospitalization, or serious injury of more than 2 million people in the United States each year. This paper outlines the seriousness of the problem and why older adults are more likely than younger adults to experience ADRs.