The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations cautioned hospitals to be more vigilant about the accuracy of medications--duplications, incompatible drugs, and incorrect dosages--given to patients as they transition from one unit of the hospital to another or from the hospital to another healthcare facility or home. Last year, the United States Pharmacopeia received more than 2,000 voluntary reports of medication errors. Sixty-three percent of medication errors resulting in death or serious injury were due to breakdowns in communications, half of which would have been avoided through effective medication reconciliation, maintains JCAHO.
