Difference Between Pharmacist-Obtained and Physician-Obtained Medication Histories in the Intensive Care Unit

Purpose. To quantify the differences between medication histories obtained by physicians and pharmacists from critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) and to identify patient types at greatest risk of medication errors.Methods. Retrospective medical record review of 200 consecutively admitted critically ill patients to the medical/surgical ICU of a university-affiliated hospital. The pharmacist-obtained medication history was compared to the physician-obtained medication history. Variations assessed included the number of drugs identified, drug name, drug formulation, dose, and frequency of administration. Inpatient medication orders were reviewed to obtain the number and accuracy of home medications prescribed in the ICU. Patients were divided into predefined groups: trauma, medical, and nontrauma surgical to assess the risk of medication error by patient type.Results. Pharmacists and physicians identified a total of 981 and 665 medications, respectively. The mean (±SD) number of home med...