Dive Brief:
- Researchers examined data from 609 patients prescribed a new antihypertensive in a large primary care practice network between January 2011 and September 2012. Patients' active medications recorded in the EHR were compared to those listed in the pharmacy claims data through the EHR.
- At least 468 patients had at least one medication discrepancy. In addition, there were 171 patients with 229 controlled substance discrepancies.
- Significant predictors of discrepancies included the total medication count and a recent emergency department visit.
Dive Insight:
The study authors concluded that their research "revealed a high rate of discrepancies between pharmacy claims data and the provider medication list." They suggested that aggregated pharmacy claims data, which is available through EHRs, may provide a foundation for assessing medication adherence and conducting medication reconciliation.
In addition, the study authors said that optimizing accessibility and function of this data should be a high priority as primary care IT expands.